Blackhawks: Five games to get excited about next season

There are some pretty big games on the Chicago Blackhawks schedule when looking at the calendar. Luckily this is not like last year where the teams are just playing the same teams in the division. This year the NHL is back to playing everyone, which should provide some fun hockey.

The Chicago Blackhawks season seems to be pretty busy with a lot of road trips to get done and exciting matchups to play.

Personally, I am excited to watch the Blackhawks play pretty much every team that was not in the central last season. The Blackhawks saw enough of Tampa Bay and Carolina to last a lifetime in 2020.

I wanted to highlight a few key matchups that I cannot wait to watch this coming season:

1. October 19th against New York Islanders – The Home Opener

The New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks have never been the biggest rivals. But the Hawks’ home opener will be against them and it will definitely be an exciting game. The first game with a packed house since March of 2020, and with that in mind the first game that actually matters as this team is more competitive than ever.

A lot of the team’s rookies have never really played in front of an NHL crowd so this will definitely be an exciting home game for both the team and fans.

2. October 30th at St. Louis  – The Rivalry Returns

Next up has to be the big return of the St. Louis/Chicago rivalry. The Blues and Blackhawks have not played each other since the 2019-20 season but it has been longer than that since they played a game that actually mattered.

During the past, three or four seasons the Blackhawks have not been that competitive so having a real rivalry doesn’t really work with the games not mattering and nothing being on the line. This season that shouldn’t be the case as the two seem to be on the same level, and plus St. Louis has Brandon Saad now and this will be the first game for Saad against his former team.

3. November 17th at Seattle – New Team New Place

The Seattle Kraken are an NHL team! This will be their first season in the league which means Chicago gets to play another new team. The last time the NHL added a team, the Vegas Golden Knights, they completely dominated the Hawks during their first season. Hopefully, this time around things will go better for the Hawks.

I am really excited to see how the Kraken do this year, and by the time this game occurs the initial excitement around the team should be down a little so Blackhawks fans will get to see how excited Seattle is for hockey. Plus by November 17th teams should have enough film and knowledge on the Kraken and how to beat them.

4. December 28th against Columbus Blue Jackets – The return of Boqvist

Adam Boqvist was drafted eighth overall by the Blackhawks in 2018. It seemed like he was going to be a lock-in a Blackhawks uniform for much of his career, and yet just a few years later he has been traded to the Blue Jackets for Seth Jones.

I really hope he does develop into a star player in this league someday, and I think this matchup against the Blue Jackets in December will be the perfect time to check in on him and also for Blackhawks fans to give him a nice round of applause on his return to the United Center.

5. March 6th against Tampa Bay Lightning – The champs come to town

The Tampa Bay Lightning controlled the Blackhawks this past season, pretty much every time the two teams met. This season should hopefully be different for the Hawks, and that will be what I am watching on March 6th when the champs come to town.

I cannot wait for these matchups, but most of all I cannot wait for hockey to be back in general! October cannot come soon enough.