Back in Black"hawks"

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are back on the same line again! I feel like breaking out my old VHS tapes of "Welcome Back Kotter". Ohhhh what good memories of that TV Show. It's been over six years, since Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane played on the same line together.That's a long time! However, I can understand why it took so longer. The Blackhawks have constantly been one of the best "complete" teams in the league, during the past 6 years. (with 3 Stanley Cup's to show for) They had no need to put all their eggs in one basket.

However, the "cap era", and the lose of several key players to free agency, left the Hawks sputtering out of the gates this year. So it was time for a shake up, and that is what Coach Quenneville did. Six games together = Six wins. (With Kane scoring 8 points during that stretch) Strangely enough, the changes helped balance out their top 6 forwards.

1st Line: Nick Schmaltz/Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane

2nd line: Artemi Panarin/Artem Anisimov/Marian Hossa

That's a VERY dangerous top 6! If you focus defending one line, the other line can burn you. So it creates a headache for opposing teams to play against. Chicago already has 8 players with 10 points or more through 14 games:

Kane: 17 points

Anisimov: 17 points

Panarin: 15 points

Hossa: 12 points

Keith: 11 points

Seabrook: 10 points

Panik: 10 points

Toews: 10 points

So that is 102 points between those 8 players. Wowzers, that is pretty impressive! Even more astonishing is Chicago's team numbers:

GF% = 59.3 (Goals For percentage = 100* GF / (GF + GA))

Sh% = 12.09 (Shooting Percentage)

OZFO% = 36.3 ( Percentage of face offs that took place in the offensive zone)

So globally the team has been doing very well. There is one other team statistic that I want to mention. The Hawks are 18th in league for faceoff's won. (49.4%) That is below the league average. However, Jonathan Toews has been a beast in the faceoff circle,(60.2%) the best in the league. Toews might not always light up the score sheet, but he is truly a complete player. One of the best captains in the league. Yes, I am a Hawks fan, and yes I am wearing a Toews jersey on my facebook page., so my opinion might be bias to some. Still you can't doubt the talent he has. A true captain in my mind, and I am not trying to be a homer here. ;-)

Will Kane and Toews continue to play the full season on the same line? Will they continue to have success together? That is still uncertain. However, for now, I am going to put on that ACDC record, and sing it loudly, as the Hawks are "Back in Black".