Usually around this time of the year (in what would be a normal NHL season), we’d be approaching the All-Star break – a milestone event that signaled the end of the mid-season drag and the beginning of the second-half playoff push for some or the preparation of the trade deadline for others. But this mid-January is just the beginning of the season and there are more questions than answers. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, well outside of the 2013 season which also started in January.
• First, the ‘stache is back. Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville faces his former Blackhawks team for the third time since he was unceremoniously let go early in the 2018-19 season. Quenneville and the Panthers went 1-0-1 against Chicago last season, but they’ll get very familiar with each other this season, facing off eight times.