Pomp and circumstance: Precise passing lifts Blackhawks in a home opener that was missing something
Chicago was gifted two unique professional sports matchups in the past month, but both turned into duds.
We're talking about battles of No. 1 overall draft picks in consecutive years.
The hockey version should have happened at Thursday's Blackhawks home opener, with Connor Bedard facing off against San Jose rookie Macklin Celebrini. The problem was, Celebrini wasn't there.
The Blackhawks got off to a fast start and turned some precision passing into a 4-2 victory over the Sharks at the United Center.
Celebrini, a Vancouver native who played for the Geneva-based Chicago Steel two seasons ago, scored his first NHL goal just seven minutes into the opening game against St. Louis. Then he was placed on the injured list with a hip issue the club said had been bothering him since training camp.
So no Celebrini. This game also could have featured the top two picks of the 2024 NHL Draft, but the second pick wasn't on the ice either. Defenseman Artyom Levshunov got a nice ovation when he was introduced pregame, but he was in street clothes as he's been out since before preseason with an injury and the team has been vague about when he'll return.
Two weeks ago, Bears vs. Carolina Panthers featured the last two No. 1 NFL picks. But instead of Caleb Williams vs. Bryce Young, it was an Andy Dalton revenge game. Or more accurately, the Bears got revenge on the Red Rocket for contributing so little when he was supposed to be Justin Fields' mentor.
The good news is, both the Blackhawks and Bears won those games easily. In fact, the opening goal of the home hockey season felt a lot like Williams to D.J. Moore.
Blackhawks defenseman T.J. Brodie, a new free-agent addition, sent a beautiful long pass ahead to Taylor Hall, who walked in and beat Sharks goalie Vitek Vanacek.
The Hawks were all about sharp passes Thursday. Teuvo Teravainen got his second stint with the Blackhawks off to a nice start by threading two perfect entry passes to Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno for power-play goals. The second made it 3-0 early in the second period. A pass from behind the net from Joey Anderson to Jason Dickinson netted the fourth goal early in the third.
Foligno had some advice for his teammates following the loss in Calgary on Tuesday, the last stop on a season-opening four-game road trip.
“Listen, we're a good team,” Foligno said. “I think we have to start believing that too, in the way we play and especially the system we're playing. I think it's just another lesson for us to understand, we have to play a certain way to have success.”
Foligno himself illustrates a strange trait about this Blackhawks team. He's 37, Brodie is 34, Hall 33, Teravainen 30 and Bertuzzi 29.
This is a team clearly building for a brighter future with Bedard, 19, but there aren't many players in the second-year pro's age range. Fourteen players on the active roster are 29 or older.
The pregame storyline was Lukas Reichel, 22, getting ice time after four scratches on the road. The Hawks first-round pick in 2020 didn't make any noticeable impact against San Jose. The youngest defenseman, Nolan Allan, was shoved out of the way in front of the net to set up the Sharks' first goal.
Opening night included the usual sideshows — red carpet arrival on Madison Street, full roster introductions, full house and energetic anthem.
“It's something we can take and make it a miserable place to come and play,” coach Luke Richardson said at the morning skate. “It's very intimidating with the national anthem and the crowd, and we've got to follow that up in our play and hopefully we can do that.”
Intimidating? There's room to improve there, but the fans had fun watching the NHL's oldest rebuilding squad notch a victory.