Legace saw his shadow - 4 more weeks til the Blues are eliminated from the playoffs: February Monthly Preview

So this is not the month to try to go out and see the Hawks play at the United Center.  With the Bulls sucking and football officially over, the Hawks are the biggest ticket in Chicago (unless you count Jersey Boys or some other lame shit like that maybe).  Ticket prices for the Stars and Pens games are absurdly high.  I realized I was out of town for the Stars game and sold my two tickets for well above face-value.  Before you call me a dick though, know that I'm using that money for extra tickets for the Pens game.. so it evens out in some way.

If you look at the schedule it's obviously a bit intimidating.  The Hawks barely play at home and don't have two in a row in Chicago all month.  However if you look at the teams they're playing it's not so bad.  The Penguins are the only scary team the Hawks will play from the East.  They haven't played well for a while now but I doubt that'll last forever.  They could be a much better team by the end of the month.

The best in the Western they'll face are the Flames, who haven't beat the Hawks yet.  Thankfully that game will get out of the way on Thursday and the Hawks will hopefully be riding a hot streak with two wins a row at that point.  I'd imagine our neighbors to the North (and the west) are little tired of losing to the Hawks though so watch for them to be gunning for the men of four feathers. 

Check out after the jump for more numbers:

Lets do the monthly poll too:

Home Games: 3... I know it's a short month and all.. but hell.. only 3?

Road Games: 9

Avg. points of opponents: 51

Central Division Games: 2 (St. Louis and Nashville)

Teams the Hawks have NOT already played this year: Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Florida, Shitsburgh

Record against teams they HAVE played: 12-4-3 (the western canada teams really help this record)

Longest Road Trip: The whole month is basically a road trip.  We're three games into an 8 game trip to start the month.  Then the first game at home leads to another 3 game trip.  It leads into a much more home-friendly schedule for March though.

Sets of Back-to-back Games:  Just one St. Louis then Dallas

Games to look forward to:  The opening trip to Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver could be a hell of a trip since the Hawks are currently undefeated against these teams.  Can they keep that up?  Unlikely, but hell, why not?

The rivalry may be more between our readers and those of St. Louis Game Time, but that should be a fun game to watch.  Hopefully the Hawks beat the piss out of those punks.  

The two games against Dallas a week apart could be interesting.  The Hawks have scored 5 and 6 goals in the games against the Stars this year but Dallas has been playing better of late (6-2-2 in the last 10).  Those games were fun to watch so lets hope for two more.

Speaking of playing well - that's exactly what the Penguins haven't been doing this year.  The Hawks lost in a shootout to the Pens in the 06-07 season but won 4-1 Crosby's rookie season.  If all goes according to Bettman's plan.. this could be a match we see in the Stanley Cup Finals one day.. lets hope it turns out better for our Hawks than the last time that happened.  Also, my ex-roommate and good friend from Pittsburgh is coming out for the game

On pace for:

Record of: 46-13-8 ( 100 points exactly)

Most goals: Patrick Sharp - 38 goal (two better than last year)

Most points: Patrick Kane - 79 points (though he's slumping and Toews is starting to gain)

Most PIM: Ben Eager - 169.6 (Burish ain't even close this year)

Most hits: Brent Seabrook - 208 (Buff is close)

Most annoying fans:  A tie between St. Louis and Detroit