Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson on Connor Bedard EXTENSION Talks | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson on Connor Bedard EXTENSION Talks | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

The season has officially begun. Blackhawks are skating. Colton Doc and Ardam Lechanov are fighting. Jeff Lashill is screaming. The skates are flashing. All those fun things. We’re going to talk about all of it next on CHO Blackhawks. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Happy hockey season. And welcome in to the CHGO Blackhawks podcast. I’m Jay Zawoski with Mario Turbosi. Hello. Sarah’s here. All three of us in black. We are mourning the loss of the offseason. That’s what’s happening. Rough navy blue. Oh, damn it. Start the show over. Rack it. Rack it. It is pretty close. It’s a dark navy blue. It’s a dark navy blue. Sarah, play along. You don’t have a camera. Yes. And thanks for being here, everybody. We really appreciate it. Do us a favor. Hit the like button. Make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube page. By the way, this morning, right at about 8:00 a.m. Chicago time, we sent out a tweet kind of introducing people to the podcast. If you saw that tweet, hit retweet. Help us out. Go back and find it. Hit retweet. We talked about it yesterday. Awareness, awareness, awareness. Help us out as the season begins. We’ve got a lot to get to it, so we’re not going to waste a lot of your time. We’re going to hear from Jeff Flashel. We’re going to hear from Wyatt Kaiser. We’re going to hear from Connor Bedard. We’re going to hear from Kyle Davidson. Tons and tons and tons to get to. But Mario practice began today. Training camp opened. Uh my first impression was, “Oh, this is very intense. This is very high pace and these guys are ready to go and ready to play.” Yeah, that was that was evident from the be like first beginning of practice. Um you know, you usually you’re used to the guys get a couple of laps, they skate around, they stick handle, you know, kind of warm up the legs a little bit, then you jump into, you know, the first drill. It was like a lap and a half and draft Jeff Blaso was like, “All right, we’re going here, going here.” Like, and was immediately uh directing drills and yeah, long practices for both groups to start the uh uh to start training camp. High intensity, high pace, lot of speed, um some good battles, and I loved it. I I mean for for setting a a tempo and setting a culture and and all these things that uh they want to accomplish right away and and and Jeff Blashel talked about today. We’ll hear we’ll hear his comments like that was a very um tone setting day one. Well, let’s hear from him right away. He was asked by Jay Cohen, the other Jay on the beat, the handsomer Jay, um about the intensity of practice. Here’s what Jeff Lashel had to say. the intensity for the first day seemed a bit unusual I guess from what I how important is that to you to I mean to go right away at a certain level compared to like kind of easing is and is that kind of what we will see throughout training camp that level of intensity yeah I mean yeah for sure and you know I talked to the guys through the course of the summer and made it very aware that we were we weren’t going to ease into it we weren’t going to dip our toes into it we were going to we you know I expect them to be in great shape I expect them to have some stops and starts in them and uh we were going to we were going to go right at it right away. And and um you know, I think making sure uh that that work ethic’s in place, the competes in place, those things are extremely important to us. And and those are easy things to talk about, but you got to go out and do it. And and part of, you know, I’m a big believer if your practices are are extremely intense. Um almost the games become easy, you know, and and both from a intensity from a it can kind of show its way different or show its head different ways. one is just making sure you’re going tape to tape. Like if you know your execution has to be great. Um winning battles, things like that. So um you know that’s something when you know as you get through the course of year you don’t get to practice much and obviously you got to manage your energy. Um but this is the time now where we can really set the tone. We want to set the tone. So Blash mentions there the tapes to tape passing. So, one of the first drills they were doing was kind of like threeon twos kind of like back and forth into the zone. And the first fbomb that we heard, first of a few, the first of a few came 10 minutes into practice where he’s like, if you I don’t have a direct quote, but if you can’t make an F in pass, you’re doing it wrong or something like that. And every time there was a bad pass, he would make the team the team that violated it go board to board uh as as a punishment. And we saw that throughout the day where he’d say, “Go touch the wall.” And he would send groups to go tap their stick on the wall and skate back. That was happening all day. Setting a tone. And you’re trying to pound this into the head of these guys that practice matters. Your intensity of practice matters. Yeah. You might say, “Oh, you know what? I missed a tape by 3 ft, but whatever. It’s just practice. No big deal. We’ll just try again.” No, it’s got to be crisp. It’s got to be on the tape. And it happened twice uh to the Baddard and Burkovski Donado line where Baddard tried a kind of a spin around pass and it just missed Burakovski and he said go touch the wall do it again and it there it’s just Blash was pounding these habits into these guys. He said he was going to from day one and on day one he has absolutely done that. That was very much the tone of both sessions. And by the way I’ll say group one had a completely different practice than group two. different drills, uh, different focuses, but the the constant between this the sessions was the intensity and the accountability. Yeah. And I I think that was something that that I recognized too practice. There were a few times where I was like, geez, guys, it’s just passing, right? And make and it was and it was Yeah. immediately like go and and and correct it. and and that’s, you know, Jeff Blashel talks about fundamentals, habits, being, you know, sound with with the little details of the game and that’s what’s going to translate to those bigger things being easier to do. Um, he’s harpen on it and and and hitting on it on day one. So, um, I think asking around the room, uh, after both sessions, the players want that. the player. This This feels like, and I know that, you know, it can be hyperbole at times, but this feels like a a coach and coaching staff that the players are going to respond to. Um, it feels like they’re having a reaction that’s different than what they got from Luke Richardson and staff. Um, and I think that that’s going to go that’s going to go a long way, especially for these young players, too. Like, you know, wanting them to be the tone setter, the culture setter. Nick Felino’s talked about culture, culture, culture over the last few years. Jeff Blash talked about today and and and the the culture is the intensity. It is the pace. And it’s not cheating the game. It’s doing those fundamental basic things at such a high level that you can’t get them wrong and that’s the base layer that they that they can go go forward from and let their speed and then let their their you know high skill players be able to grow and develop and take over from there. You know there’s a lot of people and we saw this on social media. We saw it we were seeing it a little bit in the comments here about like well that’s what the Bears said about their intensity and we’ve seen how that’s turned out. It’s it’s really apples and oranges. you’ve got, you know, Hawks camp, you got what is it like 50 some guys, but divided by two groups, you got 20 some in each group. Um much more focus. Everyone’s moving all the time. There’s not a lot of people standing around. There’s not a lot of resetting. Uh as Blashel said, I I’m not about wasting guys time. I want them to always be moving, always be doing something. And going from drill to drill, I want my assistants to know what we’re doing. I want them to make good passes. Like there is a high level of expectation for everybody here and I think just comparing it to football is different. And by the way I will say like yes the Bears are 0 and2 but everyone wanted Ben Johnson and Ben Johnson has said the right things and he is ingraining a culture. It’s just more people and I do think the culture was more broken with the Bears. I don’t think the Hawks culture was as much broken as they just didn’t have a ton of talent. Now they’ve got the talent and and when Scott Powers asked Bashel like what what were you trying to accomplish today? Culture was the first thing he said. So I don’t know. I I come away from this practice feeling very optimistic. And you said it like the the players are here for it, man. They they want to be challenged. They want to be coached. You can see it. Yeah. And and people mentioning L Lucas Reichel. Um, I had the chance to talk to him after the the first session and asked him about, you know, Blashole and and first impressions of the of the first practice. And for a guy that I think maybe some people have the perception of he’s not the the guy that’s going to play that style, he was really receptive to it. He enjoyed the the the first day of practice and and knowing what the expectation levels going to be. Kyle Davidson said he’s going to prove it season. Um, yeah. So, I I I think I think that’s going to be something that by the time we get to October 7th and and throughout this first season under Jeff Blill, I don’t think we’re going to be confused about what players are going to be expected to do. I think that’s going to be very clear. And I think that’s going to be beneficial, not just for the young guys to have that understanding and and and expectation, but for the veterans as well, because as much as everyone cares about what the young players are doing this year, and everyone’s going to gravitate towards focusing on Frank Nazar and Connor Bard and Spencer Knight and so on and so forth, all the defenseman, it’s still important this season for players like Nick Felino and Jason Dickinson and Tyler Bertusi and Tavo Terravina and and Donado and all those guys, it’s still important for them to play the roles that they’re expected to play while also responding well to Jeff Blashel and his staff and being able to play up to their roles and their standards and and and um it’s not just a a young players culture that’s being said like that is going to um that’s going to be set by by those veterans as well and they have to follow and they have they’re all on the same on the same playing field. I don’t and I don’t want to say like under Sorenson and under Richardson that that it was you know camp blackhawks and it was all laxidasical and it was it just there was just a crispiness to the bashful practices that was there was just no milling about. There was no downtime. Every second was accounted for. And he and he joked and we’re going to put the whole thing up on YouTube after the show. He joked like I went to watch some NFL training camps. We know he was at Bears camp this year and this is an NFL thing where they have very specific limits in training camp as to how long they can be on the field, how long they can be in the film room. So every second of a training camp is measured and he it’s not quite that precise at the NHL level or in the NHL, but he sort of modeled it and said, “Hey, look, I I don’t want these guys standing around. They don’t want to be standing around. Let’s get to it.” Yeah. And there was just a pace to the practice that we had not seen in a long time. Yeah. He talked about being able to have everything befall talked about that after after practice too is is that he he likes that efficiency. He doesn’t want to uh waste energy by, you know, not not getting a drill down right away or, you know, extending out practices because the pace of it is is less than, you know, 100% or whatever, so you do a longer p. He he he’s a proponent of the efficiency in practice. That’s what you know he he uh what we saw from year one to year two of Luke Richardson with Felino is that he was just like he led the the charge of like we need to change how we practice and that was one thing that that changed from your veterans literally sat Richardson down and said we need to practice. They came to him and said like like going forward we we need to do things differently. Um and that was coming from the players. And so I I I think Jeff Blash is not it seems after day one of of his practice and and really like you you look back to last week with the Tom Kerver’s practices ran by Jared Nightingale and the iceog staff similar yeah similar in in the pace and the intensity and you know trying to drill down that efficiency and and that’s what you want to see. We want to see that um mirrored at at all levels for the strictly all these young guys and then also when you integrate them into, you know, the the NHL group as a as a whole. Um like that’s what you what you want to see. So I I I think that is the tone. Um a quote that Blash said that stuck out was, you know, if if if your practices are extremely intense, the games become easier. And that’s that’s how it should be. That that’s that’s what you want. You want to you want your practice time to be efficient, intense, drill those things in so that when you get to the games, it’s you’re thinking so much less because it’s second nature. the energy level that you’re going to be expected to put in, you know, the the roles you’re expected to play, things you’re expected to execute. It’s all laid out there, and it it should just be go out, you play, and it’s a comes a lot more naturally to you um than than maybe it has before for some of these guys. All right, before we hit the break zone, we’ve got one more cut from Jeff Lashel where he talks about his excitement in coaching this young defensive core. It’ll definitely be the youngest, you know, decor that I’ve uh been a part of in the NHL. Um, but it’s a very talented group and uh talented in a way that I think translates to success uh in a sense that uh they’re they’re extremely big, extremely long, extremely good skating. Um they’re not like a bunch of guys that just beat people one-on-one. They they they do that they’re efficient in their games, which the best defenseman to me are efficient. Um so they’re not flashy talented, they’re legit talented. Um, you know, I think part of defense is is experience and learning, you know, where to stand in the right spot. You know, that was an old coaching saying, he just knows where to stand. And there’s some reality to that. Um, so, you know, although young, we’re going to have growing pains at times, but I’ll take our chances with uh with talent the way that we have it on the back end. I just thought that was interesting in the way he defines talent. Not so much like wow highlight real play by Ardam Lefnov, but just knowing where to be, knowing how to play, knowing where to put the stick, knowing when to jump and when not to, which will be a learning curve with Lefchov. Um, but I like that the way that he defines talent. It’s not so much like he shoots at 105 and he can shoot through his legs and roof backhanders. No, it’s about being it’s about efficient hockey uh and and smart hockey. And and I like that he sees that from the young from the young defensive core. Sounds a lot like a player like Wyatt Kaiser. Like not the flashiest talent, but you you see what he can do. And if you really focus in and and find the small things, that is that is what stands out. You’re not going to find, you know, small h you know, small fundamental habit highlights, but you’re you’re going to see the efficiency of of of those players. All right, we’re going to hit the break zone for the first time. Do us a favor, hit that like button. Speaking of W Kaiser, we’re going to hear from him next on CHGLO Blackhawks. But let’s be real for a second. The world’s gone soft. Not Jeff Bl’s world. Damn it. He must have chugged nine RC’s before practice. That’s the only explanation. Because RC Cola is an OG cola in a world of spineless soft drinks. There’s no trends. There’s no gimmicks. There’s no glow up. It’s the original cola that doesn’t fold under pressure. RC cola tastes like a punch in the thirst. I got a little I got a mosquito bite in my car on the way here and it’s bugging me. I’m going to go rub some RC on it while you’re doing your read. Yeah, you should. RC Cola is not a soft drink. Just damn good cola. Stock up to watch the uh NFL games. Hockeyy’s coming back. Get your RC ready to go. RC is the move for whatever you’re doing. Grab some RC at your local store. Again, RC is not a soft drink, just damn good cola. You know, winter will be here before you know it. False fall is gone. Second summer is back, but it’ll get cold soon. And that’s when you need to call Four Seasons Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, and Electric. They’ve been serving the Chicagoland area for over 50 years. If you got a plumbing emergency, call Four Seasons. 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So, PHNX, DLLS, PHLY, uh DNVR, anything you’re looking for from the All City Network. But, you know, get our stuff. if it’s cooler or better. It’s It’s much better than than anything else. So, stock up. Uh, no promo code needed. The sale is just ongoing. So, check out the pizza box item, which is one of my favorites. That one’s 20% off. One of my favorite designs. So much good stuff. The Pope T. So many great things available. Uh, we got to get some new Hawks merch going, by the way. Yeah, it’s it’s overdue. We need a Frank the Tank design or something, I would say. So, yeah, the hop on the ride design. Well, little late. And uh what else? How about some Cubs playoff merch? There you go. That would be a good one, too. Stock up. Is it Is it going to last longer than three games? We dropped like five new shirts uh at the start of the season. So, we have a lot of really cool designs. Oh, it’s time for some new Hawks shirts. We do need It’s overdue. So, let’s Frank Nazar shirt. That’s what I’m saying. Frank the Tank or something like that. Frank. Yeah, we’ll get there. Classic face on a jar of pickles. There you go. In the meantime, store.allcityetwork.com. Take advantage of our giant sale going on now. Uh, Wyatt Kaiser today spoke for the first time since signing his contract last night. Um, so 12 hours ago, I had the very awkward straight ahead uh angle on on Wyatt Kaiser. So, uh, here is what Wyatt had to say. Talked about the contract negotiations, talked about a start of camp. Good stuff here from Wyatt Kaiser. Was it getting a little uh nerve-wracking or were you concerned at all or was it just I would say a little bit. I knew we were going to get something done and I was going to going to be out here, but yeah, it definitely was a little nerve-wracking. First time going through it, so learning lesson. Yeah, just uh you know how nice to be in the the the mix and everything and getting day one done. Yeah, feels good. Feels good to think about hockey. Sorry. Go ahead. Oh, no. I was going to say you’re you’re part of a young group this year, especially on the defense and everything and and just how much you guys are looking forward to kind of growing and learning together. Yeah. No, I I uh I’ve been looking forward to it. I think um I think there’s something special here and it’s starting to kind of starting to grow and build and I’m a big believer in kind of what we got here. You know, it’s got to be awkward to go through a long drawn out contract negotiation. Did it ever get in your mind like contentious or did you ever get your feelings hurt? Like how how does that sort of go when you get down to the wire like that? I would say not really. Like I tried to really separate it in business. Like we both wanted the same goal. They wanted me to play for the Blackhawks. I wanted to play for the Blackhawks. It was just on the business side. Kind of there doing their job. We were trying to do our job. Kind of was like you went in overtime a little bit. You want to guess finish the game in the third period a little bit, but hey, we went to overtime a little bit and got it done. So, no, it was good. Was it important just to make sure that you were here today for you? Yeah. No, it was important for me. I think uh especially with Blash kind of the the culture he’s trying to implement and really focusing on those little details. I think it was it was really important for me to be here first day and uh battle through it with the guys and uh yeah, day one. How much to pick up? I guess picking up with already and just maybe building out what you guys started kind of last season. Yeah. No, we’re uh we’re definitely trying to build out kind of what we had last season. Maybe a little bit more consistent at times and uh and day one so it’s early, but I think that’s definitely a goal of ours. Did you have any impressions of the drills today and what Flash was talking about? Oh, I love I loved it. It’s it’s it’s very in line with how I see hockey and especially closing those gaps early and how he wants the Done Zone. Like I love it. And the high intensity of practice too. It seems everybody’s I know. I love it. As a player, you like that. Yeah, I I love it. Like I kind of came from where I came from in college. Like it’s very like I mean Chris will tell you he was at the Luth are super intense but I think it’s good. It’s coaches are pushing you. It’s it’s not because they’re against you or anything. It’s cuz they they want you to do better and so they push you really hard. So I I like it a lot. You going to feel this way in about a week and a half too when uh well I might not be as as much as that but I it should be fun. Get used to it. I think just hopefully the body holds up and uh you know keep moving forward. It seems like he’s talked a lot about getting defenseman to step up and be aggressive. Well, he really Yeah, he really wants us forward skating, right? Like we see the one drill the day where you go back who line it up. It’s there’s no backward skating. It’s you come up forward, you’re taking that angle and it’s a lot of stuff we did today is that angle. I don’t know. I think that’s the way hockey is going. Like there is no time in space. Guys skate so well and attack middle so you kind of have to. So yeah, I’m a big component of it. Do you think the familiarity with with Andrew working with the defense from that that’ll maybe be beneficial too or Yeah, I think he’s already got a good relationship with like a lot of us coming up through Rockford and you know I think as a young guy sometimes going through some hard moments down there so I think he definitely kind of will be a kind of cornerstone little rock on the DN kind of hold us accountable as well but also know us very well. There’s why Kaiser I liked what you talked about how like blasters it’s just like don’t skate backwards just turn around and and chase him down. I that’s something I hadn’t really paid attention to. Um something I’m going to be looking for during the preseason and during practice because Kaiser’s right like the game is so fast now that you can’t just kind of like drift backwards and try to poke check people. You got to hang with them and try to we saw in almost all the drills they did today. They were very and they were keeping score. So the team that would lose would have to do a lap. Um where you’d have to fight somebody off the puck to try to win that shift. There was no let’s just poke it away. You had to win possession and go the other way and score to win that that drill. So very intense, very physical. Uh and I’m going to keep an eye on that now as the season goes on in terms of with the way the defenseman defend. Yeah. And and I think that’s probably goes to part of what Blol said about, you know, the defensive group as as a whole is that, you know, they’re the way that you’re going to win and the way that they play and the way that a lot of their physical makeup is is is put together like that’s going to be uh that’s going to be really beneficial for the defensive group moving forward. Now, why Kaiser is not really the biggest guy, but he’s a guy that doesn’t shy away from the physical uh aspect of the game. And and I think that that’s something that when you have a a defender who’s quote unquote undersized at 6 foot and, you know, under 200 lb or whatever, um that’s not really undersized, but when you talk about the rest of the the defensive group outside of Matt Grizzlick, like they’re huge, all of them. Yeah. So, um, but I think that that’s an aspect of his game that that actually like really benefits him in in how he plays. And like we said last night on the on the emergency pod, like the Blackhawks are better with Kaiser in in the fold. Yes. So, for the fact that it got to the 11th hour, um, it’s going to be a small footnote as you move forward and, you know, he got the contract. Uh, maybe not exactly what he wanted, but it works for him. Now he’s in camp and he’s going to be in in in a defensive battle and I think he’s he’s up for it. He’s a guy that has a lot of belief in himself. Yes. And he’s a guy that I think is going to, you know, maybe use that contract situation and how it how it went down um as as a little bit of fuel of just like extra motivation to to kind of like doubly prove himself uh as an everyday NHL player. We’re going to hear from Connor Badard here in a second, but I I thought it was funny as the second team was walking from the ice service to locker room, Louis Creier was walking next to Matt Grizzlick. It was like the smallest defenseman in camp versus a full head taller than Grizzlick. It was pretty funny. Yeah. Um all right, let’s hear from Conor Bedard. He addressed uh you know just the start of camp, but of course I had some comments on his contract as well. I was talking to Nick the other day. He said, you know, you can see a real pop uh with you out there and everything. And how did kind of your offseason stuff uh do you feel more refreshed? Yeah, I feel good. I think uh I mean, we had what four four five months, so it’s it’s a long off season and uh but you know, you never want that, but I think sometimes it’s good and you know, I feel good. I feel like ready coming into camp, confident, and uh you know, I’m just excited to get back back to work with the guys. What’s it like on the first day? I know it was his first day with the new coach. It was good. I thought it was great pace. everyone’s going. Um, you know, there’s there’s spots to be had, so everyone’s going to be working and, uh, you know, he he sets that bar for us. So, uh, I thought it was a really good skate. Uh, it’s hard, but, uh, it needs to be for sure. A little harder than you expected. No, I think he kind of warned us a little that we were going to be skating, but um, you know, I think it’s good. I think you need to do that and, uh, it’s going to build a culture and and the way we’re going to play. What are some of those habits that he’s trying to instill? Uh, yeah. I think we’re fast team. um we got to use that and whether it’s tracking, getting on pucks, hounding guys like uh you you watch like a team like Florida and you know they’re always hounding guys skating and you don’t really see see much time and space out there. So uh we want to eliminate the other team’s space and and that’ll make us hard to play. Do you notice the jump in speed as a collective team from your first camp to now your third? Yeah, I mean we can we can fly it. We got guys uh we got some of the fastest guys in the league and you know I think like I said that’s how we we we need to play and you know you got to play to your strengths and that’s probably our biggest strength is is our skating and um you know we’re young we’re we’re energetic and um you know we’re going to we’re going to we’re going to hound teams and and that’s what we need to do to make it you know tough for them. Third year coming in do you physically mentally how much different is it for you right now? Good. I feel good. Um you just know what to expect. you know, the guys um you know, been been in it for a couple years. I got to, you know, play the 82 last year, which is nice. You know, what to expect on a day-to-day basis and, uh, it just gives you, um, you know, more opportunity in in the way you prepare, the way you train, and, um, you know, I’m grateful for that. I’m ready for a year of being asked about your Yeah, I mean, I’ve already I’ve had three interviews and three for three. So, um, you know, it’s it’s going to be um it’s going to be till it happens, and that’s what that’s what everyone gets when they haven’t signed. So, uh, you know, I don’t I don’t care too much, uh, about the questions. What was your reaction to Spencer and Frank getting their deal done? It’s great. Uh, you know, you see Frankie obviously I think seven years and, you know, that’s awesome for us. We he’s got another year on his entry. So, um, that’s eight eight more years and um, he’s just going to keep getting better. So, you get him get him early and uh, you know, I think it’s it’s a good spot and and we’re happy for him. You know, he’s he works hard. He he comes at it with the right way, great attitude and uh, he deserves that. Is it something you mind negotiating during the season or would you want to wait and play after the year to finalize it or? Uh I’m easy like whatever. I mean like I I’ve said a bunch that you know it hasn’t been like a ruthless like anything you know it’s just like couple chats and uh it’s it’s all pretty chill and um we have a good relationship so it’s not something that you know keeps me up at night or something I really ever think of to be honest. How how should you need a quieter off season after the previous two were kind of a whirlwind reset physically, mentally, and and how do you feel you did with the things you wanted to work on this off season? Yeah, I think it was it was good for me. Uh the last 3 four years have been a little chaotic and uh I’m grateful and and blessed for that. I mean, I’ve had amazing opportunities and I’m 20 years old going into my third year in the league. So, it’s nothing I would I would train at all. But, um, you know, I have some time, you know, without anything. You know, I was at home. I was with my buddies training, whatever. And, uh, it just makes you, uh, makes you really miss the game. And, um, you know, I think I felt that kind of come middle of the summer. I was sick of working out and stuff and just want to play. So, uh, I’m I’m really excited to get going. Every offseason video that gets posted, people dissected. You know, Conor looks faster and stronger. Yeah. How do how do you personally feel after the offseason and what you want to do? I feel good. I mean, we should all feel good. We had four or five months to train and uh get better and um you know, I feel like feel like I’m ready. I feel like I’ve improved on stuff and um you know, I’m just excited. But obviously saying it doesn’t really mean anything. I think um you know, for me it’s about going out there and and playing and playing well and um kind of letting that that speak. All right, that’s Connor Bard after practice today. um once again reiterating for the third time of probably a thousand coming up this year that he’s not worried about the contract, he’s confident it’s going to get done and uh the man in charge of getting that contract done, Kyle Davidson, spoke today, too. We’re going to hear from him next on CHO Blackhawk. So, hit that like button and stick around. But do you want to feel organized and confident in your finances? You can with Monarch Money, an all-in-one personal finance tool. brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or your phone. And right now, just for our beloved CHDO listeners, Monarch’s offering 50% off your first year. Monarch does all the heavy lifting. It links your all your accounts in minutes and gets clear data visuals, smart categorization of your spending, and real control over your money. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. 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And if you want to become a big, you can do that, too. Go to that bbbs.org/allcity. Click on that get involved tab and it will show you exactly how you can become a big. Um, look, maybe it’s something you’ve been thinking about. You want to give it a shot. Look it up. Get the info. Make a couple phone calls. Send an email. See what it takes. See what the commitment is. uh one big if we get you know a handful of bigs out of this campaign those kids are going to be way better off and and money goes a long way too if you don’t have the time so bbbs.orgall /allcity. Even a a small gesture can make a make a big impact. Yeah, absolutely. And uh it helps us win the uh pizza party amongst the all city networks if we if we donate the most or if we uh fund raise the most money. We were winning as of yesterday. I was going to say we are still in first place. Um, and we could be two for two then because the last time we did a donation thing, not only was CHO Blackhawks the most donated show I believe we had that day, uh, but we also won in overall in all city. So yeah, giving us undefeated, you know, other cities might win in sports, but Chicago wins in charity. And I do have the uh our computer crashed the other day, so we don’t have any of the big brother big sister graphics. So, I do apologize for not that, but if you guys are commenting on YouTube, the donate tab is right where you would super chat. It’s like right next to it. So, you can just hit that and then donate. Yes, we’d appreciate that very, very much. Again, if everyone watching donated five bucks, we’d win. We’d have $1,000. Over $1,000. We’d appreciate that very much. Uh, before we hear from Kyle Davidson, a couple comments I want to get to. Sad Cub fan said, “I was standing next to you today, Jay. Thanks for standing next to me.” Man, you should be happy. Why don’t you say hello? I knew the guy next to me cuz I kept crowding him cuz all the chairs were gone. So I was, you know, sad Cub fan was right there. I’m like, “All right, be happy Cubs fans. You’re going to the playoffs.” And then Donald said, “Jay, saw you at practice today. Sorry for saying hi.” As you walked by with a mouthful of food. Listen, odds are if you meet me, I am going to have a mouthful of food. At least half full. No. Uh, today’s diet was compromised of Tracy Meyers cookies and Dunkin Donuts munchkins. I mean, that’s the breakfast of champion. I got to the office today and Katie Duffy had a little like bowl of grapes and I said, “Can I please eat a grape or two because I have had nothing. I need to feel healthy. I have had nothing that hasn’t been created in a lab today. Please, I need something that is grown from the earth or I’m going to die.” So, Katie gave me four grapes, which I appreciate. Nice. Yeah, that’s like a whole week’s worth of grapes. And I’ve dedicated I’ve donated those four grapes to Big Brothers Big Sisters at bpbs.org/all city. That’s good. No. Um, yeah. So, no, it’s a good day. If you say hi, say hi to us every time you see us. It makes us feel like, oh, yeah, people are actually watching. Yeah. So, Donald, despite the munchkin in my mouth, uh, the donut, I did appreciate you saying hello. Yeah. And and practices free and open to the public throughout all of training camp. They you won’t need tickets this year. even though they were free, but you won’t need them uh this year. Just show up and enjoy the hockey. And David is saying, “Thinking about taking my seven-year-old to training camp on a Sunday this year for the first time.” Uh yeah, weekends a lot of kids uh do do end up coming to those. They don’t really have like aotted area where kids can go and the players can interact. Um, but as they sometimes transfer from one side of the ice to the other, they walk through locker rooms and hallways that go underneath the stands. If you’ve ever been to Fifth Third Arena, there’s the the seating areas. The players will walk under the seating area and out to the other side. And it’s out on the other side of the seating area. So, a lot of times when they transfer ice, the kids will run down to that little area where they walk by and you might get a puck flipped to you or a quick, you know, there’s no formal autograph process. I have seen counterbards stick around after practice and sign a couple things, but that’s usually during the regular season, not a huge crowd. So, I I I would set your expectations, but I will say if you’re there at fifth, you are very close to the players. Like, oh yeah, you’re going to be as close as you’ll ever be. Um, you just might not get that one-on-one interaction you’re looking for. You might, but you might not. And the security is this players park in a separate lot than the fans. So, there’s no like place to stand to try to catch them. It just it’s not really Well, usually adults do it. Um, but there’s not really a great spot for uh for autograph signing and they But you never know. Either way though, it’s it’s worth going to. 100% worth it because it’s free. Yes. And at and at this stage of training camp, you’re going to see way more guys. Maybe not all NHL guys. We’re going to see a lot more guys than you would during the regular season. So, yes. All right, it’s time. Let’s hear from the general manager, Kyle Davidson. He spoke on myriad topics. Uh began the day with injury updates, including one on Lurwis, and we we do joke at Lauren Braswis on about Luruis, but dude’s been through it. And he reveals here that uh to start that Bruis had hip surgery this summer. start with just a couple uh updates, medical updates entering camp. Um Lauram Brasis went underwent offseason hip surgery. Uh so he’s going to be out long term. Uh Jack Pritam’s got a it’s a small little infection he’s dealing with, so we hope to see him back on the ice uh in the coming days. AJ Spely had a shoulder injury during rookie camp or rookie tournament, I should say. Should be back in about 7 to 10 days. And then uh Ty Henry who took a fall during our pre rookie tournament. Um he’s going to be undergoing knee surgery soon and update the timeline uh when we have a better idea. So that’s all I got. Just how how tough has this been for LeBron? You know, he came here two years ago and told us and you guys too, you know, to to see this guy just unable to, you know, to stay healthy and everything. Yeah, it’s been really tough. And you know, I think the, you know, the the thing that’s, you know, really difficult outside of the hockey part is he’s just a great he’s a great guy. He’s a hardworking pro. Um, you know, really proud hockey player. And so it’s really tough to see. It’s really unfortunate. It’s not what anyone envisioned, but you know, I think when you uh we kind of like watch what he’s doing, the work he’s putting in to do everything he can to get back in the ice, you can’t ask any more from an athlete and from a um a person you bring into the organization and and you know, he’s he he does everything he needs to do to keep this going in the right direction. he just, you know, stop, you know, things just keep popping up and it’s just unfortunate. But, you know, we’re there to fully support him and, uh, do everything we can to get him back on the ice and and playing again. Would you say long term? Are you talking at least a few months? Probably. Yeah. Um, yeah. I don’t I don’t have the exact time because we’re going to kind of see how he does, but yeah, month to month. Is this like career-threatening stuff, the amount of things that he’s going through? I mean, is this is he expecting to play in the NHL again? I think he’s definitely expecting to play again. Yeah. And that’s that’s you know when when you’re attacking rehab you know with the uh you know the intensity and and the intent that he is you’re planning to play again and we plan to get him there too. How was the Wyatt Kaiser contract negotiations of the last minute? Yeah got it done and got a young player back on the ice not missing any time and so um you know happy to have Wyatt under contract. I think he’s going to be a big part of our team this year and um looking forward to him continuing to establish himself in the NHL and and grow his game. What was your thought process behind that Spencer deal? Um you know I you know we traded for Spencer for a reason and he was a big part of um a very big deal for us. Uh, part of that is because we believe in his potential to be a top flight starter in this league. And I think, you know, getting him under contract for the next couple years gives him and us some runway to kind of fur further establish ourselves, you know, put him in a position to be uh, you know, the number one guy uh, and give him some runway in that role. and uh and you know we can kind of make sure we we revisit things in a couple years and make sure he’s here for a really long time. Could Spel uh end up playing in Rockford this year or is he locked into Winds or he’s he’s NHL or or junior. Yeah. There’s no no rule change this year in terms of the one 19y old. Yeah. No, that’s not uh available to teams this year. Gotcha. Yeah. Where you’re at in the rebuild, what what does success look like for you this year? What are you what are you watching for? Yeah, I think I think we’re watching for the continued development and growth of our young players, but now with that impacting the NHL roster, um, you know, I think we’ve had some young players playing outside of the NHL the last couple years, we saw, you know, at the end of last year, we saw a little peak of it, but, you know, my expectation is that we will see that on a much more consistent basis. And you know it’s our belief that you know that quality coming up into the NHL and that youth is going to start propelling us forward and you know it’s you know there’s there’s an element of growth involved in this. Um but we believe that we will see a step forward this year. Um you know both in quality of play and then hopefully in in point total as well. Last year you were talking about it was time to start taking a step in the standings. It feels like that urgency might have died down a little bit because the young guys are getting here and they’re showing all these flashes. Are you more patient this year than maybe you were even at this time last year? Well, I think the composition of our team is just so different from last year. My honestly my expectation was that we would have performed better than we did, especially out of the gate last year. We had a veteran laden team. We were one of the more veteran teams in the NHL, which was by design. um which led us to believe that we would be a little bit further ahead uh in last year’s standings than than we were. Um and we made mid-season changes because of the you know the results, but um you know that veteran laden team didn’t necessarily translate to where we are organizationally. Um, you know, now that we’ve seen this influx of young talent at the end of the season and coming in, there will be a patience factor with young players in the NHL, but there’s also an excitement factor and and a a future impact that we should see throughout this season or for some players that will be here for a very very long time where, you know, some of the players that started the season last year and are no longer here, you know, they were uh, you know, they served a valuable purpose, but maybe not um part of the the overall solution here. You still have a lot of veterans up front. I mean, do you worry about I mean, almost all of them are in the last year of their contract, but do you worry about them blocking guys that might be ready to, you know, take that next step? I don’t think so. No, I think there’s a lot of opportunity for the young guys and you still have to have veterans in this league and you still have to um have guys that are established and know the grind and know um how to lead the way for some of these young players. And um again, there’s no rush to have any every single young player that’s in pro play in the NHL. There are going to be a lot of uh availability and a lot of spots open to them to to fight amongst each other for. And and again, if if if there’s an opportunity or there’s a situation where a young player is outperforming a veteran, then that should merit a young player playing up the lineup. But um they’ve got to earn that and they’ve got to establish that over a course of time, too. It’s not um you know, you don’t a career isn’t made in a weekend or a preseason and so we’ll give them that runway, but uh the expectation is that we will see a lot more young players and and throughout the year hopefully they establish themselves as impact players in the NHL. How did the original PTO come about? Um you know, Matt’s a a really good veteran in this league. Had a had a nice year last year. um you know, we’re we’re pretty young on the back end and so it was some additional competition and um for for our young players and you know, an opportunity for for Matt to take a run at either making our team um and if it doesn’t work out with our team, then it’s a showcase for the rest of the league. And so, um but first and foremost, he’s trying out to make the Blackhawks. And, um you know, we’ve gotten some really good reports on him as a person as well. great great character, great pro. Um he’s had some experience with some of our coaching staff as well as been a teammate with some of our players and so um lots of info there and then meeting him you can see see why they’ve spoken so highly and so um again just creating competition raise the level of camp and think it’ll be good for everyone. What were your observations from for camp last week? Um yeah it was it was good. you know, I think it’s it’s try not to read too much into those things because as of today or tomorrow, it’s probably going to be an obsolete evaluation, but um you know, I thought some of the guys that played pro at the end of last year showed quite well. And so that’s that’s what you want to see. And then it was nice to get a look at um some of the new draft picks and see where they’re at and just kind of better understand their game firsthand. And so I thought it was uh a success from that standpoint. I know it’s extremely early. Has Jeff been able to start putting his stamp on the organization? Well, you know what? I I think just having the, you know, having him around and even just um setting things up for what’s to come. I don’t necessarily know if he’s been able to put his stamp on because you haven’t been hands-on with the players, but um even just the opening uh his opening meeting with the team at, you know, the other night at training camp uh opener was extremely impressive. I think the the players got a peak into how detailed and how specific and how high he’s setting expectations and and and the standards here. And so I think that was a great first step. Now they’re going to do it on the ice. And we’ll uh we’ll see how the next couple, you know, days and weeks go. But I have I have no doubt that that he’s going to make a a uh a very very strong and positive impact with with the organization. Did you have any very early takeaways from what you’ve seen so far? Not really. Looked it looked hard. Um, you know, it’s I I I did like, you know, he he was quite vocal early on and and so I think that was good. You know, I think it’s it’s just a practice. I don’t I’m not going to like make player evaluations on it, but I think just uh the tone that um Blash was setting and the expectations, you can see the standards there and you know, something’s not right, stop, correct, little skate, get back at it. And so it was it was nice to see. Is there anything specific that you want to see from this camp that you maybe haven’t seen in previous games? Um I think it’s hard to say. Every coach has their own uh style and expectation. I think Jeff’s camp is going to be difficult. It’s going to be a challenging one which um you know I sets the tone for the rest of the season. So I’m I’m excited to to see that. How does this organization view Lucas Rifle right now? Where is he in the hierarchy? I think it’s a little bit of a prove it uh camp for for Lucas. It’s been um you know an up and down couple years for him. Um but you know we still see Lucas as an extremely talented high upside player that um has just as good a shot as anyone is being uh you know breaking camp with this team. But he’s got to he’s got to earn it just like everyone else. And he’s got to find that niche like where where are you going to find yourself? Where are you going to line up in in the in the roster? And that’s up to um him to perform in camp and then coaches to uh deliver feedback and and have that give and take to to make sure that he’s got all the information necessary to um you know make this team. And uh you know it’s honestly it’s not that different from any other player, but he has some history here that uh you know has had some highs and some lows. And so, um, hopefully with the new coaching staff and, uh, new year, it’s a fresh start for him to to reestablish himself. We know what Conor said of what he wanted to work on in the offseason speed in first. Is it too early for you to get a sense of any improvements he made in that either visually or through discussion with him? Uh, I think visually you can see there’s a little extra pop there in the legs. You know, again, it’s early, right? and and a lot of the work uh that’s done in the offseason is is done to sustain that level that you come into camp with. And so um but you know early indications I think he looks great. I think he uh looks really athletic, lots of pop in his legs and um I think that’s that’s great for him, it’s great for us and I know he put a lot of work in and changed some things in the offseason and uh you know early indications off the ice and then you know again don’t want to make too many uh reading too much of a quick session but um I think he looks fantastic. We’ve got a few deals about this this offseason for future but I think a lot of highs are on what Conor is going to do where do you have a sense of whether you guys negotiate during the season or at the you know something he wants to wait until after the year to to finalize. Yeah, it’s you know it’s nothing we’re actively working on right now, but we I have I think Connor’s uh mentioned it. I’ll say it. I have zero concern about where that’s headed. He wants to be here for a long time. We want him here for a long time and we’re going to make that happen. In regards uh to the young players in camp, what are some of the things you and your staff are kind of looking for? these guys separate themselves from the rest and prove they belong and stay here. Um, it’s a good question. I think it’s it’s there’s probably a consistency that that’s going to be um required for a young player to separate themselves from the group. Again, we have a lot of young players and they all they’re not all going to play up to start. Um, but there’s a consistency that’s required to performing in this league and excelling in this league. And so you want to see them get off to a good start in camp and and continue that through. But uh you know I think there’s going to be a lot of evaluation throughout. Um you don’t want to take too much into uh um you know into account early on and you know as guys get their feet under them. But you know I think those preseason games and and the the latter part of of camp will be very important as we push into actually getting down to numbers and and you know building out this roster for the season. I think it’s it’s going to be that consistency, you know, as we go once guys get their feet out of them. And Kevin Kinsky is third year pro. Where where do you kind of see him and where do you I guess where are you hoping that he goes this season? Yeah, I think Kevin took a really nice step I think in the second half last year. Um, you know, I thought he had a nice playoffs for Rockford as well and I’d like to see him continue that. Um, you know, again, he’s he’s he’s got an opportunity to make this team. Um but he’s still very young and if he doesn’t then Rockford’s a great option. Uh you know he’s he’s still he’s still very young. We’ve known the name and he’s been on the scene. He started early. Um but there’s there’s still a growth for all young players to to undergo uh to make sure they stick and are impact players in the NHL. And um I think something with a player like Kevin um confidence and and that uh willingness to go out and make plays is going to be a very big part of his success in in pro hockey in the NHL. And so we want to make sure that that’s there. Want to make sure that he’s doing everything he can to play to his strengths and and uh and so um you know he’s still very much in the developmental stage of his career. And so, um, if he shows that he’s ready for the NHL, then he’ll be here. If if there’s some things that we feel he needs to work on and and continue to grow and play really big minutes and and in every situation, then Rockford’s available to us. And that’s again, it’s it’s it’s not a step back. You know, you we go back and and look at all the players that have established themselves. You Dun’s going to go in the Hall of Fame this this fall, and he wasn’t a full-time NHL until he was 22. and it’s one of the best defenseman we’ve seen in in the last couple decades. Um, you know, it’s it’s a different it’s a different world now than when Duncan broke in and expectations are different, but we can’t lose sight of these are still young hockey players. We don’t um we don’t want to rush them. We want them to be the best players they can be and uh luckily we’ve got numbers. So, if it’s Kevin or any other player that ends up in in Rockford or in the NHL, it’s going to be a situation that’s best for their development long term. How do you view the differences between junior and college from a development perspective? It seems like the last few years you’ve had college guys come in and be fairly not readyade, but maybe closer to being pro ready. Um, how do you view the differences between Yeah, it I would attribute that perhaps more to um the age of the players coming out of college than, you know, than junior. Um, but there are there are certainly differences and and advantages to each one. You know, there’s a bit of a heavier playing schedule and more games in in junior. there’s, you know, more practice time and off ice workout opportunity in, uh, you know, perhaps in in college and you’re playing against older, stronger players, which, um, you know, there’s there’s a a uniqueness to playing against, you know, guys that are closer to being men. And so, um, but we don’t we don’t, um, prefer one or the other. Every case is situational. And a lot of times, most of the time, we take the lead of the player. Where do you think your development is best served? Um, you know, the last thing we want is to say, you know, player A, you’re going to go here because we think that’s best. They’re not fully invested. It doesn’t really go great and then all of a sudden it’s on us. And not to, you know, avoid blame in a situation, but we want them to have skin in the game. You know, it’s their career. It’s their development. And a lot of times there isn’t a a clear best path. And so if if they feel college is the best for them, we support that. If they feel that junior is the best for them, we support that. Of course, we’re an input into that. But um we don’t push one way or the other. There’s there’s just benefits to both. There he is. Kyle Davidson in his crispy hair in full. Yeah. Every word he said, you just heard. Good stuff. I you always tells you what what’s going on for the most part. For the most part. Yeah. Um top to bottom. Yes. Tough news with Lauren Prisahis. The fact that he had another hip surgery and Davidson didn’t say that it’s a career-threatening thing that he’s working hard to get back and play this season. Yeah. I We’ll see. I don’t I don’t uh I don’t root against a guy, but it’s that’s that’s rough. Yeah. Um, and and I think one of the biggest things that stood out for from what Davidson said regarding the team is that with this new coaching staff, there’s a lot of opportunity for guys to, you know, really either establish or reestablish themselves as they’re battling for roster spots and battling for opportunities. And it comes down to whoever is performing the best is going to play. Whether it’s Kevin Kchinsky or Ardum Levchenov or Conor Murphy or Jason Dickinson or Sam Laughaferty, veteran young guy, what it’s going to come down to is uh what they’re doing on the ice and who’s going to give this team the best the best chance to win. Now, we all prefer and I think KDavidson would prefer that the young guys are the ones doing it, but it’s going to come down to and I think Jeff Blashel is going to operate the same way. it’ll be merit-based who’s in and out of the lineup on a nightly basis. Yeah. Um I hope that that’s true. And I think this is what we were talking about with the Mac GRA thing too. like we’re all on board with like the young guys playing, but I I’m also on board with them earning their spot and they should not just be given the spot because they were a first round pick or because you think that they’ve got a higher ceiling than somebody ultimately they’ve got to be ready to go. And I saw just kind of scrolling through Twitter today, I saw um Bill Garin commented on um I forget. Yes. No, no, no. It was um it was a a wild defenseman. Oh. Um and he basically said um Rocky, he’s not ready. It was your and he goes he’s not ready yet. Like we’re not going to throw him to the wolves just cuz we’re excited about him. We’re going to we’re going to develop him correctly. And I think that’s that’s the way it should go. So, um we’ll see. I I think the the the fact that Kaiser is assigned means there’s only really one or two spots open on the D. I think you’re everyone’s pretty much resigned as wrong word, but everyone pretty much accepts that Louis Cre is going to be the seven probably because six or seven. He’s comfortable there. I can’t. He’s he’s comfortable there. We know he can do it and there’s no like you don’t have feel forced to play him 25. It feels like not a risk to play Louis Creier in and out of the lineup and a guy that’s going to be I think not to say he’s going to be fine with that, but I think he’s a guy that understands that role. And then yeah, defensively, Renzel Lev I think they’re going to be in on the right side. Kaiser I think is in on the left side. So it really comes down to what seems open to interpretation is is it Kchinsky, Delmaso, or Allen taking that extra spread on the left side. Yeah. And I will say in terms of like the roster battles, I don’t I don’t have any opinion today that was different than yesterday. I didn’t No one was like, “Wow, this guy really stood out.” Yeah. I think day one everyone’s kind of working off the rust. It’s really you’re going through drills. We’re not going to have a really good feeling for things until uh the the exhibition games begin on Tuesday, but as we’ve said, like the guys you want to look like the best players on the ice did. I think Korchinsky was what a couple things I noticed from him was not afraid to be physical. Good and he was vocal. I could hear him instructing teammates where to go, who he had, who they should have during these drills. That’s something that with a lot of young players takes a while to develop because they don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to tell a veteran what to do and they get in their heads about it. They’re not sure if they’re right. Kchinsky showed a lot of confidence in that regard of being vocal on the ice d like literally directing with his hand like I’m I’m here. You’re here. Telling, you know, telling his partner where to go. Um I thought Bard looked good. People have asked did he look faster? I don’t know. Probably. Yeah, it’s Yeah, I mean there were there were a few he wasn’t Pavl Buray out there, but you could see, you know, he had a really solid back check on one of the drills, just hustled and got back and lifted a stick to break up a play. I saw he won a battle against Jason Dickinson, which is not easy to do. So, some of those little signs you would see of someone being faster and stronger were there from Conor Bard on day one. Yeah, I I I think, you know, it’s it’s going to come down to what happens in games, but I think for day one of seeing Conor Bard in person, for for me at least, since the last time I did that was back in April, he looked like a guy that was skating with purpose, motivated. Was he faster than I remember? Yeah, maybe a little bit. But maybe that’s just because I haven’t watched hockey at that level in a while in person. But, you know, it he did look like a guy that had a little bit more more jump. And as we’ve noticed about him coming into this this this training camp and people were kind of talking about it in in the YouTube chat, he’s a guy that at now 20 years old looks a lot more physically mature, a little looks like he got stronger um this off seasonason. like he looks like a guy that’s ready to kind of shake off that like, you know, young phenom in the NHL uh label and look like a adult in the NHL that’s going to be able to to uh you know withstand the physicality and and be a guy that’s going to be you know a difference maker not just because of the skill in his hands or anything but because you know his legs are going to get him there as well. All right, here were the uh before we wrap up, we’ll give you the lineups for the two teams today. I I have it here. Do you want me to go top to bottom with the entire roster? Okay. Can you break them up from team one and team two? No. All right. Well, Charlie did that. So, I did that for simplicity. 53 of them. I’m sure that’s fine. Uh team one was Bard between Donado and Burikovsky. Dickinson between Slacker and McKv. Green between Mor and Riel and Lewinsky between Vanak and Bame. Seavois and Sini were rotating in. Your deep pairs were dominic and Murphy Kuzzman and Harding with Fitzgerald and Mast rotating in Knight and Kessle were your goalies. Team two was Nazar between Teravine and Bertuzi. Felino between Doc and Laferty, Toninado between Thompson and Lardis, Hayes between Kates and Anderson, Messiac and Holmes rotating in Kaiser, Lechnov, Grizzlick, Krevier, Kchinsky, Allen, Cumbi, uh, Parrot with Solder Bloom and Berinoi in goal. So that’s what it looks like today. We’ll see how it looks on Tuesday. Yeah, I’m I’m going to say as much as we kind of talked about like, oh, it’s going to be exciting to see how guys are matched up, you also, and I think that’s something I kind of didn’t take into consideration when putting that out there, but this is two, this is 53 players. They’re split into two teams. Not all the NHL guys are skating in one group. So, take what you will with some of the defensive pairs. Take what you will with some of the offensive pairs. I will say though from what Jeff Blashel said regarding the first day of seeing Baddard with Burkovski and Donado, he said that Burkovski and Donado’s play styles complement Baddard’s play style pretty well. Um, and he said specifically of Andre Burikovski, having seen him in person and and talking around the league with, you know, coaches and teammates that he had in Seattle and Colorado is that at his best, he’s a guy that gets through the neutral zone. uh plays with a bit of a give and go style to his game that he thinks will pair well with Bard. So, we’ll see if that gets to, you know, game one against the Panthers as the trio. But to start training camp, um it seems like that top six is what a lot of people were expecting with Bedard, Donado, Burkovski, Terravine, and Nazarus. And I’ll say Burkovski looks big and looks strong and he looks fast. So, if he’s healthy, could be a huge piece, but that’s always been the key for Andre Burkovski. All right, we’re going to wrap things up. Um, I want to give a quick shout out. Uh, we did have two people that donated during the show today. Thank you. Um, Jay, you’re going to have to help me. Borbicus. He’s usually Yeah, he’s always in our chat. He donated $50 today. And then Steve Smart donated $25. And then I want to shout out JRSC. he became um an MVP, which is our sticker sweet YouTube membership that we have going on. So, I appreciate the donations. And then just so everyone knows too, we have raised almost $5,000 so far and we have 11 days left of our donations for Big Brother Big Sister. So, thank you. Appreciate it. Let’s do it. Um we are unsure on the showtime tomorrow. We’re aiming for 2:30 because we literally walked in the door today at 10 after 2. We had like 10 minutes. Um, and while camp has 700 people on the roster, it’s going to be tough for us to get back in time. So, we’re looking to adjust our time to 2:30. I would say this, tomorrow might be 2 with the rest of the shows being 2:30. We’ll let you know uh via Twitter if we’re 2 or 2:30 tomorrow, but we’ll be here one way or the other. Quick shout out, we just had a last minute donation. and it’s from an anonymous donator and he donated he or she donated $5. So, thank you whoever. There’s that cup of coffee. They helped. They piled up. Thank you very much. All right. Hit the like button on your way out if you’ve not done it yet. Tell a friend. Hit that retweet on our littleformational tweet we sent this morning at 8. And we’ll talk to you tomorrow at two with all sorts of new news from Hawks Camp on the CHGO Blackhawks podcast. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson shares his thoughts on a future Connor Bedard extension and what it could mean for the organization. Davidson has already extended Frank Nazar, Spencer Knight, and Wyatt Kaiser, signaling the Blackhawks’ commitment to locking up their young core. The CHGO Blackhawks Podcast breaks down Bedard’s impact, Chicago’s long-term rebuild, and how these extensions shape the team’s salary cap and future roster moves. Stay tuned for the latest Blackhawks news, analysis, and updates from CHGO!

00:00 Start
02:20 Jeff Blashill on intense practice
19:50 Wyatt Kaiser interview
26:15 Connor Bedard interview
39:00 Kyle Davidson interview
1:00:00 Overtime!

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