The Blackhawks might regret spending the last days of training camp and first two games of the regular season in Europe. It's been a taxing trip on the players, what with the eight-hour time change between Chicago and Helsinki. It was a good project for team bonding and good for the NHL to expose its product beyond North America, but now the Hawks have to adjust their body clocks all over again for the return to the U.S. and still another road game in Detroit on Thursday. This little stretch of three games is the first good measure of the Hawks this season.
Was Europe a good idea?
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Adam L. Jahns is a native Chicagoan hailing from the Far Northwest Side. Jahns has been with the Sun-Times for more than four years, covering the Hawks, Bears, Cubs, Sox and high schools.
As someone who attended both games in Zurich (native Chicagoan living in Europe) I would say yes it was.
If nothing else, for the bonding exercise our young team needed, and I think it will pay off in spades and possibly be that little extra they needed to think and play as one.
Detroit (as you know) has the same travel/time issues to overcome by Thursday so that's no disadvantage to us.
Given there were a ton of empty seats at both games, particularly up front, I dont see what the point is---Europe just apparently isnt that interested in the NHL---I would have thought it would be SRO, and lines around the block just to get a glimpse of it all...wasnt the case at all. Guess like the IOC, Europeans just dont care all that much to go see anything "American"---hawks, panthers...or was it just a Finland problem?
Why are we doing this again? Bettman wants the NHL to go to Europe?