And so it begins all over again, with the dawn of a new hockey season upon us as the Chicago Blackhawks head west and are the first team to face the recently relocated Utah Hockey Club in a building with fond memories for Chicago sports fans of a certain age.
There will certainly be a buzz in the building for this hockey game, though, as the former Arizona Coyotes suit up in front of their new fans for the first time while in the midst of their own lengthy rebuild. This franchise has made the playoffs only one time since 2013 and, like a certain other team we know, were only invited to the postseason dance because of an expanded playoff field in 2020 triggered by a pandemic.
But Utah bolstered its blue line in the offseason with trades that added Mikhail Sergachev from Tampa and John Marino from New Jersey while inking pending free agent Sean Durzi to a four-year deal that gives the HC a trio of experienced NHLers on that part of the ice. Or at least it would if Marino wasn’t sidelined with an upper-body injury to start the season. But Sergachev’s presence gives Utah a player who could be considered the team’s No. 1 defenseman for the next several seasons. That spot clearly belonged to Victor Hedman in Tampa, so Sergachev couldn’t fully audition for that role, but Sergachev now has the chance to prove worthy of said label following draft-day trade.
Most of the familiar names here are up at forward, though, including old friend Nick Schmaltz, who finished with 61 points (22 G, 39 A) last season after knocking on the 60-point plateau door with point totals of 58 and 59 in the two prior seasons. That was good for second on the team last season, trailing now-team-captain Clayton Keller, who finished with 76 (33 G, 43 A) in 78 games last season. The more intriguing forwards are 20-year-old Logan Cooley and 21-year-old Dylan Guenther, with the latter signing an 8-year extension last month to solidify his spot in this franchise’s long-term plans. Guenther had 35 points (18 G, 17 A) in 45 games last season while Cooley added 44 (20 G, 24 A) in his 82-game rookie season. Other youngsters to keep an eye on include 2018 No. 5 overall pick Barrett Hayton and 2019 fourth-rounder Matias Maccelli, who’s already well outperformed his initial draft positioning. Cooley seems to be the focal point for this rebuild going forward as a No. 3 overall pick and there was enough offensive firepower here for Utah to finish 17th in the league with 3.10 goals per game last season. Should players like Cooley, Guenther and more take significant steps forward this season, perhaps Utah gets within striking distance of the postseason appearance that some projections have the Hockey Club making come April 2025.
In net, 27-year-old Connor Ingram is the clear No. 1 choice after holding up admirably behind a less-than-stellar defense in the prior season. But more steps forward from him will also be required if Utah is going to be achieve the postseason dreams circling in the collective mind of the franchise at the moment. Ingram is in net for the new team’s new season:
As for the visiting Blackhawks, the door could not be closed fast enough on a miserable preseason, with the only win coming when a prospect-heavy side defeated a prospect-heavy Blues lineup in Milwaukee. It’s the veterans returning to the lineup for this game and for the early portions of the season, with so many of Chicago’s intriguing prospects currently plying their trades in Rockford.
No surprises to the lineup, which looks exactly like it did from practice on Monday. That means Ilya Mikheyev and Teuvo Teravainen flanking Connor Bedard on the top line and a second line of Taylor Hall, Philipp Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi. Lukas Reichel and Andreas Athanasiou will watch from the press box while Petr Mrazek starts in net and Nolan Allan makes his NHL debut alongside D partner Connor Murphy. It’ll be interesting to see coach Luke Richardson deploys his D pairings in this game, although being on the road without the benefit of last change will make that a steeper challenge.
Should be an electric atmosphere in Utah to start the game and Chicago will likely need to weather a rather potent storm in the opening 20 minutes as the players on the ice will almost certainly be just as charged up as the Utah fans will be. After that initial onslaught, though, this is a team far from a juggernaut and battling back over the final 40 minutes for a positive outcome by the end of the full 60 would do wonders for the mood around 1901 W. Madison, which has felt awfully gloomy for the last week or two, hasn’t it?
Wouldn’t hurt if Bedard did something cool, too.
Let’s go Hawks!
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Utah Hockey Club
43.71% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 48.53% (22nd)
42.37% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 48.49% (23rd)
2.17 (32nd) — Goals per game — 3.10 (17th)
3.52 (29th) — Goals against per game — 3.34 (25th)
46.3% (29th) — Faceoffs — 45.1% (31st)
16.60% (28h) — Power play — 21.99% (15th)
75.76% (27th) — Penalty kill — 76.32% (25th)
(All stats from last season)
How to Watch
When: 9 p.m. CT
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City
TV: ESPN (no antenna necessary!)
Webstream: ESPN+, Hulu
Radio: WGN 720