WHAT TO WATCH: Chicago Blackhawks Training Camp Preview! | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

WHAT TO WATCH: Chicago Blackhawks Training Camp Preview! | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

This is the final CHGO Blackhawks of the off season officially. Let’s go. More coming up next on CHGO Blackhawks. We’re giddy. Welcome into the CHGO Blackhawks podcast. Hope you’re having a great Wednesday. I’m Jay Zawaskki with Mario Tierbasi. Katy Duffy’s running the show for us today here in studio B where we’ve been all week and is wrecking havoc on my back. I’m fine. Just going to have to be carried out of here on a stretcher. But Katie’s got that. She already signed up for it. So, thanks for being with us. Do us a favor. Hit that like button for us. So, you’re saying you didn’t you didn’t pass your physical today? No. I don’t think I’d pass media physical. No, no, no, no. They’d go, “Oh, oh, oh, no. Oh, dear God.” Colin ambulance immediately. It is not good. Um, yeah. I’m at the age now where I get hurt doing nothing. Like, I’m I’m literally on 800 milligrams of ibuprofen. I brought in a 10ens unit to electrify my back the whole way here. I’m covered in icy hot. And what did I do? Not sure. Maybe put a sock on, potentially put my jeans on yesterday morning, and I am just I’m in bad shape. Took a step. Yeah, I need to be ready for camp tomorrow, though. I got I got uh less, you know, about 12 hours to get it together here. Uh but we’ll be fine. Ibuprofen. Good stuff. Way to go, science. Just lay down on the on the ice. That’ll keep it nice and cool. That’s right. Just skate around me. Put the cone. You know what? I’ll be I’ll be the center ice like sprawled out. Exactly. Well, they bring out the mannequins, right, to to help them. I could do You could skate around me. Yeah. Use me as for agility drills. You’re the obstacle. You’re You’re that uh the thing they put on the ice that they pass the pucks off, right? And I’ll once I get up, there will be a big melted part of the ice for my hot icy hot on my body just melting everything around me. Anyway, I’ll be fine. This is not the first time or the last time I’ll throw out my back doing nothing. So, uh, thanks for being with us. Hit that like button and I get another milligram of ibuprofen for every like. So, I’d appreciate that. Every like We have the like button hooked up to shot of painkiller into We have it hooked up to a to a machine that just gives me a every time the like button is hit. You’re be drooling by the end of the show. Well, what else is new? Uh anyway, we appreciate you being with us. Hit that like button for us. Subscribe to the YouTube page as well. Podcast listeners, follow, subscribe, rate, review. I’m going to ask all of our listeners for a favor. And we are still a startup, right? We’re what, three years into this thing. I was told yesterday we still were. Yes, we are still considered a startup. And I think one of the one of the struggles we have here is creating awareness because as we’re trying to become more than a startup, the extra money is not really there for advertising and spreading the word in traditional ways. So, we really rely on word of mouth, retweets, telling a friend. With camp opening tomorrow, if you’ve got a Hawks fan in your life that doesn’t know about us, let them know. Send them a link to the podcast. send them a link to the YouTube page or a specific episode you think they might like. Let them know. Also, tomorrow morning, I have a scheduled tweet going out introducing ourselves to Hawks fans with the opening of training camp. If you see that, please retweet it. We would really appreciate that. Reshare it. But really, word of mouth is our biggest is the best way to help us here. And I think there’s a large percentage of Hawks fans that would love to know about us that just don’t. Mhm. And we need your help to do that. Like yesterday on my for you page or whatever they call it on uh on Twitter. Um I saw like a bunch of people tweeting about oh I met Conor Bedard. I met Frank Nazar at Union Station and I’m looking at their profiles and none of them are following us. None of them are following the show and it’s like they need to know. If they’re getting up in the morning and they’re meeting friends at Union Station to meet Blackhawks, it sounds like they need to know about our show. So help them know about us. Spread the word. It goes a long way. And it’s not just us. It’s all the CHO shows except the Bears. They don’t need our help. They got plenty of help. No, but help them, too. Absolutely. Yeah. Across the board doing that, it’s it’s the Jerry Maguire uh line. Help me help you. Yes. Because the more you do that, the more that we can do fun things and and grow what we can do with the show, what we can do with the events and and and everything like that. And that benefits uh you the fans and and everyone. So yeah, that’s that’s much appreciated. Um, something else that helps us in that visibility and and word of mouth um in in that lane is when you go to Hawks stuff. Uh, and if you have CHDL merch, wear it because that can bring eyes to a shirt that is a Blackhawk shirt that can stick out from the traditional jerseys or anything like that. uh that someone might say, “Hey, that’s a different shirt. I’ve never seen that before. What is it?” And then you have the opportunity to say, “Well, it’s CHDO sports.” And they do this and and all that stuff. So, that’s a that’s a big thing. I know I’ve worn uh you know on Sundays some of our CHDO Bear stuff and they’re like I’ll get like double takes at like the grocery store and they’re like, “Wait, is that a bear shirt?” I’m like, “Yeah, it’s actually CHDO Bears.” And go into the spiel for them. Um, but yeah, you we’ve again we got really cool designs with the Connor Baddard uh future of the game future of the of the of the game, the 8bit uh got a Ronic and a number 27 inspired number 98 inspired. We got the the we had the TA one, we had the Chelios one, we had the Hosa one, like a lot of cool things. So check those out. That’s that’s definitely uh a big help. And if anyone knows, Katie, I don’t know if you got the message in the Slack there, uh Josh Freriedman of of WGN posted a picture yesterday of Frank Nazar, uh rather Alex Flask and Connor Baddard getting uh miked up for their TV hit and in the background of this picture, I don’t I’ve we’ve tried to do it in the in the Discord. haven’t really had much uh luck identifying this person, but if you or someone you know knows the person who was wearing the CHGO Blackhawk shirt uh just behind Alex Velic and Connor Bard as WGN was doing their uh TV hit yesterday uh at Union Station. Uh identify them or themselves. We’d love to uh shout them out and thank them for wearing the CHGO Blackhawks t-shirt front and center uh on uh on the broadcast there out at uh Union Station. Stuff like that. You see it on on the on the uh screen there. Uh that’s that’s awesome. I saw that yesterday and like my eyes like popped out. I was like, “Holy crap, that’s one of our shirts like out in the wild.” Um yeah, just like stuff like that. Like that’s really cool to see and it still like hits me and it’s just like hey someone’s like out there people actually listen love that like like what we do so much so that they not only we know people like buy our merch we you know we get the sales numbers and stuff but to see it uh out in the wild or organically is just like that’s awesome. Like that just that’s really cool. So uh funny you mentioned that. If that’s you uh hit us up and we’d love to shut you out. Yeah. Yeah, funny you mentioned the merch cuz we currently have a merch sale going on right now. 20% off all and on onhand products. So pre-sale items and print on demand items are not included, but most of the stuff we have is on sale for 20%. And there are some items up for 85% off our shop. So go check it out. Uh go to allho.com and go over to our store there or it’s store.allcityetwork.com. And it’s it’s companywide. So, if you’re looking for a PHNX Sun shirt or a DLLS Maverick shirt, whatever it might be, they’re all on sale. They’re all 20% off. Uh, and Beex in the chat, who we’ve not seen in a while. Hey, Beex, uh, is in a CHCO shirt as we speak. That’s great. I think she was uh she was down at Union Station and got featured on CHSN. Nice. So, that was cool for for her. I’ve been paying for CHSN now for several months, and I don’t think I’ve watched it yet. Well, it’s Hawk season. I’m going to start watching it a lot. you’ll start watching now 100%. So, yeah. All right. Well, now that we’re through all that, uh, training camp starts tomorrow. First practice at 8:30 in the morning. We will be there. Kyle Davidson’s going to speak tomorrow at 11:00 as well. We’ll bring back that at probably the entire thing, unless it’s like 40 minutes. I can’t imagine it will be, but we’ll bring back the important stuff from Kyle Davidson tomorrow. Um, but in the meantime, this morning, Mario at all published his uh 12 story lines going to camp. So, why don’t we just kind of one by one go through these and discuss them and uh might have to go to overtime today, so we’ll see. Yeah, we’ll try and be we’ll be concise. Yeah, it’s a lot of things we’ve talked about all summer. what um but yeah, training camp eve. Um I’m very excited for for tomorrow and and a lot of these questions are more season long things, not necessarily training camp things, but um definitely things to keep an eye on as we progress through the next few weeks and as we get closer to that uh October 7th season opener against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. First question uh that I’m looking at going into this season, going into training camp, is who is helping Conor Bard? We’ve talked about it a lot basically since May of 2023 when they won the draft lottery. Who’s going to help them? I think this year out of the group that’s going to be in the top six forwards group as a collective, it’s probably the most collective talent he’s played with. Now you got to find who’s going to be his running mate. Who’s gonna be right there with him? Yeah. So that I mean that’s always a question who the line mates are going to be. And I saw you mentioned Ryan Donado who spent a lot of last season with him. Tavo Terravan who really has not spent any time with him at even strength really at all. Yeah. Um which is so strange because it really felt like boy that was Tavo was designed to be that dude with Bedard and neither Richardson nor Sorenson really put them with him uh very often. So interested to see what Jeff Flashel rules out uh at training camp. Uh Andre Barakovski obviously a candidate too. But here’s what I’ll say in terms of helping BDard and this isn’t even directly as a linemate. Frank Nazar has built a bit of a reputation for himself here. Be it the performance at the World Championships, be it the new contract, people are starting to notice Frank Nazar. And I think the fact that other teams have another offensive player that they feel they need to plan for is going to take a lot of pressure off Conor Bard because for the longest time if you stopped 98 you stopped the entire team. Yeah. And I think now you’ve got a little bit more depth with the emergence of Nazar and who knows who else makes the team. We’ll get to the roster battles later in the show. But just by having a second line that can actually be a threat to score is going to ease a lot of the pressure off Conor Bart I think. Yeah. you have to have another another option on your mind. Um and I and I think last year maybe Ryan Donado’s uh career year may have been aided by the we’re just going to stop Bard. Well then Ryan Donado was having a really good season last year and then um you know was able to maybe find some opportunities that you know were were left open because teams would say we’re going to you know do we need to stop Ryan Donado tonight? we going to, you know, if Ryan Donado kills us tonight, we you live with that because you plan to stop Bard and then, you know, Donado has a career year. So maybe there is something to Nazar and Baddard starting to have to take up more brain space in the game planning for for the opposition. So a person like Randonado can continue to play the way that he did last year. Or table Terravinan could have quote unquote a bounceback year where you know he was a little inconsistent to start but then was able to kind of find it midway through the season. Maybe Tyler Bertusi is a guy that is a little bit more consistent in his production this season. Um, yeah, cuz it was there. His production was there and at the end of the year like, okay, that’s what you expect. But there were weeks where he’d have 12 points in five games and then there’d be weeks where he had no points in 10 games. Didn’t he go he went like on a zero goals and like 21 game stretch or something? Something crazy like a long time. And it came right off of like a eight goals in nine games run. I’ll say though too that you know, Bertusi’s production is very much puck possession dictated. Yeah. because that’s a guy who makes his hand in front of the net or next to the net. So, if they don’t have the puck very often, he’s not going to get opportunities to score. And I do think now it’s kind of on the same beat of, hey, you know, you’re going to put uh you’re going to have to commit defense to the second line, too. I think the Hawks will have the puck more with more talent offensively both up front and and on the back end. There will be those times where they’re getting globe charted by the opponent, but I feel like for the first time in years, we’re going to see them do that to some teams this year, too. That’d be nice. Yeah. And and that’s help for Bard is it can be a collective, too. You know, you look at if the defense is is able to play in transition and hold the puck more than they have in the last few seasons, that helps a lot, too. All right, we got to hit the break zone, Katie. All right, we’ll get you number two of 12. It’s like mailbag Monday with our pace. We’ll be fast. The first nine minutes were tom foolery. Yes. All right, we’ll be back in two minutes right here on CHO Blackhawks. Hit the like button for us. Let’s get real for a second. You know it. I know it. The world has gone soft. Even softer is the world of soft drinks. That is the right word for it. With your sparkling acai, lemon cello, peach fuzz. No, no one wants this. Peach fuzz. No one asked for this. You want real cola. 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Create your profile, search through coaches in your sport, and connect directly with the one that’s right for for you. From soccer to swimming to baseball to basketball to football and hockey, you name it, the coaches are out there waiting to coach you up. So, uh, cannot confirm nor deny. Uh, so what are you waiting for? Your future coach could be one click away. Jump on today at iontheball.net. That’s iontheball.net. Find your coach and take your game to the next level. And coaches, it’s super easy. You sign up, upload your background check, and find the athletes that want to be coached by you. That was good. I did. I kind of match the pose today. I think we got it. Yes. Nice. Third shows the charm. It’s like a fun miniame for me. I think my my Dr. Pepper can, which is fine because it’s from the RC family of products. All right. It’s always good to get have an appointment with the doctor. Exactly. Yes. RC has been also injected into my back to make it less soft. So, yeah, we appreciate that. All right. Number two on the list. What do we got? Uh, speaking of the forwards group and who could help Connor Bard, can Ryan Donado duplicate last season’s uh results? No. Okay. Next. Uh, I’m just being realistic. I don’t think No, I I I get it. Look, but it’s okay. It’s okay if he doesn’t. Yeah. Is is is the expectation Ryan Donado is now a 30 point or a 30 goal 60point guy? I don’t think it should be by anyone by anyone that’s got, you know, a realistic viewpoint of things. But that’s not to say he can’t be a guy that is effective to the tune of 40 to 50 points. I agree. I think 25 and 25 looks really good. I I think that that’s entirely attainable for a guy who, you know, has has a versatility to him. We’ve seen him play on a power play. We’ve seen him play on the top line. We’ve seen him play penalty kill. We’ve seen him play fourth line. He can he can move around and he can play with a lot of different um styles of players. But I I do think he is probably going to get a opportunity to play along with Conor Bard to at least start the season. We’ll have to see how Jeff Blashel and his staff sees things um starting, you know, with tomorrow and how they group those guys together. But um I I I think Ryan Donado is going to be an elevated version of himself from his previous resume. I don’t think he’s necessarily going to be the guy he was last year. Yeah, I agree with that. But I I I think 50 points as a ceiling, and if they want to put my big dumb face on a bulletin board saying no, that’s fine. And I I because I think Ryan Donado is a guy who has been motivated by people doubting him and the constant movement and no team really committing to him. I think that really motivated him and he put the work in not this p I mean yes he put work in this summer I’m positive but two summers ago to really add that dimension of skating and it made a massive difference for him. So if he’s a 50point guy, even if he’s 20 and 20 or 20 and 25, you’re pretty happy with that cuz that’s So I think you’d say like Ryan was kind of like found like found money. Found money. Yeah. Really? Like last season was Yeah. Yeah. And and you look at his contract as we were talking leading up to it being signed, we were expecting it to be five, six million a year, right? Maybe more if he had gone to the to the free agent market. looking how that had shaped out. But to get him at 4 million is like even if he is a 45 point guy, but 4 million for someone who’s going to play who can play in every role that you want him to like that’s a that’s a good deal. So I’m not hinging this season on him being a 60point guy, but I I would love to see what kind of version of him uh shows up for the 82 games. What to you would be a disappointing point total for Donado? like it if he goes back to being like a 30 point guy. I think that would be a little disappointing. If he’s if he’s 40 or more, then I think you’re you’re going to be satisfied. Well, and Giggades brings up a good point. He says there’s no shot. People ask the same about Dickinson after a season two years ago when he wasn’t close. I mean, every player has that outlier season. So, 2023 24, Dickinson has 22 goals and 13 points and 35 and 13 assists for 35 points. That’s in 82 games. last year played only 59 games. Yeah, he was seven goals, nine assists. So he and I think it also felt like even before he missed like a significant amount of time, he was playing banged up. He he sort of would talk about that a little bit. It happens to everybody. Um but yes, there was a big drop off. So I do think it’s pretty logical to say last year for Donado was going to be the outlier season for him, but I don’t think there’s going to be a big cliff drop uh from last year to this year. Yeah. like there have been for other players be a Jonathan Chichu situation. Yeah. Like when you look at what Donado does, the versatility he brings, the the opportunity he’s going to get uh if he’s not with Bard, he’ll be with Nazar in the top six. He’s going to get his opportunities. He’ll probably be on the power play. So, he will pick up the points. 61 points probably not. And if he’s down on the fourth line, it’s probably because someone else has played their way into the top, right? It’s cuz Oliver Morris has been awesome. Yeah. which would be a really good um cause and effect. All right, what do we got? Number three. Is Sam Renzel ready for top pair assignments? Yes, I think he is. I think it’s it’s a heavy expectation and and a lot to put on a 21-year-old’s shoulders who’s still an NHL rookie, but I think he’s a guy that is going to accept that challenge, embrace it, and not that he’s going to be perfect. There’s going to be ups and downs as there always is with with young defenseman, but I think he’s I think he’s going to be a guy that can shoulder that 20 minute a night, play on the power play, you know, have some tough matchups. He’s he’s likely going to do it alongside Alex Vic, which should give him some some some good comfort there. Um, so I think he’s ready. I think he’s going to be able to do it. Um, to what degree of effectiveness, we’ll see. He might do it because you need him to do it because as we talked about the right side of the defense, not very deep as far as like experience and guys that you know exactly what you’re going to get other than Conor Murphy. Um but I think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to be able to handle that. Yeah. Kind of on the same token where Velasic is going to help Renzel. I I also think it’s going to work the other way too. I think that Renzel being as dependable defensively as he’s been is going to give Alice Vasic a little more freedom too. And I think we felt for a long time that there’s a little more offense there with Vic. We saw it a little bit after Seth Jones got traded. He got some of the opportunities Jones was getting. But now playing with a guy like Renzel who you don’t really have to worry about. Now if they if they were to flip things and put Lechnov with with Lassic, which I actually wouldn’t hate. No, I wouldn’t either. because then you’ve got the really defensively reliable guy to kind of make up for any mistakes Leon’s going to make. I almost would prefer that. Um then you see Vassic’s numbers go down. But if you got him with Renzel, that’s two defensively reliable defenders that can both move the puck and you could see uh both of them benefiting each other offensively, too. Yeah. I I I think if you were to put Lev up there, you’re setting Vlic up to be like, you’re the safety valve. let let the the unicorn go and and you know be a little bit more free offensively whereas Renzel has the ability to jump in and play really effective offensively and there were times during the Tom Kerver’s game there were times uh in the nine games that he played last year where he would get down below the circles in in the offensive zone trying to create things but his skating ability is able to allow him to make up for, you know, getting back defensively and being able to to move with that speed and and and awareness. Same thing with Levino. Like both both of those guys offensively have the ability to jump in and be be effective while also not being um necessarily liabilities defensively. Now, their games need growth in those aspects of it, of course. Yeah. Um, but they’re not uh they’re not inept in any in any way that I would say. All right. What’s number four? Number four is Frank Nazar a longterm center. Okay. And I think right now he’s getting the opportunity I think he will get the opportunity to be the number two center to start the season behind Connor Bdard. I think that’s going to be uh the one two down the middle that they start the season with. But is he going to be there long term? I think is going to be an interesting thing to to see because maybe at some point this season we see the two of them play together where one’s a center, one’s a wing. Whoever you want to be at center in that scenario, take your pick. Um I think that the door is open for both of them to have effectiveness both down the middle or on the wing. The other thing is long term when you look at it, Anton Fondell right now is playing center in Sweden. Yep. Is he a number two center or is he going to play alongside Baddard? Um Sasha Bu maybe his ceiling is number two center, but if he hits it, do you do you play him down the middle as more of a prototypical centerman compared to uh compared to Nazar as far as stature and style of play and everything. But hey, it’s a good problem to have that the Blackhawks really haven’t that the options for number two center are plentiful rather than well Michael Hanzus or Brad Richards like yeah I I I I I think they’re in a good position for the outlook for that position. I will say it’d be nice to have a little bit of certainty that yes this guy is definitively a center and I think we don’t really have that with any of these guys they’ve drafted. You know Bard I think is still a question. Nazar obviously um Renz Fondell and and Guava. I think Guava seems to be the most natural obvious center of the group based on what we know so far. Again, he’s playing college hockey. Things can certainly change. Um we’ll see what he does at Boston this year. But um I’d like a little more certainty there. But you also know you have several guys capable of doing it instead of just well we’ve got, you know, eight wingers and no centers. I’d rather have a bunch of guys that can do it. Yeah. Yeah, maybe no ideal answers, but with Nazar specifically, which is the question at hand, I I don’t have any concerns about him at center. Like faceoff percentage is important, but to me, like the difference between 52% and 48%. It’s not that big. It’s only 4%. It’s a difference. It’s my quick math. That’s true. Was that a Was that a ding for that being correct? Yeah. I don’t know what that was. That was for that not being you pushed a button. That is great timing cuz you are correct. Yeah, that is a difference of 4%. My laptop is just really proud of you. Like that’s what it was. It hurt a right math question. But really, think about this. Like that means that out of a 100 faceoffs, he lost four more than he So, it’s really not at the But if we’re talking 42%, 40% then you start to get a little bit concerned with the faceoff numbers. anywhere between anything above 45 I’m willing to live with because when I think about just going through your head your brain’s highlight reel of Frank Nazar isn’t everything pretty much down the middle he is a guy willing to go to the hard areas he weaves his way through traffic uh he is not afraid to play down the middle so I’m not afraid to put him there I think that he’ll be fine uh the faceoffs will improve we know he’s going to put the work in so I I’m I’m very comfortable with him being center right now um because look once the once the face off is dropped, you’re still he’s still very capable of doing center things, win or lose with the face off. Yeah, you can you can play as a wing and be a guy that attacks the middle, right? Or you can be a center that is effective right down right down the middle of the ice. And I think too, like you look at his numbers, 44.6% uh faceoff percentage last year. If Connor Bard was doing that, we’d be ecstatic. Um, so and I and I think those guys as they get more experience, as they, you know, learn some tricks of the trade a little bit more in the NHL, um, those numbers will go up. As they get stronger, those numbers will will go up. So that that that’s a good thing. But it’s not a uh, you know, a faceoff is not necessarily a live or die stat. Um, but it is it is nicer to be closer to or above 50% than not. But I think for the long term with Frank Nazar, if you have a guy that you could play on the power play, play on the penalty kill, can win you a decent amount of faceoffs, and brings that offensive threat, that speed threat right down the center of the ice. Um, yeah, I I I think that’s a that’s a valuable asset. And if you have a guy established as that number two center, if Conor Bard is your number one, Frank Nazar is your number two, then you say, “Okay, what’s what’s pecking order?” Well, if you don’t need Anton Fondell to be a center, then perfect. He’s a top six wing, and that’s that’s a scoring threat, that’s a playmaking threat, that’s a two-way threat on the wing. You love that. If Sasha Bu doesn’t need to be a number two center, you could say, “Okay, well then you have a really good number three center.” then you can say, well, maybe Oliver Moore doesn’t even need to worry about center. He can be a he can be a winger um for the long term. And you you start to just kind of place a lot of these young forwards for the long term into positions of um you know, maximizing their opportunities rather than having to kind of pigeon hole them into, you know, different boxes of like, well, they they have to be a center, so they have to be a center. So, you know, down the line, okay, now you you have a number three guy being number two because they have to be a center. Well, if if Nazar is that guy, it frees up the rest of the lineup. And Steve brings up a good point. He says, “Faceoff wins also require good wingers that can get the 50-50 pucks. The difference of 48 to 52 is off in the wingers.” It’s a really good point. And I think based on what we’ve heard from Jeff Flashel so far, that that term that winning hockey, that’s that’s supporting your teammates. that’s getting into the mix cuz it’s very rare that a faceoff is just one clean where it’s like boop just like in NHL 20 whatever you want to say you win the face off and it goes directly on the tape of your point man every time that’s typically not how faceoffs work there’s a little bit a lot of times it’s just a two guys just tie up sticks and then someone has to go in there and dig it out so it’s like a rugby play that that is also part of the coaching all right zone time uh make sure you do us a favor and hit that like button We’re at 75 likes. We need more than that. We got what? 175 people watching. That means a hundred of you have not hit the like button. That’s That’s not cool. Ding. It takes half a second to hit the like button. Do it. And we’ll be back in 2 minutes on CHGO Blackhawks. 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And there’s nothing quite like going to an NFL game, especially when the team coming to town this weekend is almost as miserable as your own team. Almost. The shared community of losing with the Cowboys and the Bears coming into town. Mario’s Dallas Cowboys coming into town to face our Chicago Bears should be a barn burner. Get your tickets on Game Time. The Game Time app gives the advantage back to fans. It’s the hack for unlocking amazing tickets. It’s super easy to use and the game time guarantee means you can trust. You’re going to get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. You don’t want the tickets when the third quarter starts. That’s not on time. No, you don’t want that. Fees are included so you know your total you know your total upfront so there’s no surprises. They’ve got zone deals. You can save even more when you choose a section and let game time choose a seats. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with Game Time. Download the app, create an account, use code CHGO for 20 bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Create an account and redeem code CHGO for $20 off. Ticket go download the game time app today. And it is our Big Brothers Big Sisters month of giving here at CHGO in all city. Raising some money for a great cause. Big Brothers Big Sisters. They’ve been at it for over a hundred years doing big things. We’re asking you to chip in a few bucks to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Go to bbbs.org/allcity to help support our efforts in a very meaningful way. I’ve said this every show and it seems to kind of translate. If everybody watching sacrificed a cup of coffee a week, so five bucks, a $5 donation, make it at home tomorrow and chip in five bucks to Big Brothers Big Sisters. If everybody did that, it would go a really long way. So bbbs.org/allcity. We’re super proud to be connected with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Now through the end of the month, we’re raising funds. We’re also, if you don’t have money to give, which is understandable, you go to bbbs.org and click that get involved tab and become a big. Mhm. All that takes is time. So do it. Anything helps. Even if it’s a buck. Yes, throw it in there. It’s gonna help. It’s gonna go a long way, longer than you think. It makes a bigger difference than you can imagine. So, please do that. BBBS.org/allcity. We have a super chat we want to get to as well. This one comes to us from Mike Hyleman says, “If Donado is paired with Baddard, he can produce le less than 50.” I think it’s probably supposed to say more than. I think he used the wrong sign. Yes, I could produce less than 50 if I was a That’s true. Yeah. Uh man, you are three for three on the map. Look at me. Uh yeah, I I I yeah, that’s that’s that’s part of my thinking is that as Connor Bdard develops as a as an NHL player, and I think a lot of people are expecting big things from him in year three, we’ve talked a lot about his off season and how he’s kind of approached this training regimen and and didn’t go to world championships and all that. Um, we’re expecting a a a new version of Conor Bard that can maybe be a step faster, maybe have a a new trick in his bag to use at the NHL level, and that’s only going to benefit not only himself, but the guys around him. And so, if it is Ryan Donado, I I I think Yeah, I think that that’s a that’s another um, you know, feather in the cap for Donado to be a 50point guy or more. All right, on to number five on Mario’s countdown of 12 training camp stories. to keep an eye on. We’ve talked about this guy already, but I think there’s still a little bit of a question mark. Is Ardam Lefchov ready for a full NHL season? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer. I I think that would I if it’s up to me, would I like him to start the season in Chicago? Yes. But do I think if he does that, he is guaranteed to stick for 82 games? No. I think there are some things about Lev’s game um that could if they pile up uh benefit from some time in Rockford to sort of clean things up, reset, and if that happens, I don’t think there’s any reason to pull an alarm. I think that he is a 20-year-old defenseman getting comfortable with NHL hockey, with pro hockey, with North American lifestyle in general. He’s gone through a lot over the last several years um in terms of culture shock and all those sort of things. Um he also plays a game that’s a little bit unique in the fact that he will take risks and he will put himself in danger to make a play and I think he might learn some hard lessons at the NHL level this year. I’m willing to see those lessons learned because they’re not competing for a playoff spot this year. They’re obviously not competing for a cup. So let them make those mistakes here. But if it starts to pile up, pile up, pile up, and it’s and and Jeff Flash and his staff start to see, look, he’s really he’s really fighting it right now. He’s in his own head. Send him back to Rockford for a week or two weeks, whatever it might be. Let him clean things up and and work his way back. I don’t think that if that happens, it would be a big deal. Yeah, I I I I tend to agree. I I think and something that I think we’ve kind of learned about Levinov over the last season is, you know, we’ve talked about his level changes, quick level changes in competition uh over the years from USHL to NCAA, AHL, and then NHL. Um he’ll be 20 years old shortly into the start of this regular season. So, he still has a lot of growth uh to go in his game and and and a lot of lessons to learn. Um same as, you know, a guy like Renzel, same as as a lot of these young defenseman, they’re still going to go through those ups and downs. And I think it was Chris Pronger has said before that you kind of take about 300 games as an NHL defenseman before you usually figure things out. The only person who’s played 300 games in the NHL in this defensive group is Conor Murphy. So all these guys have a lot of things to learn and and and kind of some some figuring out of themselves at the NHL level of what they’re going to be. But with Levinov, we’ve saw whether it was Tom Cervers this this this past weekend or whether it was his time in the AHL, there were times where it almost felt like he wasn’t being challenged, so he didn’t rise to it. Yes. I think being in the NHL is going to force him to rise to it night in and night out. And I think that would be a good challenge for him to keep him engaged. I’m not saying that he’s is a laxidasical doesn’t care player. I think he’s a guy that has a talent level and a belief in himself that he needs the NHL time to be challenged and to try and evolve his game at that level. No, dude, that’s very accurate and it’s a great observation. And I mean, this happens at every level. I not that it’s exactly the same thing. It’s close, but not exactly. Is I coach uh 16U softball. And when the best players are not being challenged, their game regresses a little bit because it’s like, all right, well, this doesn’t matter. I’m not super invested in this. Like, there’s wreck ball and there’s travel ball. And you see a different level of play from all of them when the intensity is ratcheted up. Mhm. You also see when the intensity gets ratcheted up and things don’t go well, a much more emotional and difficult uh tail spin for some. So, that’s the other thing you got to keep an eye on from Lef, too. But that dude’s personality, there’s nothing that makes me think he’s going to be like, “Oh god, I’m bad. What am I going to do?” Like, Lefchov seems like everything just rolls off his back, good and bad. Yeah. He’s never gonna get too high or too low. Um, so I think that I’m going to predict that this camp, the Hawks have the same thing in mind they did last year for Frank Nazar. There’s a spot here. It’s open. If you’ve got the camp we’re expecting you to have, it’s yours. If not, we’ll send you back for a while and call you up when you’re ready. I think Frank Nazar had an opportunity to win a job out of camp. Kind of struggled in the preseason. I think he knew that there was a spotlight on him and there was an opportunity there and I think he was maybe trying to do a little too much. Mhm. uh went to Rockford, dominated, there was no reason to keep him down there anymore. They brought him up. So, if Elev doesn’t make it out of camp, which I think they’re hoping he does, um I think it’ll be very similar to the Nazar plan. They kind of need him on that right side as we talked about. I mean, unless you’re going to start with Louis Kvier over there or I mean, look, you still got Nolan Allen who can play both sides. Um the Matt Grizzlick thing adds a dimension to um he’s a left side defenseman. But yeah, that gives you someone who if you do have to put Del Mastro or Allen on the right side, then you have a guy that’s more natural to the left side, right, should they sign him. And a guy you don’t have to worry about the development part of the game. No. You know, so yeah, you can give Matt Grizz 16 minutes and be okay with it. Exactly. Especially this team. I’m I’m losing track. Number six. I’ve sure the next one on to the next. We’ll get to all 12. By the way, we’re two away from 100 likes. Someone do it. Come on. Let’s go. Uh the next question in training camp, what’s up with the rimp or swah? He did. Uh he’s on the training camp roster denoted with uh an injury. We talked to Kyle tomorrow and uh as as uh Meek Meeka in the chat says, “We need to bombard KD about Brswat this season.” It’ll be brought up tomorrow for sure. I mean, I don’t know what I don’t know if it needs to be bombarded. It’s not like hit him with a steel pipe or anything. No, you just We just need to have a little bit of I’d like a little more honesty when it comes to Yeah. I’ I’d like to It’s been three weeks for a I’d like to know is is there any reason to think that he’s going to play this year or is he or is he going to be a or is he going to be a part of the organization because that’s something that kind of looms over the over the goalender group like Spencer Knight. Yeah, he’s your starter. Yeah. But Drew Kzo and Arvid Solderloom kind of have to figure out, do you need to think about Lorrampos potentially taking ice time away from you, whether it’s the NHL or AHL, or do you not? I I think you just want to have a little clarity about that. Or is this a situation where he did something last August that screwed him up so bad that this is now uh the Shay Weber, Carrie Price situation, which I hope it’s not cuz the guy’s got he’s only what 32. Yeah. Like he can still play in the league if his body allows him. So I just want to know what’s going on. And if and if he if he does if he can play, then that adds a wrinkle to the goalending situation and adds somebody who should be NHL caliber to a group of basically four guys that you could say they could play in the NHL. Yeah, I I I think that and Bill says we deserve to know. I think the Hawks are I think the Hawks are doing their best to they can’t just be like he’s hurt forever. That that does not protect their asset if if if he does come back and they’re trying to move him. Like there’s more to it than just being frankly completely honest. But I just think a way that Kyle Davidson can answer it is we are not counting on having Laurent in camp soon. So we’re moving forward as if he’s not here. And if he gets healthy, he’ll have every opportunity to earn a spot and play. I think that’s fair. And he’s Yeah, they physicals are today. So who knows? We might hear from someone who’s plugged in to the team that can get that kind of information. that says like, “Hey, by the way, you know, maybe it’s Sarahi or Freriedman or someone and they were just like, oh, sounds like things are good or bad coming out of physicals from the Blackhawks. We don’t know.” Um, but that’s that’s today and tomorrow maybe there will be an answer. I hope there will be. Yeah, I’ve seen there’s been some news around a league of guys, you know, hey, by the way, uh, this guy like Nick Paul, uh, had surgery this week, so he’ll miss some time. Like we’re starting to get those reports of injuries no one knew about sort of stuff. Matthew Kachchuck has got a timeline that he’s out till December and yeah, so that information uh for we should get some more information on that. Uh staying with the goalies, can Spencer Knight become the Blackhawks franchise goalie that they hope he he can be? Um I think so. I think they think so. They just paid him they just paid him as such. Um I like what I saw from him. talked about it with uh Sean Shapiro the other day. We’ve talked about it all summer. Um when you look deep into the numbers of Spencer Knight, they illustrate a very good goalender right up there with Jay Gottinger and and Dustin Wolf in terms of uh goal save above expected per 60, which is a long- winded stat, but a valuable stat. Um so yeah, I think he’s the guy. I think they believe he’s the guy. and this season he’s going to get his first opportunity uh to play, you know, 45 50 games as a starter and really solidify that. And I think the Hawks are betting he’s that guy. And I would take that bet, too. I really like what I’ve seen from from Spencer Knight. I love his mindset. I love his uh aura. I just think that he’s got he has a maturity and a wisdom about him that most kids his age, most players his age don’t. Yeah, and I think Alex Blastic is kind of similar in that regard where he comes off as older and more mature than he actually is um age- wise. Um so I think Spencer Knight has everything it takes to become a franchise goalie. Now whether that means he is Shester Sturken or uh you know uh Hella Buck level goalie that remains to be seen but can he be this team starter when they’re ready to win again? I think the answer to that is yes. Yeah, I I hope so. I mean, this is a guy who who has the the pedigree, former first round pick, like was was really instrumental with the US national team at the junior’s level, was a stud in college, and then got to the professional game and, you know, learned some things about not only being a professional goalie, but about himself and and that was a very like public uh process for him. um you know he’s been open about you know dealing with OCD and everything and you know he went down to the AHL at times um with the Panthers organization and then you know was was around that organization for their their first Stanley Cup run um and he got to be around that atmosphere behind Sergey Babroski and learn from a guy who’s won two Vznas like that’s that’s really uh valuable and uh Daily Faceoff did their ranking of the NHL’s top 30 goalies. This was uh put together by uh Paul Padudi, who’s been doing a lot of the analytics based projections that we’ve t kind of talked about this off season uh about, you know, best players of 2030 and all that stuff, but they did their their top 30 goalies going into this year. And Spencer Knight wasn’t on the list of top 30 goalies going into the year, but the metric takes not only last season, but the two seasons before and kind of aggregates their production and everything like that. It listed there if it only counted the 2024 2025 season. Spencer Knight would be ranked 25th out of the top 30 goalies in the NHL. And I think that’s fair for right now. Sure. For what he’s done and what he’s going to uh start potentially be able to do. And now he’s getting the the full-time opportunity in Chicago to to be that guy. He’s expressed he wants to be a 60game starter in the NHL. He’s getting paid to be a starter. Uh and he’s going to have the opportunity to do it. Now, is he going to play 60 games this year? Probably not. But if he does, that means something’s going really well. Yeah. Uh Jason T says, “Do we ignore that Spencer seemed to go through a period of difficulties between the ears before being treated?” That’s the OCD situation we were talking about. Um he identified it. He got it treated. Uh and as with anything that is a mental uh disorder, if you want to call it that, it is never a wash your hands of it and it’s over sort of a thing. Um sorry to use the wash your hands reference. That was unintentional cuz that was the thing he was doing was just constantly washing his hands. But it’s it’s uh it’s not black. It just doesn’t end like that, you know, just like someone who stopped smoking or someone who’s got anxiety and depression, whatever. It doesn’t just stop when you I went to treatment and now it’s over, right? It’s something that he will have to uh keep going throughout his entire career, probably after his career is over is dealing with that. But when people say like, why would anyone want to come to Chicago? This is some of the stuff we’re talking about is the Hawks have this as much as any other team in the league resources for their players in terms of medical, psychological, uh, you know, health and nutrition. Like they have top of the top of the league level, uh, you know, accommodations for their players for whatever they need. So, if Spencer Knight says, “Hey, I’m starting to have problems again. I’m feeling the things I was feeling a few years ago. I need some help for it. Mhm. the Hawks in the league truthfully will will step in and help. Yeah. I mean, we’ve seen that with a with a number of other players, too. Um going through, you know, the the the player assistance program for whatever reason. Um and then being able to come back and and and you know, find their way back into what is the NHL life. And and I think especially for Knight like he’s 23 24 like that’s a that’s a still a very young person going through a lot of change and and and challenge especially at you know 22 23 years old being an NHL goalender like and and just being with the Panthers a team that’s got high expectations being a first round pick as a goalie you have a lot of expectations to eventually be the guy on that team. So there’s there’s a lot that goes into that. So, you know, just kind of developing and maturing and and going through, you know, those those hurdles in life. Like that’s something that uh I I I wouldn’t think that, you know, the this Blackhawks group is not going to see someone on this on this, you know, young roster have to deal with a lot of like life challenges and and and changes and dealing with pressure and expectation stuff. I mean, we talked about it with Conor Bard as a teenager having all the expectations and um you know, a lot of these young guys are gonna going to have a lot of expectations on them. We and we’re not, you know, we’re not innocent of of placing those expectations on them, but I think that that that is part of the territory of being in the NHL and and and being talented players. Like, there are expectations obviously. Um, but it’s how they can handle that and and um it’s it’s it’s different for each guy. But I think I I I think Spencer Knight is a good part of the group that’s being put together here. You saw it with the uh the the promotional video that the Hawks did with Nazar and Baddard and and Knight uh doing the the train conductor thing. Nazar and Baddard were goofing off and then all of a sudden Spencer Knight shows up for his part and they they straighten up and they get it done in one take. So, it’s just like I I I think that that point that uh you’ve made before about like how he kind of like has a little bit of a presence within the group. I I I think that’s that’s that’s a real thing. We have an update on tomorrow’s Hawks practices. Uh 9:30 start. Ah, uh team one practices at 9:30. Team two practices at 11:40. Kyle Davidson speaks at 10:25. So if you are going to practice, you don’t have to be there at 8:30 anymore. Oh, that’s great. Which is great. Uh so 9:30 start for tomorrow. That is welcomed. Uh so if you’re headed to Fifth Third, no tickets are needed. You could just show up. Um but 9:30 will be the first session with team one and then 11:40 team two. So it looks like they’re tweaking things as they go here. Did they kill team three? Team three. Team three was supposed to be the 8:30 practice. But one I know we’re we’re running along on these so we got to speed up. But I will say one thing too about the Babroski night thing. Babroski is a guy who went through a couple years where he was not meeting expectations. Oh yeah. And overcame those. I think that’s also something that and I don’t know what the relationship night and Babroski had. Maybe it’s something we can ask him uh you know tomorrow. But I I just think that like to be next to a guy who was super highly paid, massive expectations, that had a couple years where things were not going great, uh, and he overcame it. That’s something that that could be beneficial for him, too. So, we’ll get there. And Ky Kevin says, “Will Kyle Davidson be live streamed?” I don’t know the answer to that or practice for for that instance. I doubt practice will be, but we will bring back the the Kyle Davidson conversation uh during tomorrow’s show at two. Yeah, not certain about Davidson. I would maybe lean towards they probably will, but not don’t Davidson. I don’t think they haven’t done that since breakfast of the Blackhawks back when they were winning Stanley Cups. Yeah, that I used to watch on Facebook Live. Good times. It was a long time ago. What do we got next? Who are the left side defenseman besides Alex Vlic? Well, it’s a loaded question. I’m Hey, you know what? I’m gonna without without Kaiser signed, I think Grizzl’s gonna be one of them. If they don’t get a deal done by the end of camp, I think Grizzl’s gonna be in the opening day lineup. Interesting. Um, the Kaiser situation as we sit here at 2:54 p.m. the day before training camp with no indication that a contract is is getting done by tomorrow. I I I’m at the point where if that’s as many times as we’ve qualified that we think Wyatt Kaiser is a good player and the bene the black blackhawks benefit from him being on the team and in camp and in the defensive rotation. If that’s the player that’s going to hold out, that is not the player that this season hinges on. And they brought in Matt Grizzlick, who’s a veteran, who’s a guy that can eat 16 minutes a night as a third pair and you’ll live with. you have young options in Kevin Cchinsky, Ethan Del Masho, and Nolan Allen that I think you’d be comfortable with any of those three playing in the NHL. So, if that’s if that’s the case, that’s your left side behind behind Velic. And as Arm Lev would say, life goes on. Yeah. Yeah. Who else you got on the left side? I had so to start so in my positional predictions uh post that’s some good alliteration there uh I had Vic Kchinsky Kaiser and then Krevier was was the extra defenseman but he’s a right side guy so I had I had Vasicinsky Kaiser now I would probably say I’m going to stay with Vast and Kchinsky because I think I I think Kevin Kchinsky has a like chip on his shoulders or something to prove. I hope so. Uh this this training camp and I think he’s going to be a guy that can go out and do it. I would love to see that. Um if Kaiser’s not in the fold, Grizzlick, sure, but let’s let’s get him on an actual NHL contract first before I’m penciling him in. Sure. Um I’ I’d go I’d go with Dumb Astro. People, man, just really Michael Evans. Trade him. Screw it. People are just Look, you could I don’t know. I don’t know at at this point what you get, but don’t be so mad. It’s business trying to take care of his eventual family. I’m not mad at Wyatt Kaiser. I’m a little confused by who he thinks he is. Um, and I don’t mean it like who do you think you are, young man? I mean like No, like really who do you Yeah. I mean, if if if it comes down to to, you know, a difference in in in dollars, like, okay, meet somewhere in the middle. like he’s a guy that has a lot of belief in himself, which is a good thing. We talk about that with Frank Naser all the time. That’s a good thing to have. You want guys to be confident in themselves. Um, but you don’t want someone to think that they are over their skis in what they are. Yes, I’m thumbs uping Luke Stuckmire. Yeah, the Cubs are going to the playoffs. All right. Uh, what do you got next? Where is Lucas Reichel’s place on this team? He’s not a prototypical fourthline guy, even though that’s where he spent basically all of last season, but does he warrant playing third line? Does he warrant playing in the top six? What do you do with this with this guy? I am I cannot give you an answer because part of me believes he will not be here when the season starts. He’s at media. He’s doing content today. So, he’s at least on the team. I mean, they’re recording him in a Blackhawks jersey. You have to until he’s gone. But I look, I hope that Lucas Reichel, as you’re talking about this, the chip on the shoulder of Kevin Cchinsky, I hope Lucas Reichel has it this camp and comes out and says, “You are giving me a top six spot or a top nine spot on this roster and I’m taking it.” Yeah. Um I want to see that from him because look, he is a nice soft spoken kid. He’s got a lot of skill. He’s got clearly has hockey ability, but I just think that that killer instinct has not been there for him. They put him with Pat Maroon. And if Pat Maroon can’t find your Killer Instinct, that’s a bit of an that’s a bit of a concern for me. So, look, it’s a fresh start for him. Whole new coaching staff aside from Sorenson. And Sorenson was the guy coaching him when he was at his best. So, Sorenson probably more than anybody believes in what Lucas Reichel can do. So, I just want to see him. I don’t know what his spot is on this team, but I’m really hopeful that tomorrow when whatever team he’s on hits the ice, he is one of the most outstanding players out there, most noticeable guys out there. I I I would love that. I would love that for him because I I I believe in the skill set that he has. It’s just how do you get it out of him consistently? And I think that I think that’s the the big key there. Charlie, uh the bacon guy is asking, “If Kaiser doesn’t sign, what happens to him? IA UFA the deadline for restricted free agents that do not have a contract that if they want to play in this season is December 1st. So if we get to December 1st at 400 PM central they will not play uh he he will not play uh in the 2526 season. So, I I recently remember was it William Knander, much higher profile player little bit, uh, held out a a few years back and I think it was like early November that he signed his deal with the Maple Leafs a few years back, but it’s it’s very rare that you get to that to that point. But, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Uh, we are going to hit overtime. So, if you’re watching us on Roku, if you’re watching us on Samsung, if you’re watching us on uh the Xfinity channel, head on over to allcto.com to find where to continue watching the show. We’ll finish it out on uh those outlets. That’s right. All right, what do we got next? We got two uh three more. All right, let’s go. Three more. What happens with the expiring contract players, notably Nick Felino, Conor Murphy, Jason Dickinson, and Ilia McKay? I think three of the four are traded. I think McKay, Dickinson, and uh Murphy are traded. I think that they let Felo finish the year as captain. Felo probably retires. I would not be shocked if he ends up with a role in the organization somewhere if that’s what he so desires his post career to be. Um but I think it it is time to set Conor Murphy free and say you’ve been a good boy. it is time for you to experience some playoff hockey for well he did beat the Oilers in the playoffs in the bubble but like go play some real playoff hockey legitimate you’re certainly earned it you’re on a real playoff team uh and I think the emergence of you know the possible arrival of Bu and Fondell in March along with uh you know twothirds of a season in Rockford for Ryan Green and Samuel Savvois and AJ Spely and all these young players we like I think are going to make room for them if I do think one of those three might come back. I wouldn’t be shocked if I McKay keeps a role here just because I feel like he’d be inexpensive, add some nice veteran depth, great penalty killer. Um, so I wouldn’t hate if they brought MV. You can’t go all kids. You can’t be 100% prospects. Um, so I wouldn’t mind that, but I think that they might find some if he has a season like last year, I think McKay might might garner some attention at the trade deadline. Yeah. Um, in my in in my piece that I wrote for all CHO.com, I said essentially the same thing. Uh, I think Felino plays out the year and hands off the team to the next generation. Um, I think Conor Murphy gets himself to a to a contender. Uh, I I think Jason Dickinson also gets that treatment as well of like, hey, we understand there’s been some good and some bad in Chicago for you, but let’s let’s get you to a team that’s going to give you that opportunity. Adding Jason Digginson. Yeah, a healthy Jason Dickinson. I don’t think that’s a bad That is a really nice under the radar deadline picking. Not a bad not a bad move for a team like that. I also though could also see Jason Dickinson if he, you know, if if he gets to uh return to that form that we saw two seasons ago, I could see them keeping him around on like a two-year deal or something like that because that is a that is a guy that you could put as a third line, fourth line center. That’s a guy that can play penalty kill. Um and that’s a guy that you for as much as people are like, “Oh, he’s such a downer and just complain.” He was honest. He’s a guy that was honest and and real about the perspective of the veterans amongst a organization that is like so pushing forward with the young guys. It’s just like well you know he was kind of like well these guys got to prove that they can be in the NHL before we’re even crowning you know the Hawks as you know the rebuild’s over and and all this stuff. Like he’s being real about it. Yeah. Which I don’t I have no problem with that. I like Jason Dickinson. Yeah. I do think there is that perception that he’s like Mr. Poopy Pants. Um, but no, I think he’s just open and honest about the way he’s feeling. And that’s the kind of guy like Sprout says Dicki doesn’t want to be here. I don’t I don’t think that’s true. I think he would prefer to compete as most most athletes. If you said, “Would you like to be winning?” Yes, I would like to be winning. If he didn’t want to be here, he wouldn’t have signed a contract extension to have been here longer than he was expected to be. And he knew what he was signing up for. And I I’d have to go back and find it. Um, but he said like, “You can see what this team is building.” Yeah, I want to be a part of that and I have to play myself. I have to play my way into being a part of that. I’m not just going to be handed that opportunity because they are going with they are going to give opportunities to all these young guys. A player in his position needs to outplay those guys and say, “No, no, no. I’m more valuable to you right now than 20 yearear-old Oliver Moore that you want to push ahead of me. No, no. I’m going to play my way into being here because I want to be a part of this thing moving forward. Like that’s the mentality that those guys have. And to a lot of fans, I’m sure that’s like, well, then he’s in the way of these young guys. I was like, well, you got to have you got to have NHL players who can play NHL hockey before you just throw the Icehogs into the NHL, right? So, I don’t know. We’ll see. Speaking of blocking young young players, yes, what opportunities are there for young forwards? As much as we’ve talked about the youth of this team this season and the young guys jumping in and oh, the Blackhawks are going to be young and exciting, it’s mostly focused on the defenseman because five out of six of them are going to be under 23 years old or 24 years old. The forwards group, yes, you have Bedard and Nazar. Who else is part of that? What spots are there for guys like Colton Doc, Oliver Moore, Lucas Reichel, keep him in that group, too. Like what actual spots are out there for him? That’s a good question. I’m looking at I always like to see what uh Daily Face Off projects and they’ve got Badara, Donado, Burikovski, Nazar, Terravine, Bertusi, Dickinson, McKay, Fino, Laferdy, Slagger, Moore. So, I’m looking at this realistically as there are probably three roster spots and two forward positions open for like five guys. I think that Moor’s got a shot. I think Slagert’s got a shot. I think Slagert’s the favorite. I think Colton Doc has a shot. And I, you know, I think I mean, obviously Laferd is going to be on the team. Um, I think Ryan Green’s got a shot. Yeah. I I I think that you look at the opportunities, it’s basically all bottom six. Yeah. And Oliver Moore, he could play as a bottom six player. You want him, you want him to be, you know, a little bit more than a bottom six player, but he can play that style. Landon Slagger obviously can play that style. Colton Doc can be a bottom six power forward. Um, I just wonder though if they want or if they’d prefer most of those young guys get top six opportunities and assignments in Rockford playing 18 plus minutes a night in the AHL over well, we really like Oliver Moore, so we’re going to play him 12 minutes a night next to Nick Felino and Sam Laferty. It’ll be interesting to see how they look at the roster situation, look at the opportunities those players are going to have and the roles they’ll play and where they value that time. And Oliver Moore could be I I I’m like 5050 on he’s either in the AHL or NHL to start. I think Lucas Reichel’s performance is going to have a lot to say about what happens with Oliver Moore. Yes. All right. I agree. Last one. Last one. Can Jeff Blash and company get this team to the 30 win benchmark? 25 wins last season? I know we’ve talked this off seasonason about it’s not necessarily about wins and losses. It’s more or less how it looks, but if it looks good, is it five more wins better than last season? Yeah, I think that’s reasonable. I think five more wins is reasonable. Yeah. I mean, you had a you had a situation that was so bad last year, you fired your coach uh third of the way through the season. Um, you brought in a guy who reinvented the entire system, so that cost you some wins. So, you have an underachieving start, a transitional middle, uh, and a decently strong finish. So, yeah, I think five more wins over the course of 82 is certainly doable. Yes, I agree. I I I think h this is the first head coach that the Blackhawks will have had that had any prior NHL experience since they fired Joel Quenville in November of 2018. Yeah. So I think that in and of itself is a step up from what they’ve had with interim coaches and with Luke Richardson and everything like that. So I think that’s a big piece of it. Um, it’s going to take some time obviously for players and coaches to to mesh and everything, but I think with the approach that we’ve heard from Jeff Blashel and how he’s going to approach this team, how he wants them to play, I think you have a group that’s got a good mix of players that can play that style, that can buy into it. Um, and I think you have enough young talent that that gives you a little bit of an injection of that like youth, that energy. Speed obviously is a part of pretty much every one of those young players’s game that they can bring to to the lineup. So that’s a big part of it as well. And I think you expect improvements from Baddard and Nazar and Vic like growth in those players. And then most of these veterans were just expecting like be the player that you’re supposed to be. You don’t need to be anything more than that. Just don’t be less than that. 100%. Um yeah. And someone in I think it was Brian Magnus said he wants to see Samuel Savois get a shot. And look, I think that with a new coaching staff, you don’t have any preconceived notions on guys. I think not really young players like that Savois who are right on the cusp of the NHL will get a good look and will have the opportunity to earn a spot on this team. Like I it doesn’t feel to me that talking to Jeff Flashel and living listening to Jeff Flashel that he that anything is settled right now. And I don’t think Kyle Davidson has any problem if he’s like, you know what, I don’t want Raichel Ormore right now. I want Seavois because this team is missing a physical, you know, crap disturb uh on the roster. So, let’s have let’s give him a shot. And I don’t think Cal Davidson would object to that. So, we’ll see. And that that’s just an example. I’m not saying it’s just Savois, but if Nick Lordis lights the world on fire, maybe he gets I think there are opportunities for a lot of guys here. There’s not a lot of spots, but there’s a lot of opportunities. So, camp should be very exciting. Uh, lots of news will be coming out of there. Reminder, if you just joined us, practice round moved to 9:30. No more 8:30 start. So, if you’re going to Fifth Third, 9:30 beginning, and we’ll be here with you at 2:00 when practice ends with fresh tape from Kyle Davidson, players in the locker room, all the stuff you get from us in season. Cuz guess what? As soon as Katie hits that end music that features the douls tones of One Big Dave, the off season’s over. So, you know what, Katie? Do the honors. End the off season right now. Officially end the off season. Yes. Yes.

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