Foley: Blackhawks In Need Of Long Road Trip
For the most part, players don't like living out of a suitcase for two weeks. But in some circumstances, some time on the road is a welcome change and can bring a team together.
"This is an overdue opportunity to get out on the road and get away," Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley said on the Danny Mac Show. "The Blackhawks, I'm not sure have ever played this many home games this early in the season. I can guarantee you it will not happen again at this level."
LISTEN: Pat Foley On The Danny Mac Show
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When at home, players can have more distractions and more things to do outside of the team. However, on the road, the players spend more time with each other and can start to build team chemistry.
"[The Blackhawks] haven't even had a three or four game trip to just be out for a week and hang out together. Now, as you're well aware, half of this team is new and they are in much need of this time together where they are relying upon one another on an all-day everyday basis to get to know everything," Foley said.
However, this road trip just can't be about building team chemistry. The Blackhawks need to do some serious work on the ice to dig themselves out of the early season hole they're in.
"They can't come home under .500 on this trip," Foley said. "In fact, I think they need to be above, but that's the situation that they're in. They're at the quarter pole of the season, they're a .500 team and that not nearly good enough. You're going to have to be at least 12 games over .500 to get into the [playoffs]."
