Jeff Blashill on Season Start | Chicago Blackhawks

How’s uh Alex looking for tomorrow? Um I I don’t uh anticipate Alex being in I think he needs another full practice. So um as we sit here today, my my gut would be that he will not be in the line of tomorrow. With with Lucas Reich, I I know you’ve talked about the identity being a top six guy. Do you do you need to wait, I guess, for an opportunity? what you know with Lucas I think his his identity you know kind of coming up has been a top six guy but I think part of what him and I have talked about is um rounding his game out so that he can uh be in position to play for the that bottom six roles so you’re not limiting yourself to six forward spots and so um you know it’s just something him and I have talked about that I think uh uh is something he wants to get better at and just finding what’s that mean like it doesn’t mean that you’re going to run around and and be a different player than you are but it means that You have to uh value the puck. You have to um be very good defensively. Um you have to probably be more willing to chip it in at times um and and and live another day. If there’s plays to be made, make them. Um you got to be great on the reload. You got just got to do all those little things that it takes. So your details in the systems have to be great. So it’s something that we’ll continue to work with him on. He he did play the fourth line most of last year. when you look back at the tape, are there things that he wasn’t doing that you need him to be doing to be in that role this year? I I think the biggest thing is like, you know, I’ve watched the games, but I’m not going to sit there and say, “Okay, you should have done this, you should have done that, cuz I wasn’t here, you know, and I don’t think that’s fair to him either.” But, um, we we’ve gone through, you know, we’ll go through tape with them, uh, from the situations here. And again, to me, they’re just just kind of the the understanding that I mean, it’s really hard to outscore your mistakes in this league. And especially if you’re on a a third and fourth line, it’s really really difficult to out square mistakes. So then you got to find ways to make sure you can go out and and at least, you know, play even shifts. And if you can carry momentum, then you’re really good, you know. So it might not necessarily be points, but it’s momentum, but it’s kind of a, you know, a reset a little bit in terms of the mind the process of it with Slagger. So he’s on IR. Do you have a timeline for him? Yeah, not a specific timeline, but he’s not on the trip. So, I don’t think it’s going to be, you know, a way past the the Boston game, but but I certainly can’t tell you whether he’ll be ready for Montreal, but he’ll certainly not play tomorrow, and he won’t play on Thursday. Nick was just talking about the Florida Panthers doing the banner tomorrow, and he said, “Hey, you know, maybe the kids can watch that. That’s where we want to be.” Do you find it maybe beneficial in any way or it is what it is? Uh well, I hope they’re celebrating tonight. Uh and uh and that’s beneficial. And I I heard they had uh some pretty uh non-eventful preseason games. So uh hopefully uh hopefully, you know, whatever we can catch them really celebrating. I you know, is it beneficial for us? Um I I you know, I think right now Florida’s the model for the rest of the league in terms of uh the commitment they’ve had to winning as a group and not necessarily everybody’s going to play the same style. Uh we’re not trying to mimic their style, but you know, I’ve talked to our players about some of the things that they do very very well. Uh things like how hard they they track uh how committed they are to uh playing uh I winning hockey and and so you know certainly I you know they’re they’re an example to the rest of the league right now and and you know raising that banner is not a bad thing for anybody to see to that’s what all of us aspire for. So um you know you kind of get that inspiration. You you’ve been a head coach before but it been a minute. Was it was the preseason at all helpful for you just to get behind the bench again or just to I guess get back in the rhythm of games and and having that different responsibility? Yeah, 100%. I mean, it’s been a minute and uh you know, just kind of getting again flow of of running the bench and u and getting some chemistry with the coaching staff and um I needed all all six of them. So, uh uh but you know, feel good about it now and and but there’s no doubt that that you kind of need that, uh that that experience to kind of get yourself back

Head Coach Jeff Blashill discusses readiness of Alex Vlasic and the Florida Panther’s commitment to winning as a model for the rest of the league

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