Nick Russ here with your NHL update. The youngest team in the league is a fire ball heading into the Winter Classic. The Blackhawks have won their last 8 straight games tying a franchise record. The impressive streak includes victories over Northwest division leaders Calgary and Vancouver. Powered by All Star vote leading wing Patrick Kane and team goal leader Patrick Sharp, the Hawks have division leading Detroit looking over its shoulder. All this with just a week away from the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. The Hawks go on the road for Minnesota and Detroit oddly enough before having New Years Eve off then hosting the Redwings at Wrigley.
Detroit has been a bit of a roller coaster the past few games. They dropped a game against dismal Dallas and the struggling Avalanche. However they shut out one of the best teams in San Jose. They also won over LA and St. Louis setting up a critical home game against the hard charging Hawks. With Marian Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Pavel Datsyuk set to make the All Star game, the most players in the West, Detroit could battle with Chicago for a long time. With the animosity towards the BCS in college football the Winter Classic could easily steal some ratings on Jan 1. Detroit visits Colorado before hosting Chicago then playing the Winter Classic.
Out East Montreal is starting to vanish in Boston's mirror. Despite having potentially 5 all stars the Canadiens have underachieved while Boston has soared. Montreal dropped 3 in a row with losses to Tampa, a tough Washington loss, and Carolina. Then they beat the Flyers and Sabres before losing in OT to Carolina. Put this into perspective, if Montreal where in the Atlantic division they would be tied for third with New Jersey one point just behind them. Montreal has a long road trip starting with Pittsburgh before wrapping it up at New Jersey.
The Atlantic division is the closest division race heading into 2009. The Rangers lead the division with 47 points followed by Philadelphia with 45 points, that's a win difference folks. The Flyers are followed by rival Pittsburgh with 42 points and injury plagued New Jersey. And of course the Islanders have fallen off the globe with 25, worst in the league. Rangers lost to New Jersey early on and lost a critical cross conference game with San Jose. The Rangers play the Devils tomorrow in the only worth while division game before playing Pittsburgh in two weeks. Phily plays no division opponents for a while but they still have been performing well against teams like Washington and Pittsburgh. They go on the road out west against Anaheim and LA before visiting the Capitals. Pittsburgh can get some momentum going against Boston twice in the coming week. Until next time Hockey fans.
Photo courtesy of Nam Y. Huh
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