If the playoffs started today, the Chicago Blackhawks wouldn’t be in them.
Of course, the playoffs don’t start today. They don’t start for, oh, around 150 days.
Still, ‘Hawks coach Joel Quenneville is concerned.
“It’s early in the year, but at the same time, you look at our division, everybody picks up points on a nightly basis, and [when] you lose ground like you do last night, it’s tough to recapture,” he said today, per the Chicago Sun-Times. “We know how tough it’s going to be down the road. It’s not going to get any easier.”
Actually, it might get a little easier, because Duncan Keith is back. The Conn Smythe Trophy-winning defenseman will play Saturday in St. Louis. So will Michal Rozsival.
Keith missed 10 games following knee surgery. The ‘Hawks went 5-4-1 while he was gone, but they’re 2-4-1 in their last seven, including last night’s home loss to the Devils.
Q said #Blackhawks should be extra motivated tomorrow not because of last Blues game, but last night's game. "I'm still angry, still upset."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 13, 2015
Related: ‘Hawks take Rozsival (ankle) off LTIR, send Gustafsson to minors