The Blackhawks are opening their 101st season in a familiar place: under the microscope, trying to start the year with something sturdier than hope. Chicago heads to Vegas to face the Golden Knights, and the night carries an extra layer of intrigue because Patrick Kane is back in a Blackhawks sweater. He’s already the club’s second all-time leading scorer, and now he’s closing in on another piece of franchise history.
Kane will play in his 17th Opening Night with Chicago, and he arrives with 19 points in those games. One more point against the Golden Knights would push him past Bobby Hull and leave him tied with Stan Mikita for the most Opening Night points in team history.
That chase puts a spotlight on a small group of Blackhawks who have consistently shown up when the season begins. Over 100 seasons, only seven Chicago players have reached double digits in Opening Night scoring.
Mikita sits at the top with 20 points, built on five goals and 15 assists across 20 years. The Hall of Famer’s Opening Night résumé is all about setup work; his 15 assists lead every Blackhawks player, and he piled up 68 shots on goal, also the most in team history for the first game of the season. He never scored an Opening Night game-winner.
Right behind him is Kane, whose 19 points have come in 16 games. He has seven goals and 12 assists in season openers, and he needs only one point in his return to Chicago to catch Mikita. Kane is second behind Hull in even-strength goals in these games and has 58 shots on goal, which ranks third.
Hull, fittingly, is right in the middle of that conversation. The “Golden Jet” put up 19 points in 13 Opening Night appearances, including 11 goals.
He owns the Blackhawks’ goal record in first games and also finished with a plus-15 mark, the best in team history for an Opening Night performer. His 1.46 points-per-game pace is the best among Chicago skaters with more than four Opening Night games, and he scored two game-winners, making him one of four Blackhawks with more than one.
Denis Savard rounds out the next tier with 16 points in 12 season openers. The Hall of Famer scored seven goals and added nine assists, good for a 1.33 points-per-game average. That total is second all-time among Blackhawks skaters who played at least 10 Opening Night games.
Steve Larmer posted 13 points in 11 Opening Night contests, with six goals and seven assists. The Calder Trophy winner and five-time 40-goal scorer also had an Opening Night game-winner, putting him among 36 Chicago players to do it.
Bob Murray finished with 11 points in 12 season-opening lineups over his 15-year Blackhawks career from 1975 to 1990. The defenseman scored three goals and set up eight more, and he’s one of nine Chicago players with a shorthanded goal in the first game of the season.
Jonathan Toews completes the list at 10 points, earned over 14 season openers from 2008 to 2022. Chicago’s longest-serving captain had three goals and seven assists, finished with a plus-10 mark in those games, and never scored an Opening Night game-winner.
In Other News...
Blackhawks Need More From Their Offense And Kane May Be Central
The Blackhawks are looking for a jolt after their season-opening loss to Vegas, and the top of the lineup is getting a fresh look for the next stop against Utah. The previous first line did not generate enough, and with Andrew Mangiapane sidelined by a lower-body injury, the staff has been forced to reshuffle the forwards in search of more balance and a little more punch.
Patrick Kane now appears set to be part of that answer, skating alongside Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi in a combination that showed some encouraging signs in limited time together. Frondell and Kane have both spoken positively about their early shifts, and for a team trying to steady its attack early in the season, how quickly that line clicks could matter a lot. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Face Early Lineup Uncertainty Ahead Of Utah Test
The Blackhawks head into their second game of the regular season with a bit of lineup uncertainty, but one familiar name appears set to be back in the mix. Chicago is getting ready to face the Utah Mammoth in Utahs home opener, and recent practice looks to have given a clearer picture of how the Hawks might line up after the opening night sweep of questions that often comes with an early-season road trip. Arvid Soderblom is projected to start in goal for Chicago, while Karel Vejmelka is expected to get the call for Utah.
Teuvo Teravainen is expected to play, which at least gives Chicago a stabilizing presence as it sorts through the rest of the forward group. The bigger issue is that the Blackhawks are still waiting on some clarity before puck drop, and the opening-night setting in Salt Lake City adds a little extra pressure to get the details right. For a team still settling into the season, this is the sort of early test that can reveal more about the lineup than the practice sheet does. [Read more 🡒]
Blackhawks Top-Six Shakeup Puts Early Pressure On Game 2 In Utah
The Blackhawks were back on the ice in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, trying to settle some things down before their game against the Utah Mammoth after opening the season with a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Head coach Jeff Blashill had to juggle his forward groups during practice, a reminder that the first few days of the schedule can still feel like roster maintenance as much as game prep.
Andrew Mangiapanes lower-body injury is what triggered the latest forward-line changes, and the early-season uncertainty does not stop there. Connor Bedard is with the team in Utah, but he has still not been cleared to practice with the club, leaving Chicago to navigate its next step without its captain fully back in the mix. As the Blackhawks sort out their top six, the rest of the division has its own news, with Colorado extending head coach Jared Bednar through the 2030-31 season. [Read more 🡒]