Christmas break couldn’t be coming at a better time for Hawks

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The Blackhawks will have played a league-high 36 games entering the three-day Christmas break. (Getty Images)

With a desperately needed Christmas break coming up — a glorious three-day span in which no NHL team can play or practice or even have off-ice workouts — and with the last-in-the-league Colorado Avalanche in town, you could forgive the Blackhawks for having a bit of senioritis Friday night.

“It’s obviously going to be nice,” Marcus Kruger said. “But we have the game tonight, and you don’t want to take off too early.”

The break couldn’t come at a better time for the Hawks. who are road-weary and banged up after a grueling two-month stretch. The NHL schedule is compressed this season because of the late start necessitated by the World Cup and the so-called “bye weeks” that all teams will get after New Year’s. No team enters the break having played more games the Hawks, with some teams having played four fewer games — a fact Joel Quenneville was quick to point out Friday morning.

“I don’t know if there are more back-to-backs, but it feels like there’s more back-to-backs,” Andrew Desjardins said. “It feels like it’s game on, day off, game on, day off. You notice that”

In fact, the Hawks have played seven back-to-back sets this season, one fewer than last year. But they’ve played 36 games in 73 days. Last year at the break, they had played 36 games in 78 days. It might not sound like much, but five extra days off go a long way in the NHL. After a loose and light-on-travel schedule in October, the Hawks have been going almost nonstop since Nov. 1. They’ve had just five two-day breaks since then, and none longer. They’ve squeezed in 27 games in the last seven-plus weeks.

“The last bit has been tough,” Brent Seabrook said. “But everybody’s going that, everybody around the league.”

It’s starting to feel like the 2013-14 season, which was condensed because of the Olympics; the difference is, a little more than half of the Hawks got a couple weeks off midseason thanks to the Sochi games. At least this season, the Hawks had a long four-month summer to rest. For that 2013-14 season, the Hawks played into late June because of their Stanley Cup run.

“We have a lot of guys here that have been playing in the Olympics and All-Star games and the World Cup and stuff like that,” Kruger said. “I think we all notice it being a little more tight, with travel and everything. It’s the same for every team, but I’m not going to lie — we’re looking forward to that break. Christmas is great.”

Sticking with it

The Hawks’ eight-man rotation on the blue line hasn’t been spinning much lately. For the fourth straight game, Michal Kempny and Michal Rozsival were the odd men out. Kempny has been a healthy scratch in eight of the last nine games. The strong play of Trevor van Riemsdyk and the improved play of rookie Gustav Forsling have stayed Quenneville’s hand.

“I like the six who are playing,” Quenneville said. “I like the two who aren’t in there, as well. We like our options. But I like the continuity of the pairs. and our winning is another reason we haven’t changed.”

A Kero returns

With Artem Anisimov and Marian Hossa injured, Tanner Kero made his season debut for the Hawks on Friday. Remarkably, he’s the first call-up from Rockford to play for the Hawks all season. Despite starting with six rookies and despite all their injuries, the only other call-up was backup goalie Lars Johansson, who never played.

Quenneville planned to use Kero on the penalty kill, where he thrived in his 17-game stint last season.

“They’re very happy with how he’s played down there this year,” Quenneville said of Kero. “Watching him skate the last two days, he looks like he’s got some quickness to him. That pace, a little addition to his quickness, I think it’s helped his overall game, because we like the way he thinks the game.”

Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com

Twitter: @marklazerus

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