New Blackhawks Head Coach Takes a Shot at His Predecessor's Culture of Losing Games
Photo credit: Screenshot
Jeff Blashill, the Chicago Blackhawks' new head coach, took a shot at his predecessor's culture in an interview about his strategies going into training camp.
Following some tough seasons of rebuilding in Chicago, the Blackhawks seem like a team that could turn the corner soon.
With all the young top draft picks getting older and more experienced, the Hawks will be among the teams to watch in the coming years.
This summer, the organization hired Jeff Blashill as head coach, and it is expected that he'll be able to lead the group to success.
In a new interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, the coach opened up about his team, his plans for training camp, his revamped playbook, his coaching staff, and what he expects for the next season.
Jeff Blashill Plans to Teach Blackhawks 'Winning Habits' After Several Years of Tough Play
The Hawks have only won one playoff round since they won the Stanley Cup in 2015. Building a team from the ground up takes time, but Blashill plans to turn things around.
He knows, however, that it depends on how quickly the players will develop:
"The reality is our growth will be based on how quickly our young guys mature, [not only] how they mature physically, but more importantly, how their games mature.
[We'll] go from a young, talented group to a group that plays winning hockey. The most exciting opportunity we have as a coaching staff is to mold our players into winning players as quickly as possible.
It'll be a different animal as we get into this season, but it gives me some perspective."
[We'll] go from a young, talented group to a group that plays winning hockey. The most exciting opportunity we have as a coaching staff is to mold our players into winning players as quickly as possible.
It'll be a different animal as we get into this season, but it gives me some perspective."
Later, in the same interview, he opened up on his lineup and his plan to get the team to the next level, starting at rookie and training camps:
"When you look at the 'D' corps, we're big and we can skate, as a whole. So what ways can we utilize that? One area is on breakouts. They're going to use their feet to help us get out of our end. From there, [they should] move pucks to open people, and then let's beat people up the ice. Now you're involved in the rush and creating out-numbered situations.
There's still shot selection, but ... when the puck goes low to high, the first read should be looking to the net and having a shot mentality. That's something we're going to emphasize early.
Ultimately, the whole point of the game is to create more chances than you give up. If you do that over and over again, you'll score more goals than you give up.
To me, it's all a balance of understanding risk/reward. Is the reward worth the risk? If it is, that's when you attack and try to make plays. And there are times where the reward is not worth the risk and you make a safer play with the puck.
The first system we'll implement will be our backchecking track. The reason for that is, one, it's a work-ethic indicator. That will show how willing our team is to work.
And two, it's one of the best ways to create transition offensive opportunities - by being smothering in your effort to come back as forwards. That allows your [defensemen] to gap up, create turnovers and go the other way.
We'll put a huge emphasis on our first three steps in any kind of transition, both from a reload perspective but also when you create turnovers."
There's still shot selection, but ... when the puck goes low to high, the first read should be looking to the net and having a shot mentality. That's something we're going to emphasize early.
Ultimately, the whole point of the game is to create more chances than you give up. If you do that over and over again, you'll score more goals than you give up.
To me, it's all a balance of understanding risk/reward. Is the reward worth the risk? If it is, that's when you attack and try to make plays. And there are times where the reward is not worth the risk and you make a safer play with the puck.
The first system we'll implement will be our backchecking track. The reason for that is, one, it's a work-ethic indicator. That will show how willing our team is to work.
And two, it's one of the best ways to create transition offensive opportunities - by being smothering in your effort to come back as forwards. That allows your [defensemen] to gap up, create turnovers and go the other way.
We'll put a huge emphasis on our first three steps in any kind of transition, both from a reload perspective but also when you create turnovers."
Blashill also opened up on his coaching staff:
"I've got a group of coaches that really see things similarly - from a hockey standpoint, from a habits standpoint [and] from an importance-of-discipline standpoint. They're guys I know will be able to challenge me, as well. You want both those things."
The Chicago Blackhawks showed a lot of promise at the end of the 2024-25 season, and under Blashill, taking the next step this season doesn't sound that far-fetched for the young roster.
TRENDING NOW
