Blackhawks at risk of tying 50 year old record that no team wants
With only two games left in the season, Chicago Blackhawks writer Ben Pope has found an embarrassing statistic: the Blackhawks have zero goals scored from defenceman on the power play this season.
The last time that happened in a full NHL season was the 1970-71 Buffalo Sabres, in their first-ever season.
This season for Chicago was a puzzling one, with the off-season acquisitions of Marc-Andre Fleury and Seth Jones hinting that that Blackhawks saw themselves as a playoff team. That expectation has crumbled, partly resulting in full organizational overhaul of the hockey management staff, and being sellers at the deadline.
Still, no other team since the 1970 Buffalo Sabres have went a complete season without a power play goal from a defenceman. It's especially disappointing for their $9.5M dollar man, Seth Jones.
Erik Gustafsson's comments from last night tell us that the D core will be looking to make sure this record won't stand the rest of the season. It's meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but it'd feel good for the players to avoid a worst-of-all-time statistic.
| POLL | ||
Will the Blackhawks tie the record? | ||
| Yes | 68 | 53.1 % |
| No | 60 | 46.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
