NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks lost last night in a shootout, making them 2-1-2 in their five preseason games with a road finale in St. Louis on Saturday.
If all you look at is the final score and the stats, you’re probably sitting on Twitter talking about how the Blackhawks aren’t going to make the playoffs and are the same mediocre team they have been for the past few years.
If you watch the game, it’s a different story.
Yes, the Blackhawks were 0-4 on the power play last night. But the passing is there, the puck movement is quick and the shots are getting on net. The Blackhawks were credited with 13 shots on net while on the power play; Marc-Andre Fleury just happened to have a really good night. Nick Foligno‘s goal came just after a power play ended in the first period.
Minnesota, meanwhile, was 0-6 on the power play and they were credited with only seven shots on net while they had an advantage. And they had an extended 5-on-3 that came up empty.
What’s more, the skaters are all buying into the team philosophy. I’ve mentioned this before, but Taylor Raddysh is the leading power play point producer and goal scorer returning from last year. Head coach Luke Richardson told us on Thursday that Raddysh had approached the coaches about helping the penalty kill. He told the coaches he could help. And on Thursday night he did; he was out multiple times on the PK and skated 74 seconds short-handed in the game.
The Wild are a big, heavy, veteran team. And as the game progressed, the chippy play ramped up. Foligno said after the game that it felt like a regular season game.
A regular season game against a team that everyone expects to be in the playoffs this year.
That ended in a shootout, with the Blackhawks sending out two players — Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel — who are essentially rookies in the league (Reichel isn’t eligible for the Calder Trophy but this will be his first full NHL season). It was Bedard’s first shootout attempt against an NHL goaltender, and it came against a future Hall of Famer and one of the all-time best, Marc-Andre Fleury.
Did he convert? No. Did it look awkward when Fleury tripped him after not getting off an attempt? Absolutely.
But if we’ve learned anything about Bedard while the hockey world obsessed over Bedard leading up to the draft and since, it’s that he learns from mistakes and gets better. When he figures it out? Good luck.
Now, I want you to read the next sentence very carefully. And I’m going to make sure it’s bold enough that you cannot miss it:
There are going to be mistakes.
This is still a team that has a lot of young, inexperienced players in the roster. When you consider Bedard, Reichel, Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser, Cole Guttman and possibly Kevin Korchinski and Isaak Phillips will be playing prominent roles this season, there isn’t a lot of NHL resume to work with for any of them.
What matters at this point — this entire season — is that these players learn from their mistakes.
On Thursday night, Kaiser tried to make a play and it didn’t work. He blew a tire behind the net and it ended up with Pat Maroon tying the game.
It was a tough moment for a young defenseman who has had a really good, impressive camp.
How did he respond?
Later in the game, Kaiser had what I would submit was his most impressive shift in the game. He battled physically with a veteran skater through his defensive zone, won the fight, got the puck, and turned up the ice and attacked. That was a battle that a lot of young guys lose. He was ferocious and didn’t let his opponent beat him in a tie game.
Vlasic had a very good night on Thursday. I wrote after the game that I thought Korchinski played as confidently as I’ve seen him the entire preseason. Heck, he even got into the mix when grabbing and swatting happened behind the net (see the image at the top). He didn’t back down from a physical challenge.
When you go back and look at the roster the Blackhawks put on the ice at the end of last year, it took a minor miracle for them to win a game. How they beat the Penguins will confound many — especially fans in Pittsburgh — for some time. They weren’t very fast, the skill simply wasn’t there, and more nights than not they were overwhelmed.
That is not the case any more.
The veterans the Blackhawks brought in are playing hard. That’s what guys like Foligno and Taylor Hall and Corey Perry have always done. And each of them has something to prove.
Are we looking for moral victories after a preseason loss? Maybe. But it isn’t a stretch to watch Thursday night’s game and be encouraged that the Blackhawks lined up and pushed back against a good Minnesota Wild team and were in it all the way to the end.
Last year, if/when the Blackhawks lost a game like they did last night the thoughts would have been “dang, that’s as good as they’re gonna be this year and they came up short. That’s their ceiling.” Now, this is a foundational moment for a team that’s still growing.
Again, there will be games this year where this team will probably lose and it might get ugly at times. Heck, look at the schedule to start the season. It’s going to be a trial by fire for this team. They have a five-game trip that includes some of the best teams in the league only to come home and open their home schedule against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
One thing I’ve seen from this team is they’re going to fight back. And they’re going to compete. They’re fast and have a lot of skill. If we can employ some patience and watch for the adjustments and corrections after the mistakes, there’s a lot to be excited about as this year’s edition of the Chicago Blackhawks embark on a new season.
