NEWSLETTER
When the Chicago Blackhawks woke up in warm, beautiful Florida on Nov. 10, there were questions from some beat reporters about why they were better on the road than they were at home. After beating the Lightning 5-3 the prior evening, the Blackhawks’ season record stood at 5-7-0. Their road record at the time was 4-4-0 and they were 1-3-0 at home.
That win in Tampa on Nov. 9 remains the Blackhawks’ most recent road victory. And, now, this year’s team has tied a a franchise record for futility set 20 years ago.
Thursday night’s 3-0 loss in Edmonton is the Blackhawks’ 19th consecutive road loss, tying a mark set during the 2003-04 season. As was noted via a tweet in yesterday’s bullets, only four teams have ever lost more than 19 consecutive road games in a single season in NHL history.
Here’s the all-time road loss streaks inside a single NHL season “leader” board:
HOWEVER, Ben Pope pointed out there may be hope in the Blackhawks’ final game before the all-star break on Saturday night when they close out this trip in Calgary.
Here’s more reason for… hope… I guess?
So, if we look at the other team to reach this level of road futility in a season, the Blackhawks have a pretty good chance of drafted in the top three overall. Yes, I know there wasn’t a draft lottery in the 1980s. And yes, I know the Blackhawks drafting third in 2004 means they missed on Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin and landed… Cam Barker.
