{"id":462828,"date":"2026-02-19T02:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/462828\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T02:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:03:24","slug":"chicago-blackhawks-are-focused-on-the-seasons-final-stretch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/462828\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks are focused on the season’s final stretch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Blackhawks limped into the NHL\u2019s Winter Olympic break<\/a> with a 4-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 4. The Columbus cannon shot down an already defeated Hawks team as they skated to their locker rooms in silence with heads down.<\/p>\n

Now, they get to put all that behind them.<\/p>\n

The Hawks will spend this week at the Blackhawks Ice Center preparing for their first game back on Feb. 26 at the Nashville Predators. The locker room vibes were high as the team initially (and politely) shooed the media away to watch Team Canada\u2019s intense 4-3 overtime Olympic win<\/a> against Czechia.<\/p>\n

A few days off might\u2019ve been what the Hawks needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not normal to have this many days off in the season, so (the break) came at us at a good time for some guys,\u201d team captain Nick Foligno said. \u201cI want to play, and especially watching the Olympics now, and these guys playing here, like \u2018all right, I want to get back going here.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hawks are 22-26-9, sixth in the Central Division and 10 points out of a wild-card playoff spot with 25 games remaining. Their season isn\u2019t over, though, as it would have been in previous years.<\/p>\n

AHL All-Star Classic came to Rockford for the 1st time, and the IceHogs \u2014 and their fans \u2014 represented well<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A string of wins is what the young team needs, as Folingo said postgame in Columbus. For the first time, the team captain believes he has a Hawks team that can put together a run.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an understanding and an eagerness to become a great team in this room, and I think that\u2019s what you need first and foremost,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cThen you need to put it into action, not just wanting it, you\u2019ve got to apply it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe limped in (to the break), we wanted to do it, but we weren\u2019t really doing the things necessary to do that. I think having some time to watch our game and to fine-tune some areas that we\u2019ve probably struggled in is going to help us come out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawks coach Jeff Blashill agreed that his guys needed the time away. Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen is the only one in Milan, Italy<\/a>, so the Hawks have a majority of their players at practice, an advantage other NHL rosters won\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a chance to reset, if you look throughout the league, it\u2019s a pretty good opportunity for us,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cWe have (one) guy playing in the Olympics, so a bunch of guys got the chance to kind of reset and rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a whole bunch of guys playing really important minutes that have never really been through this schedule. I thought guys probably needed a break and needed a reset opportunity, that\u2019s what this is. We also get six practices to try to hit the ground running. Does that guarantee success? No, but every team probably hits that break at different points.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the week of practices is a perfect place to start. If the Hawks want to become a playoff team, it begins here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only have one guy that\u2019s away at the Olympics, so we\u2019re together practicing (and) there\u2019s a lot of teams that have (multiple) guys (away) so they\u2019re not really able to get the reps that we\u2019re going to get,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cWe should use that to our advantage and make sure we come out of this like we got better.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Blashill) and the coaching staff really understand that, and I think the guys are excited about that opportunity to come out of this and feel really good about our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roster moves and practice news
\n\"DefensemanDefenseman Kevin Korchinski (14) practices Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, as the Chicago Blackhawks begin training camp at Fifth Third Arena. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Defensemen Sam Rinzel and Kevin Korchinski have been recalled<\/a> from the Rockford IceHogs. The additions of the two blueliners make seven on the Hawks roster.<\/p>\n

Korchinski represented the IceHogs last week in the AHL All-Star Classic<\/a> with left winger Nick Lardis and Rockford team captain Brett Seney. He has posted 23 points (two goals, 21 assists) with Rockford this year in addition to two games on the Hawks roster (one assist).<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he left the last time playing better that second night than the first night,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cHe\u2019s done a solid job, so (he) just (has) to put himself in a position that, if he gets an opportunity to play, that he plays well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Rinzel\u2019s second recall of the season after being assigned to the IceHogs during the Olympic break. He logged 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in Rockford, as well as nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 31 NHL games.<\/p>\n

Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 4. There\u2019s no timetable for his return, but Blashill said that he will play again this season.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Blashill said that he wanted Connor Bedard to play a \u201ctrue center role.\u201d The plan is for the star forward to take face-offs again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Blackhawks limped into the NHL\u2019s Winter Olympic break with a 4-0 loss to the Columbus Blue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,508,5,3140,4,292,5851,30278,492,1570],"class_list":["post-462828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-blackhawks","tag-blackhawks","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicagoblackhawks","tag-connor-bedard","tag-hockey","tag-jeff-blashill","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-hockey","tag-nick-foligno","tag-olympic-break","tag-rockford-icehogs","tag-wyatt-kaiser"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116094842573832998","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}