The Blackhawks are already more than halfway to their road win total from last season.
After posting a 7-32-2 mark on the road in 2023-24 — the NHL’s worst road record by any team since 1997-98 — the Hawks are now 4-4-1 on the road less than a month into 2024-25.
Seth Jones predicted that improvement back in training camp, anticipating the experience provided by the Hawks’ plethora of veteran additions would make an especially big difference in travel situations.
That’s because last year’s Hawks found it nearly impossible to right the ship in hostile environments. When one or two things went wrong, opposing crowds riled up and their opponents smelled blood, things usually spiraled out of control.
“Being a little bit more veteran — understanding that we might have to win a road game 2-1 or 1-0, or go to overtime and be OK with it and be comfortable — it’s going to be important for us this year,” Jones said Sept. 19.
There’s no denying this year’s Hawks have proven more resilient in those situations. Their shootout win Saturday at the Kings offered a prime example: they played poorly for two periods, realized at the second intermission that a 2-0 deficit was nonetheless surmountable, made some tactical adjustments and rallied back. That script never unfolded last season.
They easily could be better than 4-4-1, in fact. Excluding empty-net goals, all five road losses have been by one goal, and they came within inches of forcing overtime in Utah, Dallas and San Jose before finally doing so in Los Angeles.
“Even when we don’t play good, like in L.A., but we still came back and won the game, that helps for the future, too,” forward Lukas Reichel said Tuesday. “Last year, it felt like we never really came back. They scored two or three, and it was not over — we still tried — but it was tough to get back. It’s just a mentality.”
Added coach Luke Richardson: “We dial it back in a lot quicker now, and we get refocused. That has to say a lot about the leadership of the team.”
Interestingly, the Hawks’ summer 2024 veteran additions haven’t contributed too much to their improvement. Teuvo Teravainen started well but slumped on this past five-game trip (before finally scoring Sunday against the Ducks), whereas Tyler Bertuzzi knocked in the crucial game-tying goal Saturday but has been quiet in five-on-five play.
Craig Smith and Pat Maroon have stabilized the fourth line — and Smith’s four goals during five-on-five play have been a nice bonus — but neither of them are major difference-makers. And Ilya Mikheyev has tallied only two points, one of which was an empty-netter.
Outside of the forwards, the new additions have been even less noticeable. T.J. Brodie has been benched, Alec Martinez will miss a 10th consecutive game due to his groin injury Wednesday (at home against the Red Wings) and goalie Laurent Brossoit hasn’t played at all due to his meniscus surgery.
Conversely, the Hawks’ improvement has been largely driven by returnees and/or prospects. Reichel, Ryan Donato, Arvid Soderblom and Nolan Allan have all greatly exceeded expectations, while Connor Bedard, Jones, Vlasic and Petr Mrazek have continued carrying their weight as the pillars of the roster.
The Hawks’ schedule has been very road-heavy so far, with nine of their 13 games away from home. That’s partly because Richardson likes long October road trips, which force the players to bond with each other while away from their families, and partly because the league likes using the Hawks as the opponent in other teams’ home openers.
That pattern will continue through Dec. 27, by which point 21 of their 36 games will have been on the road, before balancing out with a home-heavy January.