the Hawks compiled a 31-14-5 record on these trips during his tenure as coach. Amazingly, that works out to a 110-point season.

Long road trips can be unpredictable, especially with a slew of first-year players, so it’s a pretty big deal that the Hawks still sit atop the Western Conference standings.

“To me, that was an important stretch of our season, knowing that we come out of that in a pretty good spot,” Quenneville said.

The seven games were especially important for young players like Ryan Hartman, Vinnie Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz, Tyler Motte and defenseman Gustav Forsling. You could see the confidence level rise as the games went by, especially for Hartman and Hinostroza.

“Each and every guy’s got a different story, but there was some progression,” Quenneville said, “and if we get everybody healthy you might play three of them together. That’s something that can be exciting as well.”

Now the schedule gets really favorable for the Hawks as they play 10 of their next 14 at the United Center. Some of the better home games ought to come against the Devils (10-6-5) on Thursday, the Rangers (15-7-1) on Dec. 9, the Stars (9-8-6) on Dec. 11, the Sharks (12-9-1) on Dec. 18 and the Senators (14-7-1) on Dec. 20.

“We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good place knowing that we had a favorable schedule at home early,” Quenneville said. “Now let’s get back with another busy month ahead of us.”