David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
We’ve completed two weeks of NHL hockey and the big storylines are starting to already form. Here’s a look at three things we learned from the past week:
The Chicago Blackhawks start has been a nightmare
Everything that could go wrong on ice has gone wrong for Chicago. The Blackhawks are currently sitting at 0-5-1, have allowed the most goals in the league so far and have yet to take a lead in a game, setting a new league record due to that fact. The Blackhawks have now gone 360:57 minutes without taking a lead, surpassing the old mark of 324:25 set by the 1970-71 Oakland Seals.
Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat have combined for just three goals in six games. Defensively, keeping the puck out of the Hawks’ net has been a struggle, with the team allowing four or more goals in every game so far. Not good when you have the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as your No. 1.
The coaching tenure of Jeremy Colliton has come into question once more with the team being booed off of the United Center ice and in their most recent loss to the Detroit Red Wings. It hasn’t been pretty run, and with some off-season changes meant to shake things up, he simply hasn’t gotten the job done.
Of course, it’s been a rough few months after thanks to the Brad Aldrich-related lawsuits and calls to see Stan Bowman removed as GM. There are nearly zero positives in Chicago right now and it wouldn’t be surprising to see either Colliton, Bowman or both departing before this season is over.
Connor McDavid has gone to another level
Last season saw Connor McDavid accomplish what looked like a near-impossible task: hitting the 100-point mark in a 56-game season. The Oilers’ captain has shown once again he’s a step above the rest of the league as he currently leads the NHL in scoring with 13 points in his first five games.
McDavid also hit the 200 career goal mark on the Oilers first road trip of the season this past Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. The 200th goal came in his 411th game, making the Newmarket, Ont. native the fourth fastest player to reach the mark in franchise history.
At only 24 years old, Edmonton’s franchise center is only going to continue to evolve and the possibility of him surpassing his career high of 116 points certainly looks to be in play this season.
The Red Wings rookies came to play
In Detroit, a pair of rookies have been making headlines in Red Wings colours in the form of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. In Detroit’s 6-3 win over Chicago on Sunday, Raymond would become the first teenager to record a hat trick since his GM Steve Yzerman did it twice to kick off his playing career.
Defenseman Moritz Seider is turning heads with five points in five games with the Red Wings and sitting third on team scoring. Seider is also getting attention for the reason why he picked No.53 for his jersey number.
Seider going with Herbie’s number may be one of the most unique stories of a rookie deciding what to wear in the NHL. There is no word yet on if any other players around the league have used a Disney movie to decide what number they should go with.
