CHICAGO _ Put Blackhawks games in March and April out of your mind for now; they don't matter yet.
Not when there's so much at stake in February.
It feels as if eight months have passed since the Hawks last played, so as a reminder, a lot was happening when they last hit the ice.
On Jan. 21, the Hawks held a pregame ceremony to commemorate Patrick Kane reaching the 1,000-point milestone, then honored Joel Quenneville during his return to the United Center for his legendary 2008-19 run as coach. The Hawks _ despite a blip against Quenneville's Panthers _ were one of the hottest teams in the league.
Even with their 4-3 loss to the Panthers in the final game before the All-Star break, the Hawks are 11-5 in their last 16, and talk of a playoff run is back in the locker room _ unless a daunting stretch of 11 of 14 road games in February takes them out of it.
Here's a look at key dates and what the Hawks need to do to survive a hellish month:
