Chicago Blackhawks By The Numbers- Christmas Break

The Chicago Blackhawks have played 35 games so far this season, and it’s amazing that we are not even halfway through the season, and everyone is talking about the playoffs already.  So here at the Christmas Holiday break, let’s look at some Chicago Blackhawks numbers.

82

The Chicago Blackhawks this season have out shot their opposition by 82 shots over 35 games. The NHL average is 8 shots more than the opposition.  So if your looking for a stat to make you believe it’s not as bad as it looks in the standings here is one of them.  One may argue that these aren’t always high quality or high danger shots, but they are getting pucks on net.  They just need to convert more of those chances.

+9

The Chicago Blackhawks have a goal differential of 9 so far this season, and they were even higher before the previous two games.  Yes they started out the season after one game with a +9 so they have been even in the last 34 games. That stat basically tells you they have been pretty average all season long.

14

This is Richard Panik‘s stat line for the season 5 goals 9 assists 14 points.  If you want to point to a player that has severely regressed since last year it has to be Panik.  The one noticeable thing I’ve seen lately is that he’s not been as strong with the puck on the boards.  Last season he was full of confidence and seemingly won every board battle. This year is the complete opposite which is something that needs to change quickly for the Hawks to become more balanced.

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24:40

Duncan Keith is still leading the team in ice time as usual, but this year it’s by almost a full four minutes a game.  With the Chicago Blackhawks carrying 8 defenseman all season, there is no reason for Joel Quenneville to be burning out his star defenseman.  The weird thing is everyone is asking for Q to bench Brent Seabrook, but he’s second on the team in average ice time with over 20 minutes a game so #7 isn’t going anywhere.

+6

Jonathan Toews offense has been slipping for sometime now, and even Brandon Saad hasn’t lifted him back up to his levels of a few years ago.  The number that is the scariest thing for me when looking at Toews is that he’s only a +6 for the season. I know people hate this stat, but normally by this time in the season he’s up into the teens in +/-.  Is this really the downhill slide for Toews and he’s not even 30 yet?  I sure hope not!

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What numbers stick out to you when looking at the Chicago Blackhawks?