The Chicago Blackhawks were in a slump going into the Olympic break, with only two wins in their previous eight games. But that is the beauty of a break. Sometimes it comes at an inopportune time, maybe for a team like the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were red-hot, winning seven straight going into the break.
However, for the Blackhawks, the most positive part may be how they return, with four practices left before their season resumes.
Blackhawks Looking For A Strong Return
The Blackhawks suffered a 4-0 loss to the Blue Jackets before the break and were disappointed with their performance, and it is being reflected.
Practices resumed on Feb. 17, starting with an optional practice. The first thing that stood out was the attendance. Only five players were absent: one due to the Olympics (Teuvo Teräväinen) and another due to injury (Wyatt Kaiser).
I spoke with Nick Foligno about the eagerness he saw from the team at optional practice on Feb. 17, “Well, everybody’s here, you know? I mean… for the most part, right? There are some guys [who], obviously, especially veteran guys, that understand what it takes for them to get (prepared). So, I’m not too concerned. But every young guy wanted to be here, wanted to get back to work. And you know, as much as that break is nice, you also feel like, at one point, you’re like, ‘All right, I want to get back going with the guys.’ And so you could tell that by everyone in the room, the energy in here, and we’re excited to get to work tomorrow, especially, and start building this back up to where we want to get it to.”
Head coach Jeff Blashill explained that they wanted to get the players going, highlighting puck touches, conditioning, and getting the systems in place so they can play games without thinking.
When it came to the first mandatory practice, Blashill was happy with what he saw from the players in a lengthy practice on Feb. 18.
“I liked it. I thought, you know, a number of our guys skated yesterday, and I was impressed, actually, with how they did. You know, today we did a lot of puck touch stuff early, and it wasn’t the cleanest puck touches ever, but I certainly had patience for that- guys have been off for quite a bit of time. But I thought our energy was good. I thought our attention to detail was good. So those are the two things that… you know, our work ethic was good. Those are important things.”
There is a lot the Blackhawks will look to improve on as they enter the final stretch of the regular season, such as the power play and offense. But, as popularly said, to get desired results, you first have to have the right mindset and attitude. That seems to be evident in the locker room.
Frank Nazar told me regarding the team’s eagerness to be back on Feb. 18, “Yeah, I’d agree with you. I think that there’s a lot of eagerness to get back playing. You know, we want to take steps as a team. So I, think… literally exactly what [Foligno] just said. [Author’s Note: Folgino was talking in an interview next to us]. I think we want to be great, and we got to take steps at that. So I think these days of practice coming up with 16 games this next month, we really need to take advantage of it. So I think we’re all going to be eager to learn our systems better and build some chemistry as a team, and go from there.”
This mini training can serve as a “fresh start”, and that in itself is something to look forward to.
Foligno said, “I think just fine-tuning our game, right? Finding a way to make sure that we come into… the the last third of the season, where we find our rhythm, find our game, and get to it more consistently than maybe we did going into the break, right? And that’s something I’m looking forward to. A little reset here for our group, and you know, finding a way to push and become the really good team that we want to be, and have the whole lineup carry us through, and, you know, we’ll see where things go…”
How the team will look against the Nashville Predators when games resume on Feb. 26 is yet to be seen. They sit 10 points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, and the trade deadline looms on March 6. However, the focus first is simply on regaining form.
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Foligno continued, “You know, I understand what position we’re in in the standings, but I’m not really worried about that. I’m just trying to find our game consistently, where we had it going early in the season. We kind of dipped a little bit. So, I’m looking forward to finding that more (consistently) here. I think it’s the challenge of going into this training camp.”
Maybe this break will serve them well when games resume, but for now, the intention is there. The work ethic is there, and if they return showing signs of a winning team, then that will be paramount. It’s a concept that they have been stressing all season.
When I asked Foligno about the mini training camp being a fresh start, “Yeah, fresh start, and like what we’re trying to become, right? And understanding how it’s an all-the-time league. I would say that, like so does Blash (Blashill), and every team that you play on, like it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. It’s, ‘What are you coming in here to do to get better at today?’ And I think that’s the mindset that we have to have.”
He continued, “And knowing that if we have that mindset, then our games will start taking care of themselves, where every night, we know what to expect of each other. We know what kind of performance we have to have, and then all of a sudden, you start getting to that identity every time. Then it’s like, ‘Oh, here’s the Blackhawks. This is what they are. This is their team,’ and then you fine-tune that even more, and hopefully you put yourself in a good position to be a winning team all the time.”
