Here we are at the NHL Christmas break, and the Chicago Blackhawks are 32 games into their 2022-23 season. They have a record of 8-20-4 (20 points), which is currently dead last in the NHL. It’s been a rough road to follow this team in this rebuilding season, and we’re not even halfway through yet.
Related – Blackhawks By the Numbers: Thanksgiving Edition
But the show must go on, and I’m here to provide you the Blackhawks’ numbers and statistics on this Christmas holiday. There have been some surprising developments since our Thanksgiving edition. Let’s dive in.
Blackhawks Point Leaders
It’s appropriate that I write this article just after the Blackhawks second win in December, and a feel-good victory going into the Christmas break. On Dec. 23, the Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2, raising the leaders’ points even more.
Leaders With 11 Goals, Toews & Domi
Jonathan Toews led in goals on Halloween and Thanksgiving. He now has some competition, as he and Max Domi are currently tied with 11 goals. These are also both your No. 1 and No. 2 centers. Taylor Raddysh is right behind them with 10 tallies.
On a more talented team, you would expect your leaders to have more goals through 32 games. But here we are nonetheless. I hope we can discuss a bit of a breakout at some point later in the season.
Leader With 20 Assists, Kane
Patrick Kane has steered the ship in the assists department the entire season so far. That’s right, Kane currently leads the team with 20 assists. He’s also leading by a pretty decent margin. Domi is in second place with 12 helpers. Interestingly, Philipp Kurashev comes in third with 10 assists.
Kane scored just his fifth goal on Dec. 23 versus the Blue Jackets. While this stat is pretty disappointing, it’s obvious that Kane leads the way in production. As exhibited in the next section.
Leader With 25 Points, Kane
You guessed it, Kane is the leader in points as well, just like he’s been all season, with 25. But Domi is right on his heels with 23 points. Toews is in third place with 20 points.
Patrick Kane sets up Jonathan Toews, who buries it. They both have 3 points tonight. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/DZuoTDJIrz
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 24, 2022
In their most recent game against the Blue Jackets, Toews and Kane both boasted three-point nights. It was also the 300th time the two have combined for a goal.
Top Defensive Statistics
- Although he’s out with an injury, Jarred Tinordi is still leading with 92 hits for the Blackhawks. The defenseman is projected to be out for a while due to surgery he had for a facial fracture. He’s had a string of bad luck, receiving 75 stitches because of a skate to the chin just a few days before getting hit in the face with a puck. Depending on how long he’s out, either Jake McCabe (64 hits) or Connor Murphy (62 hits) might catch him.
- McCabe has usurped Murphy with 73 blocked shots to the latter’s 65. McCabe has also recently been promoted to the first defensive pairing with Seth Jones. This will likely give him more of an opportunity to up his stats.
- Speaking of which, Jones continues to lead the way with 24:40 average minutes of ice time. Jack Johnson is in second place with 20:18 minutes. But Johnson was demoted from the first defensive pairing in favor of McCabe, so I could see this changing in the future.
- Johnson also boasts 41 shots on goal, which is second in defenseman (to Jones) on the team. But he still doesn’t have that elusive first goal for the Blackhawks. Ironically, his only goal of the season last year was against the Blackhawks in their very first game of the season. Can he get it done again this season?
- The Blackhawks have added a couple new defensemen to the mix in the name of injuries and development. Ian Mitchell got two games in November, and just participated in his fifth game in December. The 23-year-old boasts two assists, eight blocked shots, and one hit while averaging 16:41 minutes of ice time. Great opportunity for the kid.
Related – Blackhawks’ Ian Mitchell Has Earned a Regular Roster Spot
- Meanwhile, Isaak Phillips has played in the Blackhawks’ last two contests. He’s in the lineup for the injured Tinordi. His stats include four shots on goal, six hits, one blocked shot, and one takeaway in 15:54 minutes of ice time. We shall see how the young blueliner’s game translates to the NHL level.
Miscellaneous Stats for the Blackhawks
- Domi and Andreas Athanasiou have been the takeaway leaders for the Blackhawks this season. At the Christmas mark Domi has 27 takeaways, while Athanasiou has 22. We also have a new member to the action; Jason Dickinson is credited with 22 takeaways as well.
- Kane is leading by a mile with 120 shots on goal (Domi is second with just 70 shots). In the game versus the Nashville Predators on Dec. 21, Kane was credited with eight shots on goal. Against the Blue Jackets two nights later, he registered seven shots on goal. It really is amazing that he’s only found the back of the net five times this season. His shooting percentage is a dismal 4.2%.
- Raddysh has the best shooting percentage on the team, at 22.2%. Toews comes in second at 18.6%, while Domi is third at 15.7%. No coincidence that these are also your top goal scorers.
- Moving on to a few of the more negative stats. Domi is still leading the charge with 37 penalty minutes. Toews isn’t too far behind him with 33 penalty minutes. Murphy and Reese Johnson come in third with 25 penalty minutes.
- Just like at Thanksgiving, Toews and Domi are leading in the giveaways department, with 27 and 24 respectively. Athanasiou comes in third with 23 giveaways.
Faceoff Finesse
The Blackhawks are still leading the entire league with a 56.9% overall faceoff success percentage. Remember in the past when this team was terrible at winning faceoffs, and we thought reversing that trend would be a start in the right direction? Well, be careful what you wish for. Because the Blackhawks are still doing a whole lot of losing despite this impressive stat. Nonetheless, here is a look at the individual player numbers. Their Thanksgiving numbers are in parentheses.
- Toews, 65.6% (64.4% before)
- Domi, 55.6% (58.7% before)
- Dickinson, 50.9% (50% before)
- Lafferty, 52.3% (49% before)
- MacKenzie Entwistle, 50% (58.7% before)
- Jujhar Khaira, 61.7%
The Blackhawks are currently utilizing Dickinson and Khaira at center right now versus Lafferty and Entwistle. It speaks a lot for the entire team that no matter who you put in the middle, they’re getting the job done at the dot.
Blackhawks Special Teams Stats
While the power play has held its own, the penalty kill has dipped a little bit for the Blackhawks.
Power Play
The Blackhawks currently rank 18th in the league on the power play. This is exactly where they sat at Thanksgiving as well. They’ve scored on 22-of-101 attempts for 21.8% success rate.
Toews leads with seven power play goals, while Domi has six and Raddysh has four. There’s a big dip after that. Dickinson, Athanasiou, Khaira, Tyler Johnson and Kane each have one goal apiece on the power play.
Penalty Kill
The penalty kill, on the other hand, has a dropped from 26th in the league at Thanksgiving to 28th in the league at the Christmas mark. They’ve allowed 29 goals on 100 attempts, for 71%.
Special teams is such an important part of the game, so I’m sure the Blackhawks are looking to improve on both the power play and the penalty kill moving forward.
Goaltender Numbers for Mrazek, Stalock, Soderblom
After unexpectedly suiting up for 15 games for the Blackhawks this season, Arvid Soderblom is back down with the Rockford IceHogs. Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock are both currently back between the pipes, the veterans that were expected to hold down the fort this season. Groin injuries for Mrazek and a concussion for Stalock have kept them off the ice more than expected in these first few months. But hopefully both will have better luck as the rest of the season unfolds.
Here’s a quick look at the goaltender numbers.
Mrazek: .874 save percentage with a 4.23 goals against average in 12 games played
Ick! These stats have actually gone down from a .887 SV% and a 3.67 GAA at Thanksgiving. The 30-year-old has taken the brunt of the tough starts and losses in December. Let’s see if he can bring these numbers up when we revisit this at the halfway point of the season.
Stalock: .917 SV% and a 2.78 GAA in eight games played
Stalock, on the other hand, is much more of a feel-good story. He suited up on Dec. 23 for the first time since sustaining a concussion on Nov. 1. He also brings plenty of energy and passion to the game, as noted below.
Alex Stalock stomps on then kicks a Blue Jackets stick after Jonathan Toews got blown up. Dude is ready to go to war 😂 #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/3Nl4ntifwb
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 24, 2022
The above are some pretty decent numbers for the 35-year-old netminder. Considering all the adversity he’s been through, his continued success is something to cheer for.
Soderblom ended up with a .894 SV% and a 3.45 GAA in his 15 games. It’s safe to say he might be better off with the IceHogs to gain some more confidence moving forward.
Related – Dear Santa: Blackhawks’ 2022 Team Wish List
It’s been a tough December for the Blackhawks. Hopefully they’re enjoying their Christmas break and will be rejuvenated upon their return and for the new year. They do have a little bit of an easier schedule to look forward to. On Dec. 27, they head to Carolina for the beginning of a three-game road trip to finish out the year. They will then embark on 13 games in January, including a stretch of seven consecutive home games.
We’ll revisit our next edition of Blackhawks By the Numbers at the halfway mark of the season. This will be upon the conclusion of the Blackhawks facing the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 14. In the meantime, everyone have a Happy New Year’s, and let’s go Hawks!