NHL.com's 2007-08 Blackhawks Season Preview Package: |
Intro | Goalies | Defense | Forwards | Feature | Numbers | Sked | Roster |
Advantage Margin: -79
The Hawks were minus-20 in power plays at home, but an unreal minus-59 away from the United Center. They had almost the same number of power plays at home (186) as they did on the road, but allowed 243 power plays away from Chicago.
Even-Strength Goals Margin: -27
Martin Havlat was the only Blackhawk to score 20 even-strength goals — and he did it despite missing 26 games due to injury. The Hawks saw their second-highest scorer, Jeff Hamilton, leave as a free agent.
Special Teams Goal Margin: -29
Not surprisingly, given all the extra power plays they enjoyed, Chicago’s opponents outscored the Blackhawks by 35 goals on the power play, though the penalty killers countered with a dozen shorthanded goals.
Category |
Rank
(Conference / NHL) |
2006-07 Points |
71
(13th West / 26th NHL) |
Change From 2005-06 |
+7 |
Home Points |
38
(15th West / 29th NHL) |
Road Points |
33
(12th West / 25th NHL) |
Goals by defensemen: 21
No Chicago defenseman had more than five goals last season, and Brent Seabrook is the only one on the current roster to score as many as four. Lack of firepower on the back line is one reason the Hawks struggled so badly on the power play.
Goals by forwards: 174
Havlat and Patrick Sharp (20) were the only Blackhawks to score as many as 20 goals. There’s plenty of opportunity available for newcomers Robert Lang and Sergei Samsonov, as well as rookies Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Overtime Record: 9-2-7 (OT: 3-2, SO: 6-7)
The Hawks may miss Hamilton in shootouts; he was one of the NHL’s better shooters (5-for-10). Chicago goaltenders stopped only 26 of 45 shots, a poor .578 save percentage when goalies stop about two of every three attempts.
Times Scored First/Record: 40 (Record: 22-12-6)
The Blackhawks actually scored the first goal in almost half their games, a jump from 33 in 2005-06. The bad part is that they got only 21 points when they didn’t score first.
Best 06-07 Number: 87.5
Chicago’s penalty-killing percentage at home, the second-best in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks allowed only 25 power-play goals at home in 200 chances and scored six shorthanded goals.
Worst 06-07 Number: 16
Power-play goals scored by the Blackhawks at home, by far the lowest total in the NHL. The Blackhawks’ 8.9 power-play percentage at home was by far the worst in the NHL (Carolina was next at 13.9 percent).
Scheduling:
The Blackhawks play 11 of their first 17 at home before their annual November trip, a six-game swing. They also have a seven-game trip after the All-Star break as part of a stretch in which they play 10 of 11 games away from the United Center.
NHL.com's 2007-08 Blackhawks Season Preview Package: |
Intro | Goalies | Defense | Forwards | Feature | Numbers | Sked | Roster |
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