What to expect on opening night for the Chicago Blackhawks
By Jim Lynch
It was fun watching Connor Bedard throughout the preseason. There were moments where Bedard shined, but the regular season is where things really will matter. Tonight, Connor Bedard kicks of his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks.
What to expect on opening night for the Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks take the ice for the first time of the regular season tonight. They are in Pittsburgh taking on the new look Pittsburgh Penguins under general manager Kyle Dubas. Dubas has done a great job rebuilding the Penguins roster this summer, and this is a big moment for their team having added Erik Karlsson in the offseason.
With that in mind, this is not a game the Blackhawks are going to be favored, but it is still an opportunity to watch Connor Bedard make his NHL debut, an event that Sidney Crosby can definitely relate to.
Blackhawks fans can expect a nice introduction to the Hawks roster in tonights game. This team added a lot of new faces this offseason and it will be exciting to see Taylor Hall and Corey Perry in Blackhawks uniforms.
Here is the opening night roster for the Blackhawks:
Forwards:
Andreas Athanasiou
Connor Bedard
Jason Dickinson
Ryan Donato
MacKenzie Entwistle
Nick Foligno
Cole Guttman
Taylor Hall
Reese Johnson
Tyler Johnson
Boris Katchouk
Corey Perry
Taylor Raddysh
Lukas Reichel
Defensemen:
Seth Jones
Wyatt Kaiser
Kevin Korchinski
Connor Murphy
Jarred Tinordi
Alex Vlasic
Nikita Zaitsev
Goalies:
Petr Mrazek
Arvid Söderblom
All eyes will be on Connor Bedard tonight to see what he can do in his NHL debut. Will he score his first goal in his first game? That hands down has to be the biggest expectation heading into tonight’s game. Can Connor Bedard find the back of the net? With that said, that won’t be the only big storyline on the night.
Lukas Reichel is making the jump to center after spending most of his time on the wing last season. How he does against a skilled team in Pittsburgh will be a big thing to watch tonight. It seems that Luke Richardson expects him to run with the second line center role throughout this season, so how he does tonight could indicate how the year goes.
With all that in mind, tonight is just game one of 82, and tonight actually kicks of game one of a five game road trip for the Hawks. If tonight’s game does not go well the team won’t have to wait long to get back on the ice as they play again on Wednesday night in Boston. Back to back games to kick off the 2023-24 season, welcome to the NHL.