The 2022-23 season will likely be a tough one for fans of the Chicago Blackhawks. As the team goes through a rebuilding phase, they may be one of the worst teams in the league, and most sportsbooks certainly seemed to hold this view with their NHL betting odds preseason.
Although the Chicago Blackhawks are unlikely to be contending for the playoffs, their season will focus more on some young players on the roster, and the future of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. This is the beginning of a new era in Blackhawks hockey under general manager Kyle Davidson and a new coach, Luke Richardson.
In Toews, Chicago has one of the great defensive players in the league. Known as “Captain Serious” it would be no surprise if Toews found his name on the top of the franchise’s all-time best players list by the end of his career.
Kane has not yet reached his 26th birthday, but has proved to be one of the best clutch scorers in franchise history. He has played his best hockey postseason, and will be a valuable member of the squad should the Blackhawks make moves to progress better than expected this year.
However, overall the current Chicago team can be considered a ‘work in progress’, which means they could potentially cause a few upsets along the way, but are unlikely to set the world alight this season.
The Blackhawks had high expectations going into the 2021-22 season. Sadly a horrible start stopped them from contending, even with some of the significant additions they made during the last offseason.
The Blackhawks finished last season 7th in the Central Division, down from 6th in 2020-21. They have enjoyed some success over the last decade, lifting the Stanley Cup in 2013 and 2015, however have not finished in the top half of their division since 2017.
Formed in 1926, the Chicago Blackhawks were named after the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during the First World War. The team is a member of the “Original Six,” the group of teams making up the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. They have won six Stanley Cup Championships in total, most recently in 2015 when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 in the finals.
The Blackhawks team was formed by a Chicago-based businessman, Frederic McLaughlin. He was awarded one of the first U.S. expansion franchises by the NHL and subsequently purchased the defunct Portland Rosebuds of the Western Hockey League.
The Blackhawks play their home matches at the United Center, located on the Near West Side of Chicago in Illinois. The venue is also home to the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. The venue is currently named after its corporate sponsor, United Airlines, which has been based in Chicago since 2007.
With a capacity of 21,000, the United Center ranks as the most prominent arena by capacity in the NBA and the second-largest stadium by capacity in the NHL. Additionally, the arena has a seating capacity of 23,500 for concerts.
The Chicago Blackhawks have a heated Original Six rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings, with Chicago and Detroit being traditional rivals in all of the “Big Four '' sports. The fights between these teams during the Norris Division may be considered some of the best hockey brawls of all time, and every game between the two still has a little extra intensity.
The Montreal Canadiens are perhaps the Blackhawks’ top Eastern Conference rival due to several incredible series during the days of the Original Six. Although the rivalry has not been very eventful lately, many fans would agree that it was one of the best from the early days, and still carries a lot of historical importance when the teams meet.
