CHICAGO – It didn’t take Luke Richardson long to realize that this Blackhawks training camp would be different than his first two as a head coach.
There would be no easing into camp and stepping things up as the first week went on. Instead, Richardson set a different tone for camp by opening it with a 25-minute scrimmage, officials and all.
“We wanted to go right in,” Richardson said. “We were waiting for the guys to form. We talked about it. Nick (Foligno), internally, talked about it with the guys that came in here, especially the leaders, they all showed up in great shape, did extras in the training camp and the weight room before camp even started on their own. You can just feel it. So, I think we just wanted to go with it and go fast. I loved the pace today. The speed up and down was excellent.
“We just want to use that pace to be up and down the ice, execute now with more veteran players who are able to make these plays at a high-speed NHL-level pace. And if we can keep that going, we’re going to be a tough team to continue.”
The reference to having more veteran players is the main difference between this year’s team and the last two. A season ago, Richardson had to balance NHL expectations with a team full of NHL rookies. While this year’s team may have some young players, it’s not expected to have nearly as many. This will be the most NHL-caliber team in Richardson’s Blackhawks tenure.
How Richardson trains this group and what the expectations are within the group are different because of that as well.
“To take a step forward for us (is the goal this season),” said Seth Jones, who is entering his fourth season with the Blackhawks. “We have to keep taking steps forward. I don’t know how many games we won the last two years. I know it’s probably in the mid-20s, and we want to take steps to become a better hockey team than we were the year before. So it’s up to us, all the players in this organization, to be the best team we could be on the ice. Every night we compete in front of our fans and make them happy to come to the games at home.
“And then the key for us is that we’re a little bit older, and I think that’s going to really help our road record this year, to be honest. Last year, I don’t know what (it was but) we lost a lot in a row last year on the road. And I think being a little more veteran, understanding that we might have to win a road game 2-1 or 1-0, or go to overtime and be okay with it and be comfortable, it’s got to be important for us this year. .”
The veterans discussed after Thursday’s scrimmage how they would like to see more physicality in future camp scrimmages.
“Me and Nick talked earlier, maybe the next couple of days, get a little more contact, not killing guys, not running over guys, but kind of setting the tone in that sense, defensively, on the forecheck,” Jones said. . “You push other teammates to be better, your team will get better. So we want to put that into the games a little bit over the next few days as well.”
Although Thursday was the first day of training camp and a lot happened, the Blackhawks made sure it was Foligno’s day more than anything. After announcing on Wednesday that Foligno was becoming the 35th captain in franchise history, the Blackhawks followed that up with a press conference to make it all official on Thursday.
President Danny Wirtz, general manager Kyle Davidson and Foligno all wanted to make sure Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks’ last captain, got his due. Foligno said he has reached out to Toews but has not yet connected with him.
“Obviously, I want to talk to him and just have that conversation,” Foligno said. “I know what he meant to this organization and I said he is a pillar that this organization stands on with what he has done. I admire him because we were both drafted the same year, and to see what he was able to accomplish at such a young age and take the leadership role at such a young age on an Original Six team in such a market. It is admirable and something as a player from afar, I would watch and I would learn and appreciate. So, the one thing I will make clear is that there are no shoes to fill. That is done. That will never be affected. His legacy will live on for a very long time.
“But what I’m excited about is a new era, so to speak. It’s about growing this team in that direction and understanding that we have a lot of great players coming up. It’s an exciting group of players coming up, an exciting group of players that we have this season, I’m really proud to lead with a handful of guys here, and I’m honored to do that. It’s about building what I know. Maybe because I’m older, I don’t care about trying to hold a candle to that. I am confident in who I am and what I can do for this team and also with the help of these guys. That’s where I’m really excited to get to work and I appreciate everything Jonathan has done and he’s given us one hell of a blueprint to do that. Hopefully, we’ll go back to the years where he had a lot of success here and hopefully we will.”
Foligno did everything you’d expect from a captain and more last season, but only without the title. No one anticipated that any of that would change this season with the “C.”
“Nick has always been Nick, deep down,” Jones said. “When I got to Columbus, I was 21 years old, so I got a first-hand (view) of what he’s talking about when the young guy comes into the team and what we were trying to build there, we were kind of at the beginning. but in the middle of our process there . But he’s a very nice guy, always asking to go to lunch, always wanting to go to dinner with different guys on the team. He wants everyone to be a uniform group, so if you trust each other off the ice , you’re going to trust each other on the ice. And that’s kind of the model that we went with there in Columbus, and that’s something that we always talked about when we got here, and we want to get that tight-knit group back. “
Are we reading too much into early lines at camp? Yes.
Will that stop us from doing it? No.
So, let’s analyze. Of course, the biggest question entering camp was who would appear alongside Connor Bedard on a line. With the melee to start the day, we didn’t have to wait long to find out. With Bedard in center, Taylor Hall lined up as his left wing and Tyler Bertuzzi as his right. Richardson said he compiled the lines looking for some balance but also hoping to see how certain players fit together. He said he can juggle them in the next few days.
Bertuzzi was an obvious choice. Davidson made Bertuzzi his biggest unrestricted free agent signing so far this offseason.
Bedard almost makes a move at the net pic.twitter.com/DGP60Gn98r
– Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) September 19, 2024
Whether the other wing would be Hall, Philipp Kurashev, Teuvo Teräväinen or someone else was more of the unknown. Hall is not entirely surprising. He was acquired before last season to play alongside Bedard and had a short run with him before injuries shortened his season. Hall and Bedard mixed results together in a small sample size. To be fair, Bedard was still wet at that point, and Hall hadn’t been healthy for that long. The line is worth a look. Hall has been at an elite level before and is motivated to show he can get back there. Bedard should be that much more comfortable this season.
Again, not to read too much into the early goings of camp, but Hall was visible in the scrimmage on Thursday. There was one stretch where he had some strong consecutive changes. On one, he stripped a puck and created a chance. On the next, he set up Bertuzzi for a chance at the net with a crafty pass.
“I’m excited to see him go,” Richardson said of Hall. “He’s so excited to play now. Even last week, going to Colorado and doing some high altitude training, he’s all business right now, just how we want to conduct ourselves as a team and he’s driving that pace out there. That’s how he likes to play. I remember him in New Jersey being the MVP of the league, and that’s how he played. We expect him at full health to continue to get to where he just got when he got injured, unfortunately, in the early part of November.”
Taylor Hall slides a pass to Bertuzzi for a quality chance pic.twitter.com/pQwcXBOEYN
– Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) September 19, 2024
Here are some other line combinations and thoughts on them:
Lukas Reichel – Kurashev – Teräväinen: This could be a funny line if it clicks. It should be a journey for Teräväinen, who is back in Chicago as a veteran and playing alongside two younger players who have some similar attributes to him.
Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Ilya Mikheyev: Foligno and Dickinson being back together was a safe bet. Mikheev makes sense as the other winger. He is a versatile forward and has some offense and defense to his game. You would think this line gets a lot of defensive zone starts.
Patrick Maroon – Andreas Athanasiou – Craig Smith: This could be the Blackhawks’ fourth line and where jobs can be won or lost. The Blackhawks brought in Maroon and Smith that offseason to help create roster competition. Athanasiou flew on Thursday and is definitely motivated to have a bounce back season.
Colton Dach – Frank Nazar – Nick Lardis: It’s obvious that Nazar is going to have to blow everyone’s socks off to earn a spot out of camp. The preseason games will be big for him. Lardis will return to junior, but he scored a goal on Thursday and will be a prospect to watch this season.
Joey Anderson – Ryan Donato – Landon Slaggert: It will be interesting to see how many players from this line earn an NHL spot out of camp. Slaggert is probably unlikely based on numbers. Anderson showed a lot last season but probably needs to have a strong camp to have a chance. Donato will probably do it, but where does he fit in?
Richardson didn’t have much of a definitive update on No. 2 draft pick Artyom Levshunov (foot) and newly signed goaltender Lauren Brossoit (right knee) but said both are on their way.
“I know (Levshunov’s) in the gym now working, once graduating to the ice,” Richardson said. “I think all I know is the same timeline that was originally released. I just know that I see a smiling face in the locker room every day. He’s a fun guy and loves to be around. He can’t wait to get out there . The coaches will have to push him out until his timeline (is over).”
It was notable that Richardson did not join his players in their sprints, as he has done in the past, at the end of Thursday’s practice. He laughed when asked about it.
“It wasn’t really the setup for that this year,” Richardson said. “I did them on my own in the summer, so I’m ready. I’m ready anytime. I thought it was more important that everything was serious. You don’t need a clown coach who skates in a tracksuit doing a few laps when he hasn’t done anything before, where (the players) have all worked for an hour before. This year it’s about everything and that’s how the players approach it and the coaches love it. “
(Photo by Danny Wirtz, Nick Foligno and Kyle Davidson: Scott Powers / The Athletic)
