8th and FINAL pre-season game: Hawks vs. Avalanche

The excitement is definitely building. We are only five days away from the regular season opener in New York, and tonight will be the final pre-season game the Hawks will play. The Hawks will be trying to finish out with a 6-1-1 record in pre-season, but mostly they are probably just looking forward to starting the season and beginning the quest for the cup. The roster currently stands at 31, so eight more cuts have to be made to get it down to 23 for the start of the season. It'll be interesting to see who sticks around and makes the final cut and who gets sent down to Rockford within the next few days.

The Hawks roughed up the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Friday night, 7-4, a game where Byfuglien and Havlat both had two goals and Patrick Kane added three assists of his own.

Tonight's game is going on be on WGN Radio, with no TV, but the good news? This is the last game for the year that we will not be able to see on television. Pretty awesome, eh? Let's hope the Hawks can finish up the pre-season strong tonight, and hopefully Friday hurries up and gets here soon.