Blackhawks off to best start in franchise history

The Chicago Blackhawks franchise has seen many high points since being founded in 1926, but they’ve never seen a start like this one. Sunday’s 2-1 OT win against the Detroit Red Wings improved their record to 6-0-0 in 2013, the team’s best start ever.

Even with all that talent on the ice, who saw this coming? Apparently head coach Joel Quenneville had a feeling things would kick off swimmingly, as he told NHL.com on Saturday.

“I found their first four or five days on the ice was remarkable. Nobody looked out of shape,” Quenneville said. “It’s been a nice fit, a good four-line rotation right now, and the guys have a lot of enthusiasm. We have a very tough schedule and we know the importance of starts to the season and starts to games. Everybody is feeling a part of it and contributing.”

While stars like Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have done much of the heavy lifting, Nick Leddy scored the overtime-winner tonight, so there’s some truth to that.

Here are a few really brief bits about the Blackhawks’ hot beginning:

• They’ve scored 22 goals and allowed 13, generating a +9 goal differential.
• Four of those six wins came on the road, so they’re not just nursing points at the United Center.
• Kane (nine points), Hossa (eight), Toews (six) and Patrick Sharp (six) have at least a point-per-game so far.