The Phoenix Coyotes a red-hot, and the Chicago Blackhawks are ice cold. The Coyotes have won four straight and are riding their longest winning streak of the season, while the Blackhawks have lost nine straight road games and seven in a row overall. The winning streak has helped to push Phoenix up to eighth place in the Western Conference standings and now the Coyotes are thinking about the playoffs. On the other side of the coin, Chicago has fallen all the way down to sixth place in the conference standings and can't seem to find any way to stop the bleeding.
A combination of poor goaltending and inconsistent offense has led the Hawks to be outscored 32-15 in their last seven contests, but the fix might not be an easy one. Might it be time for a shakeup if the season continues to ride off the rails? Second City Hockey considers what might be down the line:
I can't help but feeling like this is Jauron-Angelo all over again, though both of those guys were morons anyway. But Stan didn't hire Q, even if he was in on the process. Q then goes on to win a Cup with a roster that was almost completely not Stan's, and he must know now that he's pretty much untouchable. So that's why, or at least it's a theory why, Q has treated this season as a demonstration of what a genius he is. Because if the higher-ups decide that changes have to be made, it's really up for debate who they're going to side with: the coach who brought the Chalice here (whether he had that much to do with it or not) or the young GM hired under suspicious circumstances who provided two disappointing teams (if in fact this team ends the year disappointingly?) You can't say which.
The Hawks are in a dark place right now, but every next game is still an opportunity to turn things around.
Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: WGN
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this matchup, visit Blackhawks blog Second City Hockey and Coyotes blog Five For Howling. For more from around the league, head over to SB Nation's NHL news hub.