Jeff Blashill on Blackhawks Injuries, 2nd-Period Struggles & OT Strategy

Jeff Blashill on Blackhawks Injuries, 2nd-Period Struggles & OT Strategy

are out there today and uh good good to see. Uh is it possible for him tomorrow or probably going to hold him out just No, I I would say there’s there’s possibility. You know, I don’t I don’t honestly know. I would still say he’s daytoday. I would say Dickinson’s dayto day. Um you know, I would call Bert probably dayto day. Um so honestly, we could have all three. We might not have any of them. Um so we’ll know tomorrow. Bosski a little more. Bosski will play for sure. Y did Nazar leave practice early today? looked like he I think a little bit, but he wasn’t going to participate in that drill. Okay. It was more of that than it was uh set back or anything like that. It just there were certain drills he was going to go full and certain drills he wasn’t. And that was one he wasn’t going to go full. Speaking of drills, he incorporated maybe a newer drill. Took him a little time to figure that out, but uh did you The change one. Yeah. So, we’ve done that before. Um you know, I think on the very first rep we we didn’t There’s a balance when you change. If you can change and keep pressure on, that’s what we’d rather do. And there’s sometimes where you can change and you can’t. And then, you know, we’re in a certain kind of 113ish format. And so, we just worked through the pressure piece of it today. Um, you know, I thought there was something that we didn’t pressure the puck enough the other night. I thought there was opportunities and it wasn’t all off changes, but there was opportunity just a mentality of kind of falling back instead of when there was tons of chances to pressure more. And so, you know, ultimately my take would have been we didn’t have the puck enough and it was because one, we didn’t pressure enough and play in their end and two, uh, we probably didn’t break out and support it well enough. Have you thought more about the second period issue? I mean, one theory that’s been brought up is that maybe guys take their foot off the gas after playing well in the first, but could it be that other teams are you see see the game plan and make adjustments and then the game plan is less effective as the game goes on? Like, what do you what do you think could be? Um, I mean, I’m not I wouldn’t say that’s not a potential. I I I’d have to, you know, think about that. I I don’t know that there was there’s been a whole lot of that. I would say I thought on the road trip it was better to be honest with you. I think if you look at uh scoring chances in the road trip was better. Um certainly the other night wasn’t. I think when we’re not playing our best um we’re not breaking the puck out clean and we’re not spending enough time in the Ozone and I think that is exemplified uh in the second period especially or amplified in the second period. So you can get away with it a little bit more in the first and third and then in the second you you it it really gets hammered because you can’t get people on and off the ice where the first you can still kind of get people on and off the ice. So to me it’s it’s mainly that it’s when we’re not breaking it out um you know clean enough and then and then we don’t spend enough time in the ozone as a result and so it just becomes this never ending cycle. Um that’s a you know we set that drill up as a second period change for that purpose. um you know to try to create those opportunities to to have that pressure and stay on their end. So I you know is it a game plan thing? I mean that’s probably a gametoame thing. I I don’t think I think generally to be honest with you most of the I would say adjustments are probably a little I don’t want to say overrated but there’s not like these huge ground adjustments. I think generally you see a lot of that in the first. So what emphasis are you making with Renzel right now? Um, you know, I think the probably the biggest thing with with Sam is is he probably twofold, I guess I’d say. One, uh, he does he has to eliminate some of the scoring chances against it’s hard to it’s hard, you know, that’s just the reality of it. And, um, and then we got to get him back to playing his best. So, when he plays his best, I think he controls the puck more. And part of that is skates more, you know, and and so those kind of two things um that that we’re working through with him. You let early in there you kind of reset with Lechov and having him sit. Is that is that something at all a possibility or do you feel like the seven I guess No, it’s always a possibility. Always a possibility for sure. And if that’s what we feel is the right decision uh mostly for his long-term development, that’s what we’ll do. And sometimes you need a reset. There’s zero doubt about that. There was a play where Moore was kind of cutting through the middle of the D and then tried to pass it over to Connor. It looked like he could have just gone. Is that sort of your advice that hey, maybe you’re faster against NHL guys than you think? I would say this that when you get put on a line with with somebody like Con Bard um you know, there’s an effect of I got to get him the puck. I got to get him the puck. I got to get him the puck. And uh that’s not you got to kind of play and make the right play, you know, in every situation. And um you know and there was a situation in overtime where I thought he could have given him the puck. So like it’s just you got to you got to learn to make the right play regardless of who you’re playing with. Um I thought that was a little force more that way. Like could he have taken it? Maybe. I thought he really tried to force that pass, you know. So there’s just that balance. Um you know, it’s a it’s again it’s just part of the growing process, I think, of of you know, at that point you’re on an NHL first line and and you got to learn how to handle those situations. You know, we had the same kind of uh effect in in Tampa with Cooch. you know, guys who just try to get cooch the puck when you really just got to make the right play. He was talking about how he he’s feel like he’s been doing well in his battles down low and he was just talking to Brian Keane about that. He said, and have you been impressed by his ability in that regard? Yeah, I I think his battle level’s been good, but honestly, I think his battle level has been good from the first day I saw him in rookie camp. Like, he does compete really, really hard. He’s pretty strong in the puck. Um, you know, I think he’s got to make sure he goes in there and stops on it. Um um you know sometimes I think you escape yourself out of the battle so you just got to make sure he stops on it. But I think he’s done a good job. I think he’s doing a good job with those battles and uh uh and it’s just you know the the process of of kind of learning how to be productive in the NHL. As a coach, how much do you dissect over time or I know I know other times have to be spent you know in so many different areas but um what I guess is do are you guys looking at where the chances are coming for or how you guys are giving up or how like how much how deep do you what are we one and three right now? Is that what we are? one and three. Um, you know, I don’t think it’s been quite good enough. One of the big areas I think, you know, we had a overtime meeting uh not very long ago where we discussed, you know, just the different kind of things that we think are really important overtime. One is changes. Um, you know, you want to try to outchange the other team. You got to be smart about when you change. You know, the other night we probably tried to press the change a little bit and and then sometimes you just have to play tired. It’s just the reality, you know, and and so, you know, we had two guys go off the ice and a third guy trying to get off the ice. And really probably should have had one guy get off the ice and the other two just have to play tired. Just the reality of it. Um, you know, we I you know, if you go back through the over times, I mean, it probably should be 2-2. Like, we should have won the Boston one. We had we had the real chances that we just didn’t finish. But that’s life. Um, but yes, we do dissect it and yes, we do spend time on it. Do we spend time on it every day? No. You know, cuz you could go a month without one. So, it’s it’s just the balance of when you kind of do it. Um, but when you get it when you get in overtime, you want to make sure you’re dialed in. Big ones for me, you don’t want to waste shots where you’re just giving up possessions on a on a on a C chance. Um, you want to make sure that you’re you’re smart with your changes. Uh, both ways when you have possession, make sure that you’ve changed. You’re almost baiting them into bad changes. Kind of like what happened to us to be honest with you. Uh and then probably the other thing is just learning how to use each other offensively uh to kind of set subtle picks, stuff like that. The the two defenseman, was that to counteract the speed that New Jersey had or Well, I would say it was kind of a balance of um you know, if you look at the lineup we had the other night up up front, we were missing some guys that normally play in overtime. And so then you’re saying, okay, who’s the next best guys to go in overtime a little bit? And there’s some defenseman I think are worthy. Remember, when you go overtime, it’s kind of just man-on-man. It’s just, you know, so it really doesn’t matter what the position is. But with that said, um, you know, against you, we wanted certain guys on the ice, so that’s why those guys were on the ice. Brusi maintenance today. Uh, I would say dayto day little, he’s he’s, you know, a little banged up. So, I think he’s going to be available tomorrow, but I can’t guarantee that. Yeah. Yeah.

Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill speaks on injuries to the team, struggles in the 2nd period of recent games and their OT strategy. With 4 overtime losses this season, are the Blackhawks just a few minor tweaks away from continuing their ascent in the 2025 NHL seasom?

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