Top 5 Must See Home Games This Season

Yesterday the Blackhawks announced that single game tickets will go on sale August 20th to the general public.  With that in mind, I took another look at the schedule and picked out the five games at the United Center I am looking forward to the most.  All of this is subject to change and are at the mercy of the CBA negoiations so these games might not actually happen.

November 5, 2012 vs Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pens games are always fun because legions of Dbags in Sidney Crosby jerseys make the trek to Chicago every year.  The Penguins are one most explosive teams in the league and are always a treat to see in person.  One player that we haven’t seen in quite some time is the aforementioned Sidney Crosby.  Crosby has only played two games against the Blackhawks in his entire career.  The only game he has ever played at the United Center was back in his rookie season of 2006, long before many people in Chicago remembered there is a professional hockey team in town.  It will be interesting the see if Sid the Kid plays in this game or ducks the Blackhawks again.

December 28,2012 vs Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes have been very active this summer and has added a lot of star power to their roster.  This will be the only time the Hawks will play the Canes in the regular season.  It will be the first time Chicago fans get to see Jeff Skinner play in person.  We will also get a look at the revamped Carolina offense that now includes Jordan Staal and Alex Semin.  I always enjoy the Eastern Conference games to see players that don’t make a yearly trip to Chicago.  This game will be full of familiar names and will be a treat to see them play live.

January 2, 2013 vs New York Rangers

I have a huge soft spot for original six matchups.  Any time the Rangers come to town it has a “big game” feel to it.  The Rangers have a ton of star power which peeks the interest in this game.  This will be the only chance to get a peek at Vezina winner Henrik Lundqvist in person, so the puck bunnies will be out in full force.  This night will mark the Chicago debut of Chris Krieder and the only time we’ll get to see Rick Nash in 2012-13.  Can’t say I am not going to miss Nash’s nearly a point per game average versus the Blackhawks.  Plus it will be fun to shout at Rangers coach John Tortorella all night too!

February 12, 2013 vs Phoenix Coyotes

This will be the second trip to the United Center for the Yotes but it will be the first time Raffi Torres will play in Chicago since his attempted murder of Marian Hossa.  That is of course unless he is suspended again or someone has thankfully taken out this skid mark on the underwear of life.  The Coyotes come to the UC on October 30th, but Torres will still be serving his 21 game suspension.  I will make sure to drink plenty of hot tea during the day on 2/12 to make sure I have enough voice to scream at Torres and remind Mike Smith what a joke he is too!

March 1, 2013 vs Minnesota Wild

This will be the first look at the reloaded Wild with their big free agent acquisitions of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.  Seeing Suter play in person is not that big of deal anymore considering how many times he has been in town with the Nashville Predators.  Parise has only played five career games in the United Center due to horrible unbalanced schedule the NHL has crammed down our throats.  The Hawks and Wild have started to develop a bit a rivalry and played a couple of pretty chippy games at the end of last season.  This should be a fun night and being a Friday I am sure there will be plenty of fans making the trek south from the Twin Cities.

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