Last spring, Reichel was recalled by the Blackhawks and closed the season on a high note. He had four goals and eight points in his final eight games of the season. He played so well that I excitedly declared he would lead the team in scoring for the 2023-24 season. Yes, this was before the team drafted Connor Bedard, but nobody expected him to be this ineffective through a quarter of the season.

“It’s disappointing,” Reichel said of being a healthy scratch. “I know I’ve got to be better and play my game right now. It’s a good wake-up call. I’ve got to work hard and try to be better.”

Reichel will be back in the lineup Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators, but not in the top six, where he has spent the entire season. He will skate on the fourth line with Ryan Donato and MacKenzie Entwistle. This isn’t exactly the ideal line for Reichel, but he hasn’t been able to produce in the top six, even with an extended run with Bedard and Philipp Kurashev.

“Everyone has to check in this league,” head coach Luke Richardson said of his decision. “You have to check forward and back. Is this the style of line he’d fit in the long term? Probably, no. But he’s got to show some determination and get into some battles to win some pucks. This is a good start for him. Our so-called fourth line has been really good for us lately. We’re looking for him to add some speed on the forecheck and be that determined player.”

Richardson admitted that Reichel “didn’t seem himself” during the recent losses to the Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets. He said the young forward wasn’t visibly frustrated but down on himself.

“He needs to reevaluate his game,” said Richardson. “I think he needed to take a step back and look at it. We had a good chat this morning about him just coming to work tonight and not worrying about where he is in the lineup. He needs to work his way up. He’ll get a chance on the power play. He had a good shot this morning in the power-play drills, and that’s what he’ll have to do tonight. He knows that if he can get his game and skating going, he’ll be rewarded when there’s an opportunity.”

Richardson added that sitting out of Sunday’s game was not a punishment but rather a chance for Reichel to evaluate himself. He said the coaching staff gave Reichel their opinion, and he gave them some honest feedback. He asked him this morning if he was ready to draw back in tonight and was told that he was ready.

“It might not be perfect,” Richardson told Reichel. “You might not get three goals tonight, but let’s see some determination and that skating ability. He seems determined to do that tonight.”

Determination was the buzzword for Tuesday’s media scrum. Richardson said he doesn’t just want to tell players what to do. He wants Reichel and everyone else to tell him they want it.

“That’s him holding himself accountable instead of me holding him accountable,” he said. “That’s important for players to understand. We’re here to implement a system that we think our team can live up to and be successful at. The players need to take the onus on themselves. We control the ice time, obviously, but really, they do that in their play. It’s good for the players to speak up and say they’re determined.”

Reichel got the message loud and clear. He said he was shocked at first, but after talking to the coaching staff, he knows what to do to succeed.

“It’s a different game up there; it looks so easy,” he said. “I have to play the right way. Play good defensively. Make plays in the offensive zone.”

Richardson has shown a ton of patience with Reichel and given him plenty of shots to get right in a top-six role. Now it’s time for him to start over and work his way back to being the player we saw last spring.

“We’re not expecting him to do everything by himself,” Richardson said. “He needs to play within the team system, and when it’s his chance, shoot. Just like the other guys, they have to take that shot. We can’t be looking for the extra pass, the perfect play, or a cute stickhandle and saucer pass. That doesn’t really work in this league, especially when you’re not moving. So, for him to be moving, skating, and shooting, that will lead to some offense no matter where he’s playing.”

Getting Reichel going offensively would be a massive addition to this team. It would take a ton of pressure off Bedard, who has had to do everything on offense the past few weeks.

After getting a month’s worth of news in half a day, the Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken finally played a hockey game. The Blackhawks played a simplified game, something that head coach Luke Richardson has stressed since the start of the season. The approach worked as it led to a hard-fought 4-3 victory.

The home team got off to a quick start with goals from Boris Katchouk and Jason Dickinson 89 seconds apart. It marked the first time the Blackhawks scored first since Nov. 16 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and their first 2-0 lead since Nov. 4 versus the Florida Panthers. The Kraken got on the board with a tally from Matty Berniers. They drew even in the late opening frame with a shorthanded goal from Alex Wennberg off a failed drop pass by Kevin Korchinski.

Early in the second period, Tyler Johnson took an excellent feed from Taylor Raddysh and went bar down for his sixth goal of the season. Lukas Reichel was credited with the secondary assist for his fourth helper on the campaign. Joey Anderson picked up his second assist of the night by digging the puck out from the end boards, then sending a backhand pass across the crease that was banged home by MacKenzie Entwistle.

Seven minutes into the final frame, Tye Kartye drew Seattle to within a goal by just squeezing the puck through Mrazek. Things got tense when the Kraken had a two-man advantage for 1:03 with less than six minutes to play. The penalty kill came up huge as they preserved the one-goal lead, much to the delight of the United Center crowd.

Jay: Please Kill the Slingshot Power Play

If you’ve been watching the Blackhawks for the last number of years, you’ll notice a trend on their power play. The puck carrier will skate up the ice with another skater on his tail. When the carrier reaches center ice, he will turn around and drop pass the puck to the trailing player. The concept is to create space and to allow a player with speed to enter the zone. Too often, it causes a turnover. Tonight, it caused a shorthanded goal. 

What you won’t see in the above highlight is Korchinski’s pass off a Kraken shin-pad at center ice. The puck ricochets into the Kraken zone, and they take it the other way. Yes, the defense and goaltending were poor in this sequence, but it never should have happened. 

This has been a thorn in my side for years. It seems that the slingshot works in the opposite way it’s supposed to. If the initial puck carrier is flying through center ice with speed, why slow him down? Why stop his momentum? By dropping it back, you’re allowing the penalty-killing team more time to gather four-wide at the blue line, making any zone entry more difficult. 

We’ll ask Richardson about it this week at practice, but please, please, please, let’s launch this approach into the sun. It rarely worked when the Blackhawks had played like Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat on the roster. What are the odds it works with a lesser-skilled team? 

Greg: Nick Foligno Back on Top Line with Connor Bedard

When the Blackhawks took the ice for morning skate ahead of tonight’s game, Richardson shuffled up his lines. The biggest move was Nick Foligno taking the left wing spot on the top line with Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev.

“He’s a great player to have as much success as he’s had in this league,” Bedard said of Foligno. “He’s a skilled player and has a lot of tools. Whoever we are playing with, I’m excited for that. Playing with Reichs the last few games was great. But having Folingo back should be good with how hard he plays. We have a little chemistry from the few games we played together.”

Heading into the game, Foligno and Bedard had played 106:12 of 5v5 ice time together; the most Foligno has played with any forward this season. They were on the ice together for 98 shot attempts for and 119 against, a 45.16 Corsi for percentage (CF%). The Blackhawks scored eight goals with them on the ice and gave up nine.

This combination was not very good tonight. They spent much of their 5v5 time chasing the puck in their own zone. In 8:05 of 5v5 ice time, the line had four shot attempts to 12 allowed for a 25 CF%. The good news was that they didn’t need to be dominant, as the Blackhawks got contributions from the other three lines. It will be interesting to see where the newly acquired Beauvillier will fit in. There is a good chance he jumps in on Bedard’s left side, and Foligno can return to that effective third line with Dickinson and Anderson.

Mario: Simplicity Pays Off

It’s amazing to see what the Blackhawks can do offensively when they are executing what head coach Luke Richardson is preaching: keep it simple. The Blackhawks scored three goals tonight that were simple plays and simple setups.

The game’s opening goal was from Boris Katchouk being in the right spot for a rebound off a shot with a screen in front of Phillip Grubauer. The second goal was another opportunity for Jason Dickinson to send a ripper on net through traffic on an extended offensive shift. MacKenzie Entwistle’s goal to make the game 4-2 in the second period was a perfect example of players being rewarded for going to the net with purpose. Joey Anderson brought the puck around the back of the Seattle net and tried to stuff it home, while Entwistle came out of the corner and went directly to the front of the net and found himself with a wide-open net and a rebound chance for his second goal of the season. 

These kinds of plays in the offensive zone are what Luke Richardson has been asking of his Blackhawks team and what de-facto “Captain” Nick Foligno has reiterated in postgame availabilities that the team needed to commit to doing. For as fun and exciting tic-tac-toe passing and cross-ice sauce passes are, the Blackhawks do not have enough talent to make those kinds of plays routinely yet. This is still a team that needs to rely on their work-ethic and not their talent to be competitive. It was a breath of fresh air to see them play this way tonight and be rewarded for it. 

The silence from both sides led to rampant speculation and wild rumors. Today, the Chicago Blackhawks released this official statement:

“After an internal investigation, the Chicago Blackhawks have determined that Corey Perry has engaged in conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation both of the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments. As such, Corey Perry has been placed on unconditional waivers. In the event Mr. Perry clears waivers, we intend to terminate his contract effective immediately.”

Off the ice, it’s good that the team quickly handled this situation and made a decision. On the ice, the Blackhawks have lost two veteran leaders for the season in Perry and Taylor Hall.

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson met with the media ahead of tonight’s game against the Seattle Kraken. While he refused to give full details on what got us to this point, he did give some clarity in his opening statement.

“Last week, management was notified of possible misconduct by Corey Perry,” he revealed. “I will not be able to disclose any details. This does not involve any players or their families. Anyone that suggests otherwise is wildly inaccurate, and frankly, it’s disgusting.”

Davidson was clearly upset by the whole ordeal and seemed to fight back tears at multiple times during the nine-minute press conference.

“Over the last 24 hours, what’s gone on has been very disturbing,” he said. “I feel like I’m wearing it; I’m carrying that. It’s tough to see.”

You can watch the entire press conference below:

However, when Tinordi landed on IR and Zaitsev took a personal leave from the team (he has since returned), the Blackhawks recalled Isaak Phillips from the Rockford IceHogs. Phillips has 26 NHL games under his belt, with six coming in recent weeks. Pairing him and Kaiser together is not ideal, but they are making the best out of it.

“It’s fun to play together,” Phillips said after Saturday’s practice. “We can both skate. When we’re playing at our best, we’re both moving together. We’re both learning and having fun with it.”

The young duo has had some ups and downs. They are both mobile defenders, with Kaiser being the faster, smother skater and Phillips bringing the physical play. Both can add to the offensive attack, but neither have yet to establish themselves at that end of the ice.

“Their skating ability is great, and that’s what we need out of them,” said Richardson. “And part of that is getting up for a good gap. That’s the one place where they were just a little bit lacking last night (against the Toronto Maple Leafs), but they’ve been really good as of late.

“I like the way Kaiser is shooting the puck harder and more often, and I think that’ll become contagious. We worked on it again at the end of practice today, and that’s something we want to see from our D, especially the young guys. Feel confident to shoot that puck.”

Against the Maple Leafs on Friday, Phillips and Kaiser were on the ice for the first and third Toronto goals.

“On the first goal, I was a little hesitant to slide over, and then he was hesitant, and then that creates everyone to get caught in committal,” Phillips admitted.

Richardson said that Phillips and Kaiser didn’t slide over fast enough on the third goal, which gave Ryan Reaves a wide-open look from the slot.

You’d expect to see these types of plays from a pairing of rookie defensemen. They are going to make mistakes. The hope is that they learn from them and don’t repeat the same mistakes repeatedly.

Phillips is not lacking any confidence, despite not being able to cement his place on the NHL roster.

“Coming into camp, I came in with the same confidence I have now,” he said. “I feel that I’m ready to be here. This is the place I’m growing as a player. The confidence is there for me.”

He and Kaiser have played six games together this season and have 57:17 of ice time at 5v5. The only player Kaiser has more 5v5 time with this season is Tinordi. Phillips and Kaiser have a 39.81 Corsi for percentage (CF%), with just 27.3% of their shifts starting in the offensive zone. In nine games and 73:33 of 5v5 ice time, Kaiser and Tinordi have a 36.42 CF%, with 30% of their shifts starting in the offensive zone. So, it appears that Kaiser is slightly better with another rookie next to him than one of his veteran “safety nets.”

The Blackhawks will have an interesting decision when Tinordi comes off the injured list. General manager Kyle Davidson said on Saturday that Tinordi is skating on his own but has yet to join his teammates.

Davidson told reporters that Perry will be away from the team for “the foreseeable future.” He added that this is an organizational decision and would not comment any further. He said that it wouldn’t be fair to rule certain things out, so he would not say if this was trade-related or reveal the nature of the situation.

You can watch the entire press conference below, where Davidson touched on the health of the team, the progress of young players, and more.

**UPDATE**

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet got the following statement from Perry’s agent. Again, it doesn’t give any details, but whatever is going on is a private matter.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, another team that always seems to be in some sort of turmoil, made their only appearance on United Center ice this afternoon. The Blackhawks were looking to sweep the two-game season series after a 4-1 win in Toronto back in October. The speed and talent gap between these two teams were glaring, but the Blackhawks gave the effort that Richardson had been begging for. In the end, the home team erased a 3-1 deficit and won 4-3 in a crazy overtime.

The home got off to another slow start, giving up seven of the first eight shots of the game. Seven minutes in, former Blackhawk Max Domi made a nice cross-ice feed to Nick Robertson, who roofed the puck up and over Arvid Soderblom. Jason Dickinson answered less than a minute later with his second goal in as many periods. The veteran forward has three goals and seven points in his last nine games.

The start of the second period was a disaster. Shortly after Tyler Johnson erased a power play with a tripping call, Calle Jarnkrok got inside position and Alex Vlasic for an easy tap-in goal. Just over a minute later, our old friend Jake McCabe found Ryan Reaves alone in the slot for another uncontested goal and a 3-1 Maple Leafs lead.

Dickinson struck again later in the second period when a loose puck found him at the front of the net, and he beat Ilya Samsonov to the short side. This goal changed the momentum of the game as the Blackhawks started to get sustained offensive zone time and pressure. The last five or six minutes of the second period were some of the best hockey the team has played in quite some time.

Richardson sent the Dickinson line out to start the third period, and it took him all of 14 seconds to net his first career hat trick and tie the game at 3-3.

Jay: Jason Dickinson has received Luke Richardson’s message 

All season long, Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson has preached simplicity. Get the puck in deep, skate north and south, put pucks on net. No Hawk has put out that style of play as consistently as Jason Dickinson, whose effort were rewarded with a hat trick Friday. 

The first of his three goals vs Toronto is just an example that you can use your skill and speed while keeping the game simple. 

He corralled a puck along the boards, used a toe-drag to maneuver the puck away from our beloved Jake McCabe, and put the puck on net. 

On his second goal of the afternoon, Dickinson once again utilized his toe-drag to gain better control of the puck, this time in close.

For the hat trick, which came 15 seconds into the third, Dickinson found the puck on his blade right in the slot. Why? Because his line mates, despite not having the puck, were aggressively stick checking, forechecking, and making it difficult for the Leafs to exit their own zone. 

During the second intermission, color analyst Troy Murray was praising the approach of Foligno-Dickinson-Anderson line. Murray praised the trio for not doing anything “fancy,” and stressed that the rest of the team, including Connor Bedard, who Murray called out for a turnover, need to go to school and get the message. 

Get the puck in, drive the net, then use your skill. It’s so simple. One does not have to sacrifice skill for simplicity. When these things work in tandem, the results will come. 

“Doing the right things all leads to great feelings in this locker room,” Dickinson said after the game. 

Richardson likes to use video to show his players what works and what doesn’t work in the NHL. Rest assured all three Dickinson goals will be featured in their next meetings. 

Greg: Joey Anderson and Cole Guttman Earn More Ice Time

The last few days around Blackhawks’ camp have been strange. There have been season-ending injuries, mysterious scratches, and a blowout to a team that had lost nine games in a row. With the glaring holes in the roster, Cole Guttman and Joey Anderson were recalled from the Rockford IceHogs on Thursday.

Guttman made the team out of training camp and scored against the Pittsburgh Penguins on opening night but was sent down after three games. Joey Anderson has been fantastic in the AHL. At the time of his recall, he led the IceHogs with seven goals, nine assists, and 16 points.

I asked Richardson before today’s game if having two guys looking to stay in the NHL inserted into the lineup might energize a team coming off one of their worst efforts of the season.

“We need that right now,” Richardson said. “In the past, they have both shown they can do a really good job for us. They’re familiar with us, which really helps, and we’re familiar with them. We’re really excited to see what kind of energy they can bring. They’re playing excellent hockey right now, and that’s what we need here. We need to get back on top of things. Obviously, we need a more consistent game, and we hope they will give us a bit of a charge today.”

Anderson made an immediate impact with the primary assist on Dickinson’s first-period goal. He was a factor in Dickinson’s second goal. Even though he was not credited with a point, he got in hard on the forecheck, which caused the puck to find Dickinson.

He was on the ice for all three Dickinson goals, had the assist, and was a plus-3. He played a simple and hard brand of hockey, something that has been missing for the last few games.

Guttman was not as effective as Anderson, but his game got stronger as the contest wore on. He was back on the “Ex Bolts” line with Tyler Johnson and Taylor Raddysh. In the third period, he passed up a shooting attempt but later got off a spin-o-rama shot that just missed the far post. He had two shot attempts, a blocked shot and won five of his nine faceoffs on the day.

Mario: Blackhawks Recover With Strong Finishes to Each Period 

A lot has been made about the Blackhawks’ starts to games and starts to individual periods this year. They have largely been slow to start games this season and head coach Luke Richardson has regularly turned to players like Nick Foligno, Corey Perry, and Jason Dickinson to give the team some jump to begin those periods of play, whether they are together on a line or not. Today’s game got off to a horrible start with the Maple Leafs dominating play with a 7-1 shots on goal advantage and a 1-0 lead just over seven minutes into the game. But the theme of the night was the response from the Blackhawks. 

Following the rough start, Jason Dickinson was there at the end of the first period to tie the game and start turning the tides the other way for Chicago.

But the second period was another horrible start for Chicago with a powerplay that the Blackhawks started the period with being negated just 22 seconds in and the Maple Leafs scoring at 4-on-4 just 55 seconds after that. Two make matters worse, two minutes later the Leafs are up 3-1 thanks to a Ryan friggin’ Reaves goal. Things could have easily gone off the rails from there but the Blackhawks did not fold. The pressure was amped-up from Chicago late into the second period and it was Dickinson for the second time giving the Blackhawks life in the game with the 3-2 goal. 

A high-pressure finish to the second period carried over into the beginning of the third period as it would be Dickinson getting on the board for the third time, scoring his first NHL hat-trick on a play that was caused by Nick Foligno working hard on a forecheck to cause a turnover. Chicago ran their momentum through the third period of the tied game into a chaotic overtime period that ended with a beneficial bounce going Chicago’s way and Kevin Korchinski finding the game-winner. 

It’s not a recipe to follow every night, having to chase the game consistently, but this was a game where the Blackhawks were able to not only string-together good stretches of play doing the little things right, but they were then rewarded for it. The way they ended periods today, and the way they started the third period, should be shown in video sessions all season long to remind them what good can come from playing with purpose in a simplified game. 

The new-look power play (more on that below) got the Blackhawks on the board 13 minutes into the game as Lukas Reichel redirected a Kevin Korchinski goal for his first tally of the season. The Blackhawks only had one shot on goal before Mikhail Sergachev took a boarding penalty. The visitors had an 11-5 shot advantage heading into the first intermission, but the home team had the only stat that mattered.

Brayden Point tied the game early in the second period with a power-play goal that looked very similar to Reichel’s. The Blackhawks challenged the play for being offside, and it looked like they were right, but it was deemed a good goal.

Three minutes later, Sergachev made up for his earlier penalty by scoring his first goal of the season to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.

Corey Perry came back to haunt his former team by evening up the score early in the third period. He started a 2-on-1 rush with Boris Katchouk, but his pass across was broken up. Being the savvy veteran he is, Perry went right to the side of the net, where Katchouk found him for an easy tap-in goal, his fourth on the season.

The Lightning took control of the game right after Perry scored. After multiple shifts of sustained offensive zone time, they finally cashed in when Victor Hedman scored off a fortunate bounce off the end boards. Brandon Hagel iced the game with a late empty-netter.

Jay: Petr Mrazek Continues His Solid Play

After every Blackhawks game, the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast asks our audience to select the game’s fourth star. Every time Mrazek has started the game, he’s been a candidate (if he wasn’t named one of the game’s three stars first.)

Mrazek, who entered the season with low expectations, has been the most consistent Blackhawk all season. He’s 4-4 on the year, with a 2.86 GAA and a .919 save percentage. On paper, those numbers may look a little ordinary, but when you consider how many shots per game Mrazek sees, and the inexperienced defense playing in front of him, you can’t help but be impressed.

“The confidence has been there,” Mrazek said Wednesday. “The things that [goalie coach Jimmy Waite] wanted me to work on helped me in the second half of [last] year, and the offseason as well.”

“It’s been great so far,” Mrazek said of his relationship with Waite. “I can’t say a bad thing about it. It’s been awesome.”

It can be easy to lose sight of how much a goalie coach can change a player, and how long those changes can take effect, especially when the goalie is coming off a tough stretch of seasons as Mrazek was before he came to Chicago.

Keep a close eye on how Rockford goalie Drew Commesso plays this year. If he continues to thrive in the pro-environment, perhaps the Hawks would consider moving Mrazek to a team desperate for goaltending (Edmonton?) sooner rather than later.

Greg: Lukas Reichel Cashes in on Power-Play Opportunity

One of the hottest topics of the early season has been the lack of production from Reichel, who entered tonight’s contest with two assists in 13 games. We suggested on Tuesday’s episode that a promotion to the top power play unit might be exactly what the young forward needs to get his scoring touch going.

I didn’t get the chance to ask head coach Luke Richardson if he was thinking about that move after Wednesday’s practice because he had already implemented it. He was very specific this morning on what the power play needs to do to be successful.

“We need to start moving the puck a little quicker,” he admitted. “The goal we scored in Tampa was indicative of that. It was all just speed and movement. The game is so skilled now, and even the defensive guys have good sticks, so you have to move the puck quickly. I was happy with practice yesterday, and hopefully, that translates to the game.”

The Blackhawks got their first power play chance midway through the first period, and Reichel was quick to make an impact. He used the freedom of the bumper role to find some space in the slot, where he redirected Korchinski’s shot past Jonas Johansson for his first goal of the season. You could hear his sigh of relief all the way up in the press box.

The unit only got one more chance the rest of the night and wasn’t able to produce much pressure. However, more importantly, the pressure was taken off of Reichel with his first goal. Look for that play to lead to more points for the 21-year-old forward.

Mario: Blackhawks won’t be pushed around

Sometimes when you are overpowered in a hockey game from a talent perspective, you have to try to equalize the game in other ways. Physical ways. Tonight, while the Blackhawks were getting dominated in puck possession, they weren’t going to let the Lightning push them around in any other ways. Far be it from me to advocate for “gooning it up,” but I enjoyed seeing the pushback from the team tonight, despite having to chase the majority of the game.

Following a boarding penalty on Mikhail Sergachev for a bad hit on Philipp Kurashev, the first player to confront Sergachev was Connor Bedard, ensuing in a scrum.

After Steven Stamkos skated a little too close for comfort after a save and a whistle by Petr Mrazek, Connor Murphy grabbed him and a scrum ensued.

After Connor Murphy laid a big, clean hit on Tyler Motte, Michael Eyssimont decided he would take up issue with Murphy and was promptly fed his lunch by the Blackhawks defenseman.

I’m glad to see that this Blackhawks team is not conceding that they are going to be out-matched most nights. They are going to push against their opponents any way that they can. It was a key factor last season for this team and Luke Richardson seems to be keeping that going into his second year behind the bench. 

Part of the return for Lehner was a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft that former general manager Stan Bowman used on USNTDP goaltender Drew Commesso. Since the pick, Commesso has played NCAA Tournament games with Boston University and represented the United States at the World Junior Championship, the World Championship, and the Olympics. He excelled at each stop along the way and has Blackhawks fans excited for the future, as many look to him as a key piece to a potential championship puzzle.

Commesso started his first professional season with the Rockford IceHogs and has his American Hockey League career off to a great start. He has a 2.22 goals-against average (GAA), a .919 save percentage (SV%), and a shutout in five starts. The IceHogs recently named the young netminder their Player of the Month for October.

We were lucky to have Commesso on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast earlier this week, and you can instantly tell that this kid is all about getting better and becoming the top goaltender for the Blackhawks. His transition from the college game to the professional ranks has been seamless.

“It’s been different from what I’ve been used to,” he revealed. “The day-to-day schedule is much different than in college. It’s an adjustment, but it’s one I’m enjoying. Not having classes is nice. It allows me to recover more and take in some more time at the rink.”

Most players will tell you that the game remains the same when you move from level to level, but it’s the difference in speed from where you were to where are that is the biggest adjustment. Commesso echoed that line of thought.

“It’s the speed and how everyone is really good. Everyone can shoot and make plays. That helps me. In college, I could get away with some things. Here, you get pushed every day in practice and half to give it your all. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is looking through traffic. Guys get to the net a lot harder and are a lot bigger.”

Commesso has been preparing for this moment for a long time. He grew up with Boston Bruins season tickets and spent a lot of his childhood three rows behind Tuukka Rask. However, he was not in the building for the infamous “17 seconds” in 2013. He went the extra mile over the summer and followed Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s training regimen. Commesso went out of his way to note that Vasilevskiy’s flexibility and explosiveness levels are what he wants to achieve.

“The pro game is more demanding on your body, and I knew I was going to have to put on some muscle,” he said. “I was stretching as much as I could and taking yoga classes three times a week. I’ve already noticed such a difference.”

He is training like Vasilevskiy and says his game emulates Jeremy Swayman of the Bruins and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers. In fact, he and Swayman trained together in Boston during the offseason. If he can get to their level at the NHL level, both the Blackhawks’ front office and fanbase will be beyond thrilled!

Commesso is constantly working on improving his game, even when he’s not in the crease, which is somewhat of a new experience for him.

“Preparation wise, it’s pretty much the same whether I’m playing or not,” he said. “This is pretty new to me. When I’m not playing, I need to be doing something to get better, as well. I need to do something to separate myself, even if I’m not on the ice. I’ve been bringing a notepad and taking notes on the other goalies. The tendencies guys have and what makes them look good and be successful. I figure if I’m not playing, I can still find a way to get better.”

There is no doubt current general manager Kyle Davidson is building his team with good hockey players who are also good human beings. Character is a massive part of Davidson’s equation, and Commesso fits that mold, even though the previous regime drafted him.

“The character guys the Blackhawks are drafting have been unbelievable,” Commesso said. “They’ve all been incredible guys. That helps so much. Some of the best teams I’ve ever been on were filled with great individuals who are great people off the ice. That makes it easier for us to play together. We all push each other really hard. We have the same goal: to play for the Blackhawks and be a key part of them. Having guys with similar mindsets and approaches to the game helps everyone.”

We will continue to monitor Commesso’s progress with our weekly Rebuild Report, so make sure you are a Diehard to get access to it. Check out the full interview with Commesso below and subscribe to the CHGO Sports YouTube channel.

The odds were stacked against the Blackhawks as Jarred Tinordi, Andreas Athanasiou, and Taylor Hall were all out with injuries. Plus, Mrazek was on the bench in favor of Arvid Soderblom. Meanwhile, Sam Bennett returned for the Panthers, and Sergei Bobrovsky was between the pipes after the Blackhawks faced backup Anthony Stolarz last week.

Soderblom’s afternoon got off to a rough start when Oliver Ekman-Larsson deposited a puck past him just 39 seconds after the opening draw. Jason Dickinson answered less than seven minutes later by tipping home an excellent setup feed from Lukas Reichel.

Sam Reinhart scored his first goal of the day on a power play about five minutes later. It seemed that the Panthers would take that lead into the first intermission, but then Connor Bedard did this:

The middle frame saw Reinhart give the home team a 3-2 lead with a backhand goal. The advantage only lasted 78 seconds as Bedard scored another highlight-reel goal, where he fired the puck out of midair for his fourth goal in the last two games.

The third period was more of what we’ve seen over the previous four frames versus Florida, where the Panthers dominated the play. Carter Verhagehe scored the eventual game-winning goal on an early power play.

The Blackhawks had a chance to tie the game late but came up just short. The bottom line is they spent too much time in their own end of the rink and couldn’t produce a consistent offensive attack. Sounds familiar, right?

Jay: Nick Foligno Answers the Bell…As Usual

Maybe I’ve made too much of this “leadership” and “mentor” thing this season. I’ve written about it. I’ve talked about it a lot on the CHGO Blackhawks shows, and I do feel that, in general, “leadership” is overestimated and overblown in sports.

With Nick Foligno, it feels different. From the day he became a Blackhawk, he has done everything Kyle Davidson has wanted him to do and more.

He is always available after a tough loss. He offers great insight into the game and what it takes to compete and win in the NHL. Most importantly, he leads by example on the ice.

After Bedard scored two goals, Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov took the opportunity to line Bedard up for a hard hit along the boards. My immediate thought was, “Someone has to get him.” There was Foligno, immediately, grabbing Kulikov and letting him hear about it.

Whether or not the hit was clean (I think it was) doesn’t really matter. When your star player takes a hard, questionable hit, there’s no time to determine whether or not the hit is worthy of retaliation. Foligno went right after Kulikov. He got hit with a hooking and roughing penalty for his efforts, but the Hawks killed off the four-minute power play in impressive fashion.

Logical or not, things like this bring a team together. Hockey culture is hockey culture, for better or worse. Players like Bedard play with more confidence, knowing their teammates have their backs. Opponents hesitate before delivering a big hit, knowing they’ll have to answer.

These are the lessons Foligno is teaching the team on and off the ice.

Mario: We Have Connor Bedard and You Don’t

It’s no secret that Connor Bedard is already a special player. His abilities with the puck are undeniably generational as an 18-year-old playing in the NHL. His goal-scoring ability has been on full display in these past two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. With two goals in back-to-back games, Bedard now has nine on the season in 13 games as a rookie and is scoring at a 56-goal pace.

Only four players in NHL history have scored 50 or more goals in a rookie season:

Teemu Selanne – 76 goals in 1992-93
Mike Bossy – 53 goals in 1977-78
Alex Ovechkin – 52 goals in 2005-06
Joe Nieuwnedyk – 51 goals in 1987-88

Only two Blackhawks players have scored 40 goals or more in a rookie season:

Steve Larmer – 43 goals in 1982-83
Darryl Sutter – 40 goals in 1980-81

None of these six players did so as a teenager. 

Bedard also became the seventh 18-year-old in NHL history to have back-to-back multi-goal games with his two-goal performance tonight. 

Bedard’s the best goal-scoring threat on the Blackhawks and in all honesty, he’s the best player on the roster in most-to-all offensive categories. He’s likely going to be that player his entire career in Chicago and getting him some offensive help will bode-well for the organization. 

But until that time, it’s special to watch him not only scoring in spectacular fashion, but watching him realize that he can do special things in the NHL now. It took a few games, but after putting the puck in the net seven times in his last six games, nine times in the last eight games if you counted the overturned by a millimeter goal against Boston, his confidence is sky-rocketing. He’s getting to, or already at a place where he expects to do something that drops jaws. If you weren’t already on notice, the other 31 teams in the league are totally screwed.

Greg: Blackhawks Showed a Ton of Character in Loss

During the 2022-23 season, the Blackhawks lost many games because of the vast talent gap, not because of the effort. Today’s defeat reminded me of a lot of what we saw a year ago and had Luke Richardson’s stamp all over it.

The lineup missed a ton of offensive ability with Hall and Athanasiou off the ice. Replacing them with Boris Katchouk and Reese Johnson doesn’t exactly give you hope for much production. However, this team showed excellent resiliency, tying the game on three separate occasions.

The best show of character came late in the second period when Dmitry Kulikov drilled Bedard face-first into the boards. Nick Foligno immediately hooked Kulikov to the ice and showed him that he was not going to be allowed with a series of punches to the head. The veteran forward was given a four-minute double minor for the reaction. The Blackhawks rewarded him by killing off both penalties. Those are the types of things that bond a team together. Knowing that all 18 skaters on the ice are fighting for each other and pulling in the same direction can help shorten the talent gap on most nights.

Even at the end of the game, the Blackhawks still tried hard to even things up, and Tyler Johnson had a wide-open net in the final seconds, but the puck just rolled off his stick. This is a squad that didn’t want to throw in the towel despite getting outplayed. That is precisely what Richardson wants to see.

Mario Tirabasi is keeping tabs on the amateur ranks in North America. He will make a deep dive into the NCAA ranks and the Canadian junior leagues. Greg Boysen is focused on the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League (AHL) and all the players playing professionally across Europe.

Mario: Landon Slaggert’s goal-per-game pace is totally sustainable, Martin Mišiak pacing OHL prospects

A prospect that Chicago Blackhawks fans might have forgotten about over the past year because of the hoopla surrounding the Connor Bedard sweepstakes and the eventual drafting of him and Oliver Moore in the first round, along with with emergence of offensive options like Frank Nazar and Lukas Reichel, is Notre Dame’s Landon Slaggert. The 2020 third-round pick enters his fourth season of college hockey serving as the captain of the Irish and is off to a hot start with seven goals in seven games to start the year as one of the top goal-scorers in the NCAA.

• Obviously the headline is tongue-in-cheek, but Slaggert’s hot start is likely a product of his health to start this season, the expectations of wearing the “C” for one of the nation’s top programs, and being out to prove that last season’s down year was a fluke for the South Bend native.

• Slaggert’s seven goals to begin the season have him ranked in a four-way tie for second in the country, behind Macklin Celebrini‘s eight goals to begin the year. He was also named the Big Ten Third-Star of the week for his four-goal performance this past weekend.
• Speaking of Macklin Celebrini, the top prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft Class has eight goals and 11 points in his first six NCAA games with Boston University.
• His Boston University teammate and maybe future Blackhawks teammate Ryan Greene is having a good start to his second year at BU. With two goals and five points in six games for the Terriers, Greene ranks tied for fourth on the team in scoring.

• With a three-assist night against Lindenwood on Saturday night, Frank Nazar moved his point total to seven through eight games to begin his second year at Michigan. His seven points match his total in his shortened season last year as a freshman after missing most of the year due to hip surgery.
• After being ranked at the top of the NCAA for a week, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel were both held off the scoresheets as the Golden Gophers were upset in a weekend sweep against the Wisconsin Badgers. Moore has six points in six games to begin his freshman season, tied for second on the team in scoring. Rinzel’s three points lead all Minnesota defensemen.
• I just had to get that note in there as a Badger.
• A defenseman that the Blackhawks might be keeping tabs on in his third NCAA season this year is Providence’s Taige Harding. The six-foot-seven defender had 13 points in 37 games last season for the Friars and was able to score his first goal of the season this past weekend with a tally against Vermont.

• Harding’s frame made him a project pick when he was taken in the third-round of the 2021 NHL Draft, but I think that gives him a bit of an inside track to making an impression on the Blackhawks, who have grown to really like sizable defensemen in recent years.
• Moving on to the CHL (OHL) portion of the North American pipeline, Kingston’s Captain Paul Ludwinski was named the OHL’s Performer of the Week after a two-goal, two-assist performance for the Frontenacs.

• Ludwinski is one of four Blackhawks prospects playing at or near a point-per-game pace to begin the year in the OHL, alongside Gavin Hayes, Nick Lardis, and Martin Mišiak.
• 2023 third-round pick Nick Lardis is off to a hot start in Brantford with a goal-scoring pace of 48 in 68 OHL games if he were to keep up his eight goals in 11 games pace he has started the season with. But, he has just one assist in these first 11 games, so he would finish the season on this pace with 48 goals and seven assists.
• That would be a hilarious stat-line to finish with.
• Gavin Hayes is another point-per-game player in the OHL with six goals and ten points in ten games for the Flint Firebirds.

• Hayes spent the final days of his 2022-23 season with the Rockford IceHogs as they pushed into the postseason and was an extended-stay prospect in training camp with the Blackhawks this season, both bode well for his status within the organization. Also, Hayes looks to be at least an invitee to Team USA’s World Junior Championships camp in December, which would be a great accomplishment for the 2022 third-round pick.
• Also likely to join Hayes at the World Juniors this December and January is Slovakian prospect Martin Mišiak, who ranks third on the Erie Otters in points this season as an OHL rookie with five goals and 12 points in 13 games. Mišiak was held off the scoresheet in the most recent game for the Otters, which ended a five-game scoring streak for the 2023 second-round Blackhawks pick that saw him record three goals and eight points over that stretch.
• Mišiak’s 12 points leads all Blackhawks OHL prospects.
• Finally, cheers to Sudbury Wolves forward and 2023 fourth-round pick Alex Pharand getting his first goal of the season this past weekend!

• Pharand has that goal and two assists in 12 games to begin his second OHL season in Sudbury.

Greg: Drew Commesso is a wall in the AHL, while Jiri Felcman stays hot in Switzerland

The Rockford IceHogs had a successful weekend defending home ice at the BMO Center. First, they rolled the Iowa Wild 6-2 on Friday night. They followed that up with a 3-0 shutout of the Grand Rapids Griffins the next night. The IceHogs are now 3-2-0 in the young season and are just two points behind the Texas Stars and Manitoba Moose, who are tied for first place. They will play a pair of games north of the border at the Moose this weekend.

• Jaxson Stauber rebounded nicely in his first start since giving up seven goals to the San Jose Barracuda opening weekend. He made 22 saves to earn his first win of the season against the Wild. He didn’t give up a goal until late in the second period when the IceHogs already had a 5-0 lead. Stauber even picked up his first AHL assist on David Gust’s opening goal.

• Ryder Rolston was named Friday’s First Star of the Game for his goal and assist. I had a feeling his game would translate well to the AHL, and so far, he’s proving me right. He has two goals and an assist in his first five AHL games.

• Rolston’s assist came on Michal Teply’s second-period goal. This could be Teply’s final season with the organization unless he has a breakout year. The 2019 fourth-round pick is off to a solid start with a pair of goals.
• After picking up his first professional point with an assist on Friday, Ethan Del Mastro notched his first professional goal to open the scoring on Saturday. He crashed the net and banged home a rebound for the eventual game-winning tally.

• Speaking of professional firsts, Drew Commesso stopped all 18 Griffins shots he faced to earn his first AHL shutout. The young netminder is 2-1-0 with a .928 save percentage (SV%) and 2.02 goals-against average (GAA) as he settles in nicely to the rigors of an AHL season.

• Cole Guttman assisted on two of the three IceHogs’ goals Saturday night. Since being reassigned to the AHL, he has three assists in three games.
• Marcel Marcel could be making his AHL debut this weekend. He was medically cleared to play on Sunday after missing the start of the season with a right-hand injury.

Let’s make our weekly trip overseas to check in on the Blackhawks’ prospects playing in Europe. This season the organization is represented in Russia, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and Czechia.

• Starting in the KHL, Ilya Safonov notched a goal on Friday, giving him goals in two straight games. That streak came to an end in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. The 2021 fourth-round pick has six goals and nine points in 23 games for Ak Bars Kazan, with half of his goals coming in the last seven contests.
• Roman Kantserov has gone pointless in his last six games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk while averaging under 11 minutes a night during that span.
• In Sweden, Victor Stjernborg had an assist in Växjö Lakers HC’s 4-2 win over Örebro HK. The 20-year forward has two goals and four points in 13 SHL games.
• Milton Oscarson was on the losing end to Stjernborg and Växjö last week, but he was the offensive star for Örebro by scoring a goal and assisting on the other. This was the 2023 sixth-round pick’s first multi-point game in the SHL.

• Making the quick trip over to Finland, where Riku Tohila scored his first career Liiga goal on Friday. This is the lone point for the 6-foot-8 center in eight games in his native country’s top league. He has three goals and an assist in seven games in the U20 league.

• Jiri Felcman had a big week for Langnau in Switzerland’s U20 league. He had a goal and an assist on Wednesday and added another helper on Sunday. The 18-year-old center has six goals and 15 points in 12 U20-Elite games. He has played three games in the National League, two for the SCL Tigers and one on loan to the Bellinzona Rockets, where he picked up an assist for his first professional point. Felcman was also named to the Czechia U20 national team for the upcoming Five Nations tournament.

• Finally, in Czechia, defenseman Michael Krutil scored for HC Stadion Litoměřice. The fourth-rounder from 2020 has two goals and four points in his last four games in Czechia’s second-tier league.

The Blackhawks were feeling good after a 4-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs but have since lost to the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Boston Bruins by a combined score of 12-3.

“I’m tired,” a very disappointed head coach, Luke Richardson, said after Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Bruins. “One year is enough of ‘we’re a hard-working team.’ We want to push for more this year. I think we start with good intentions, but the other teams – not outwork us, work ethic-wise, but the hardness of the work, like physical one-on-one battles. We’ve got to work on that in practice. This is how you’ve got to play every shift in every game.”

The veterans in the locker room echoed their frustrations following this rugged stretch of games, but they aren’t using their competition as an excuse.

“You see the schedule at the start of the season, and you know what to expect coming in,” said forward Corey Perry. “Yeah, you can say it’s been tough. A lot of the games, for the most part, we’ve been in. It’s just that one mistake, and the game’s over.”

Defenseman Jarred Tinordi had the same line of thought on Tuesday night but was encouraged that the Blackhawks are hanging with the top teams in the NHL. They just need to find that extra gear.

“I think we have some lapses in our play, especially in these last two games, where the other teams have been able to capitalize on. We’re playing good teams right now, and that’s what good teams do. We have stretches where we’re playing good hockey. And then we have one or two shifts or a five-minute lull in our game that end up costing us.”

Richardson promised a hard practice after Tuesday’s game. He gave the team Wednesday off but told them to expect a “high compete, high level, skating practice.” The team responded with intensity from start to finish.

“We took a couple of drills that maybe aren’t like the look of a game situation, like the one battle drill,” said Richardson. “It’s certainly nice and tight together, but it gets them used to playing and making high-pressure decisions and quick, you know, instances, and that sometimes happens all over the ice.”

The players met the media in the locker room, more out of breath than usual and with extra fog on their visors. After putting in their work, the team was in good spirits and very talkative. They certainly aren’t buying into the tough schedule narrative.

Nick Foligno heard Richardson’s comments and agreed with what he had to say. He played with the Bruins the last two seasons, so he knows that hard work in practice translates to success on the ice.

“That’s the standard we have to get to and understand in this room,” he said. “Luke shouldn’t have to say it. But I know we’re a younger team where it’s got almost to be second nature here. That’s just the bare minimum – to compete and put your nose over the puck, the hard areas of the game. That’s where success is in this league. I think guys need to understand that, and we need to do a better job of making sure we understand that.”

“But I think the message was clear today and how we need to play. A lot of his is just will and getting on the same page. You can do all the Xs and Os you want, but if you’re not willing to pay a price on the wall, or in front of the net, or getting guys out of the front of your net, it’s hard to win in this league.”

Foligno was hopeful that the young guys got an understanding of that level and that they need to maintain, not just on the practice ice but in the games, too. He added that sending a message like this amid a stretch playing against championship-caliber teams has value.

Connor Bedard got the message and called today the best practice of the season. This is not surprising when you see the rookie’s work ethic and desire to be the best player humanly possible.

“That was a lot of fun,” he admitted. “We’re competing, but we’re having fun. It’s like a game. You’ve got to battle. You’ve got to battle hard. So, it’s good.”

Bedard took Richardson’s message to heart and said his post-game comments were right.

“He’s a great coach, and we all have so much respect for him. So, whenever he talks, we listen. We’ve got to get the motivation to set that bar despite the caliber of the guys we’ve been going up against. You’ve to raise that bar of expectations and have high standards.”

It certainly appears that the locker room has received the message and is ready to buy in. They are not using this brutal schedule as an excuse, but this start makes it hard to gauge exactly where this team is. Friday’s rematch against Vegas makes the Blackhawks the first team in NHL history to play four straight games against an undefeated team.

There isn’t a reprieve coming any time soon, either. After Monday’s game at the Arizona Coyotes, the Blackhawks return home to play the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils on back-to-back nights. Then it’s off to the Sunshine State for games at the Tampa Bay Lightning and Panthers before returning home for another tilt with the Bolts.

The start of a new season is tough for any team, but when you factor in all the new faces and young players on this roster and the quality of opponents, the Blackhawks have an even harder time finding their identity. One thing is clear after today: they won’t stop working on it.

The home team thought they struck first when Connor Bedard appeared to score his second power-play goal in as many games. However, the Bruins challenged the zone entry, and the review showed Andreas Athanasiou was offside on the play.

Paval Zacha scored the game’s first goal that counted by redirecting a Kevin Shattenkirk shot past Petr Mrazek. The Blackhawks were lucky to get out of the sandwich stanza only down a goal as Boston outshot them 18-7.

The game got out of hand in the opening minutes of the third period. First, Matthew Poitras stole the puck from Corey Perry in the neutral zone, then beat him down the ice to tuck the puck past Mrazek. Trent Frederic gave Boston a 3-0 lead just 56 seconds later by driving hard to the net.

This was another case of the Blackhawks just not having enough talent to keep up with an elite team. Much last the last time out against the Vegas Golden Knights, they were right there for two periods then fell apart in the final frame.

Greg Boysen: Nick Foligno Makes Most of Top Line Opportunity

With Taylor Hall now on injured reserve, the door was open for a new veteran to step up and play with Bedard. Luke Richardson decided to put two “gray beards” with the rookie phenom for the rematch against the Bruins. Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno were the lucky players to get the first crack at the top line.

“It’s hard to have a guy like him out of the lineup because of what he means to our team,” Foligno said of Hall. “It’s a great opportunity for a team still trying to find its identity, for a guy to step in and show what he can do.”

After Tuesday’s morning skate, Foligno was very optimistic about the new line combination.

“I’m excited. I think it will be fun to play with him,” he said. “I’m excited to play with Johnny, too. I think that will be a great line in the sense of what we can accomplish together—especially having TJ on the right side. He’s an experienced guy who knows how to play. He can help Connor and help ourselves have some success. When the opportunities present themselves, we have to make sure we capitalize on them. Nothing changes in how I play. Hopefully, we can complement each other well.”

Foligno was not overwhelmed with the assignment and had himself a pretty good night. Eventually, in the third period, Johnson was taken off the top line and replaced with Philipp Kurashev. The original line had seven shot attempts and eight against while at 5v5.

The cagey veteran finished his night with a team-high three shots on goal, five shot attempts, a hit, and a takeaway. He had a 44 CF%, the third-best among all Blackhawks forwards. While you didn’t sign Foligno to be a top-line winger, he certainly deserves to be back on the line Friday in Vegas.

Jay Zawaski: The NHL’s offside review system is trash

This is going to come off as sour grapes, but I don’t care because I’m right.

Midway through the first period, Connor Bedard looked to have scored a beautiful power play goal. Charlie Coyle threw a blind pass to the slot, and Bedard one timed the attempt, ripping it past Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman. 

The Bruins challenged the play because several moments earlier, they thought Andreas Athanasiou might have had a shoelace offside. 

Ultimately, the Bruins won the challenge, and the goal was disallowed. 

I understand that technology exists to get calls right. For the most part, I believe that is a good thing. Are two feet in bounds in the NFL? Was that home run fair or foul? Was the baserunner safe or out? All of these reviews make sense because they are reviewing the specific moment of the play. Most of the time, this is not the case with NHL offside.

The spirit of the NHL’s offside rule is to prevent cherry picking. If a player is trying to cherry pick, it will be glaringly obvious to the linesmen and the call will be easy. 

Still want the rule to be frame-by-frame perfect? Okay, fine. Then the NHL should put a time limit on the offside challenge. Athansiou’s offside was about 22 seconds before Bedard put the puck behind Swayman. In no way did it impact the ultimate result of the play. In fact, the Bruins had retrieved and turned over the puck between the offside and the goal. 

Goals are exciting. Offside reviews are not. It’s time to re-evaluate this rule.

Mario Tirabassi: I’m Starting to Worry About Lukas Reichel

I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m starting to worry that Lukas Reichel is being put in a position to not be Lukas Reichel.

I trust Luke Richardson enough to not question his decision-making process at this stage in the game because, based off of his current track record as a coach and the 1,486 career NHL games he played more than I did, he knows what he’s doing. Richardson spoke before tonight’s game about Reichel’s play at center and that he is not worried about it. Not worried about it affecting his confidence. Lukas Reichel also spoke about his game as a center in the NHL and that he is not worried about it and not worried about his confidence.

Well, I am.

Among 20 Blackhawks skaters that have played 25 minutes of 5v5 ice time this season, here are Reichel’s advanced metrics when he is on the ice and how he ranks on the team, according to Natural StatTrick:

• Corsi-For% – 36.57% (18th)
• Shots-For% – 33.67% (18th)
• Goals For – 0
• Goals Against – 5 (Most goals against of any player with zero goals for)
• Expected Goals-For% – 40.29% (15th)
• Scoring Chances-For% – 36.26 (18th)
• High-Danger Chances-For% – 41.18% (11th)

All three categories that he ranks 18th out of 20, the two skaters lower than him are Cole Guttman (now in Rockford) and Nikita Zaitsev (the healthiest of scratches).

It’s just the first seven games of the season and this is the longest leash that Reichel has had to play center in the league since becoming a member of the Blackhawks organization, but he doesn’t look like the same player that gave us all the confidence in the world last season that he could step into the NHL and very quickly develop into a complimentary offense-generating option for Chicago behind Connor Bedard.

Playing center in the NHL comes with more physically demanding responsibilities than as a wing, including playing around the net defensively, winning more battles in the corners of your own zone, winning faceoffs, and having to cover more ice throughout the entirety of a game. Not to mention playing in a top-six center role means you are drawing more difficult matchups. I’m not looking to pull the plug yet on Reichel as a center in the NHL, but I’m starting to get itchy about it. With less defensive responsibilities and more room to be creative offensively, Reichel can let his talents with the puck shine, rather than hindering them so he can work on his two-way game more.

There’s an analogy I’ve grown to appreciate as a parent: If your child is getting a C+ in Math, but an A in Ninja Kicks, you don’t get a Math tutor, you get a Ninja coach.

Maybe that makes more sense to me than anyone else, but hopefully you get my point, which is to put a player in a position to be the best version of the player they are. Alex Ovechkin had his worst season when he was told to focus on his defensive game and backcheck more. Patrick Kane was not good as a centerman. Even as thin as the Blackhawks are down the middle, it’s totally fine if Lukas Reichel isn’t a good center, but can be a great winger.

The Chicago Blackhawks we blown out by the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night. Petr Mrazek was under constant attack, as there was a huge shot discrepancy in the lopsided loss. The Hawks were shut out for the first time this season. Join Jay Zawaski, Greg Boysen and Mario Tirabassi to recap the ugly loss on the CHGO Blackhawks Live Postgame Podcast.

Watch the YouTube Replay

Subscribe to the Show

Follow the Hosts

The Blackhawks five-game road trip ends Thursday night in Colorado. What do the Hawks have in store when they face the Avalanche? On this episode of CHGO Blackhawks, we chat with DNVR’s Meghan Angley for a game preview, then go around the NHL.

Watch the YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Follow the Hosts

On the heels of the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-1 win in Toronto and the impressive rookie performances by Alex Vlasic, Kevin Korchinski, Connor Bedard, and others, we’re learning some insights as to what veteran leaders like Nick Foligno are saying and doing when things don’t go so well. Jay Zawaski, Greg Boysen, and Mario Tirabassi discuss that and the Toronto media being mad again on today’s CHGO Blackhawks Podcast.

Watch the YouTube Replay

Subscribe to the Show

Follow the Hosts

The first period saw a lot of back-and-forth action but no goals. The Blackhawks outchanced the Maple Leafs and led 8-5 in shots. The effort and the execution we didn’t see during the opening frame in Montreal were there right from the initial faceoff.

MacKenzie Entwistle, making his season debut in front of his family (yes, he really does have one), gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead early in the second period. The goal sparked the home team as they dominated the next handful of shifts. Just over two minutes later, William Nylander made some slick moves to create space before finding captain John Tavares for the game-tying goal. The Blackhawks showed their scoring depth with two late-period goals. First, Corey Perry scored on a breakaway set up a 92-foot saucer pass from Alex Vlasic. Tyler Johnson scored his third goal in his last three periods moments later to double the Blackhawks lead. Andreas Athanasiou had the primary assist on the first and third goals.

Taylor Raddysh iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final seconds, capping off a crazy final sequence that saw both teams get a goal erased for being offside. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom was spectacular in making 35 saves for his first victory of the season.

Jay: Can we talk about Alex Vlasic?

After, somewhat unexpectedly, spending most of last season in Rockford, defenseman Alex Vlasic has finally taken his rightful spot in the Blackhawks lineup full time, and while rookie defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser have been getting most of the attention, Vlasic has been the most consistently impressive of the team’s young defensemen.

Unlike Kaiser and Korchinski, Vlasic is defense first. Typically defensive defensemen like being ignored. That usually indicates they played mistake-free hockey, but Vlasic has been so good that I’m taking this chance to shine a light on his game.

When I watch Vlasic, I can’t help but notice how much poise he has in his game. He never seems hurried. He never seems like his mind is going 100 miles per hour. He’s calm but quick with the puck. He knows how to use his massive 6’6’ frame to fend off would-be attackers. For a 22-year-old with 25 games under his belt, it shouldn’t look this easy.

In Monday’s 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs, Vlasic showed off some of his offensive skill, as well. Fifteen minutes into the second period, the Hawks were pinned in their own end. Vlasic gained control of the puck, walked calmly along the goal line, and fed an absolute dart to Corey Perry, who had all day to rip a shot past Leafs goalie Joseph Woll.

Vlasic ended the game with an assist and was on the ice for two of the Blackhawks’ goals. More importantly, he was on the ice while the Hawks were defending the Leafs’ empty net comeback bid. Richardson clearly trusts him, as he should.

As we work our way through this Blackhawks rebuild, there will be moments, or stretches, that let you know the team for sure has “a guy.” I’m ready to call it. Vlasic is a guy…a guy who will be part of things when the Blackhawks are ready to win again.

Greg: The Faceoff Nightmare Continues

Last season, the Blackhawks were one of the top teams when it came to winning faceoffs, at least up to the trade deadline. A lot of that was due to the work by Jonathan Toews and Max Domi, who both won well over 50% of their faceoffs. However, their success at the dot did not translate to much success in the win column.

Entering tonight’s game, the Blackhawks were dead last in the league in faceoff wins at 31.7%. That stat will go up a tick, but the team had another brutal night at the dot. They won just three of 14 faceoffs in the first period. Things got better in the middle frame was their best period, as they won 10 of 23 draws. They finished out the night by losing 14 of their 19 third-period faceoffs. This added up to 37.3%, which is not great.

The top two centers, Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel, are playing the position for the first time at this level, so some struggles were expected. They went a combined 8-for-23 tonight. However, at some point, the numbers need to improve. While these two take their lumps at the dot, some of the veterans need to be better. Jason Dickinson went 3-for-13. Johnson lost all six of his faceoffs.

I hate to find the one negative thing to harp on following a big win, but this team cannot keep losing this many draws if they want to stay competitive. Hopefully, the numbers improve from within because I don’t think the team is going to make a trade just to bring in faceoff help.

Mario: Arvid Söderblom Looks Legit

I know it’s only two games for young Arvid Söderblom for the Blackhawks this season, but damn has he looked good. He made 32 saves against the Bruins a few nights ago and kept the Blackhawks in the game against Boston and then added another 35 saves against 36 shots tonight coming from the Maple Leafs to earn his first win of the season. That’s already half as many wins as he had last season.

Late in the game, holding onto a 3-1 lead, Söderblom made a pair of left-pad saves that kept the Blackhawks ahead as the Maple Leafs were pushing hard for any chance for at a comeback. But it wasn’t meant to be tonight.

The Blackhawks believe that Söderblom can be part of, if not, the goalie of the future. They have set themselves up nicely to at least have one of Södeblom, Drew Commesso, or Adam Gajan likely become that goaltender, but it is the 24-year-old Swede that is getting the first chance at being the next bonafide starter in-between the pipes for Chicago. Goaltenders usually take longer to develop into full-time NHL players than any other position, but Söderblom is ahead of the curve and was a project play for the Blackhawks when they signed his as a European free agent a few seasons ago. For reference, Corey Crawford is regarded as one of the best goaltenders in Blackhawks franchise history and after he was selected in the second round of the 2003 NHL draft, he took two full years in the QMJHL and five full seasons in the AHL before becoming a full-time player in the NHL as a 26-year-old in the 2010-11 season.

Again, it’s early in the season and his track record of NHL play coming into the 2023-24 campaign was a rough 2-12-2 record with a far below .900 save-percentage, but with a roster that looks better across the board than last season’s did, one would imagine that Söderblom will be able to turn those games last year where he was keeping the Blackhawks alive in one or two-goal games, into wins this season.