The Blackhawks will take off later today for Florida for games in Tampa and Sunrise. And they’ll have their moms (or another important influence in their life) with them on the trip. This is always a fun time for the players and their moms because many of them don’t get a chance to see their parents as often as they’re used to — especially a rookie like Connor Bedard. I thought head coach Luke Richardson did a great job of explaining why this trip is special for eveꦕryone involved, wiಞth a little humor included.
“As close as people are to you, they still don’t know your lifestyle and it’s hard to explain it,” Richardson said Tuesday. “Sometimes we complain about the schedule & travel & they come & see we’re staying at the Four Seasons and on a private jet, they don’t have any sympathy.”
For Bedard, it’s a nice time to get some in-person assistance in the kitchen. And he’s looking forward to that.
The Blackhawks made a tweak to their defensive pairs at practice on Tuesday. Alex Vlasic was back on the top pair with Seth Jones, moving Kevin Korchinski back to skating with Connor Murphy — where the season started. Both Connor Murphy and head coach Luke Richardson praised Vlasic’s play; Murphy went as far as to say Vlasic is developing into a “dominant defenseman” at the NHL level. Richardson’s praise was overflowing as well.
“He had such a great stick and a good gap and he’s such an agile skater for the size of him that he’s frustrating to play against,” Richardson said Tuesday. “That just makes it easier for whoever is playing with him. He looks confident and he can break the puck out well. He does pretty much everything well, even had a couple shots in the second period — he had at least three in the second period. So that shooting mindset, it would be nice for that to filter through to our defensemen: don’t hold onto it, get it to the net if you see a stick or a body down there. His all-around game is really developing well, and he worked on it a lot last year. We just saw a little bit of it up here, but he put a lot of work in over the last two years, and it’s really showing. We’re benefitting from it and whoever plays with him benefits from it.”
The Blackhawks entered Tuesday night tied for 13th in the NHL with a team save percentage of .907 — which was tied with Colorado and Nashville. That goes up to .915 if you take out the 8-goal performance in Arizona, which would be tied with Anaheim for 8th in the NHL. The goaltending has been superb most nights for the Blackhawks this season, from both Petr Mrazek and Arvid Söderblom.
Three other stats that stood out to me while wandering around some numbers: the Blackhawks entered Tuesday night’s action seventh in the NHL in hits per 60 minutes (19.73) and fifth in the NHL in blocked shots per 60 minutes (18.64). They’re also tenth in the league in takeaways per 60 (6.97).
This piece from Ben Pope is really well done and it’s an interesting thing to consider, especially when you’re thinking about a young player. Bedard didn’t realize he was among the NHL’s leaders in average shift length; his eyebrows raised and he mentioned power plays may influence his average (a valid point). Richardson said it’s about feel for the flow of the game and the shift itself, but also learning when the gas tank is close enough to empty that he needs to get off the ice before it’s too late. Great read here from Ben.
The National Hockey League no longer has a winless team! The Sharks got their first dub of the season last night against the Flyers and their social team absolutely crushed the meme game. This one was my favorite. Congrats Sharks!
You know who’s only two points ahead of the Sharks in the standing? The Oilers. And the big news in Edmonton on Tuesday was the Oilers putting veteran goaltender Jack Campbell on waivers so they can send him to the AHL. They plan on recalling Calvin Pickard because, you know, he’s going to be the magic remedy for their terrible defense and lack of scoring depth. If there’s one seat that’s piping hot under a coach’s backside in the NHL, it’s in Edmonton.
Which brings us to the Flyers, who are openly in rebuild mode and willing to take back bad/mediocre contracts if the price is right. Campbell, for what it’s worth, has four more years at a $5 million AAV on his contract. Carter Hart, once the “best young goaltender in the game,” is in the final year of his contract that carries a $3.979 million cap hit; he’ll be a restricted free agent this coming summer and is 25 years old. How many picks would that cost an Oilers organization that doesn’t have much/any depth to build with in the first place?
Before you start working out the math on any kind of a deal with the Blackhawks, the answer is a hard no. Like, concrete wrapped in steel hard no. Thou shalt not level no. Run Away like the knights searching for the holy grail level no.
Yeah, okay this looks badass. Unfortunately the Blackhawks’ two weeks against the California teams begins on the 12th (Chicago hosts the Ducks, Kings and Sharks and then immediately head to California to play the same three teams the following week because why have any schedule originality?).
The Blackhawks drafted goaltender Matt Tomkins in 2012. I said two thousand twelve — 11 years ago. The 29-year-old goaltender played four years at Ohio State before spending three split between Rockford and Indy in the Blackhawks organization. He was in Sweden for the past two years, but got a deal with the Lightning out of desperation because they’re without Andrei Vasilevskiy. And he finally picked up his first NHL win. Congrats, Matt!
I watch my sons play golf or soccer or baseball or soccer and when they do something great I get soooo excited for them. So I cannot fathom how calm Lou Nanne was last night when his grandson, Vinni Lettieri, scored his first NHL goal and he was on the broadcast. This is awesome. But I would have been losing my mind with happiness.
Finally, inject this directly into my veins!
