Let’s deal with the grenade that landed on Wednesday afternoon. The Blackhawks announced Laurent Brossoit had knee surgery and is going to be out 5-7 weeks. Which, starting now, means he’ll be back somewhere between the end of the preseason and the second week of the regular season.
First, it’s not ideal for a goaltender with a new team to miss all of training camp. On-ice communication and skaters getting to know the goalie’s tendencies (and vice versa) is important. So that’s a concern, if only to start the regular season.
Second, since the first comment on the news yesterday was enough of a knee jerk reaction that it might require the same procedure Brossoit had, let’s also deal with the fact that Arvid Söderblom might be called into service for a preseason game or two or three and might have to ride the bench to start the regular season. If Brossoit’s recovery is five weeks, he’ll start the regular season. If he isn’t ready for Utah, it’s going to be okay. Nobody is asking or expecting Söderblom to be postseason Scott Darling before Halloween. Yeah, the Blackhawks start the regular season with a four-game western trip, but they only play three games in the first seven days of the season.
Does this suck? Sure. Is it still ꦦAugust? Yes. Will this keep the Blackhawks from making the playoffs? I doubt it.
Charlie Coyle was on the podcast this week and talked about the Bruins’ disappointing last season. He was asked about Jim Montgomery’s approach in the room, and he brought up players whose leadership had a big influence in the room. And Coyle mentioned a guy who was the de facto captain for the Blackhawks.
“Last year, our leadership… Bergeron, Marchand, Krecji….. Nick Foligno was a HUGE one, I miss having that guy around. He’s awesome in the locker room, he’s gotta be one of my favourite teammates I’ve had. The leadership he has from being a captain & being around the league… He was like having another ‘C’ in the locker room.”
So… will Foligno be THE “C” in the room in Chicago this season? Perhaps we’ll find out when training camp is near/opens.
ICYMI, The Athletic finished their league-wide pipeline rankings on Thursday and the Blackhawks placed very, very well.
Apparently intrepid Blackhawks scribe Mark Lazerus is visiting Scotland, and stopped by a Timmy Horton’s. Because it’s amazing. A couple thoughts on this… First, it’s a great reminder that the Blackhawks are a global brand. Which brings me back to the thought that the Blackhawks might be involved when the NHL goes back to Europe in the coming seasons. Secondly, can we pleeeeeeeeeeeease get Timmy’s in Chicago at some point? I’m literally begging!
I know, I know… the Blues? But this is actually a really cool feature I would love to see the Blackhawks introduce on their site/app. They’re providing fans with contract details. What a novel idea! From the source itself. For now all we have is and other new replacements for CapFriendly.
For our Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel fans out there, we now know when the Blackhawks’ prospects at Minnesota will play their conference games in the Big Ten this year. Sadly, one of their conference games will not be at Wrigley Field. Minnesota is the only Big Ten team to not be involved in the four games early in January.
I also had some fun earlier this morning with some random number-related fun facts on this year’s Blackhawks roster.
It sounds like the Leafs might be bringing in Max Pacioretty, and not on a PTO deal. That’s interesting.
Finally, holy bleep did you see the Cubs’ comeback yesterday?
