By Stephen Nover
Blackhawks minus $1.05 hosting Hurricanes
I want the Blackhawks going for me in their first game since Joel Quenneville was fired. The price certainly is right to take them.
The Blackhawks return from a three-game road trip through Western Canada having dropped five in a row. The Blackhawks are in true circle-the-wagons mode. Chicago was 6-4 before this trip.
Quenneville is an elite coach with the resume to prove it – second-winningest coach in NHL history and three Stanley Cup winners with the Blackhawks. But the Quenneville era in Chicago had run its course. Jeremy Colliton is the new coach and the youngest in the league at 33. Early reports are good that he’s a strong communicator and can provide the Blackhawks a spark they have needed for more than a year now.
Carolina hasn’t been playing well either. The Hurricanes have lost five consecutive games. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Carolina has managed only seven goals in its last five games.
Chicago should have a huge goalie edge, too, with Corey Crawford opposing Scott Darling, who was a backup in Chicago for three years before going to the Hurricanes last season. I’m not a fan of Darling, who has a 3.14 goals against average and an .893 save percentage.
(Editor’s note: Stephen Nover is going for his third straight winning NHL season and is 7-1-1 on his last nine hockey plays. If you are interested in obtaining Stephen’s picks please email or message him.)
