{"id":473623,"date":"2026-02-26T20:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T20:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/473623\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T20:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T20:13:18","slug":"blackhawks-notes-before-their-regular-season-resumes-the-hockey-writers-chicago-blackhawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/473623\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks’ Notes Before Their Regular Season Resumes – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, remember the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>? The Original Six franchise based in Chicago, Illinois? They last played on Feb. 4 but are now returning to game action after the Olympic break. <\/p>\n

Even though they haven\u2019t played a game in three weeks, they have been back practicing in a six-practice mini training camp. Before they resume their season against the Nashville Predators on the road on Feb. 26, here is what you need to know to get reacquainted. <\/p>\n

1. Power Play Adjustments <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the power play, as that was one of the biggest talking points before the break. Their power play ranks 20th in the NHL, with a 19.1% success rate. But since Jan. 10, they have been operating last in the league, at 5.6%. <\/p>\n

Head coach Jeff Blashill was asked about the different power-play tweaks at practice, including excluding the drop-pass entry and a two-drop pass entry: <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think that\u2019s important. You know, we kind of went through the first part of the year with basically one look\u2026 You know, for a long time it did pretty good. But like, what happens, even in games, if you\u2019re struggling with that, then there\u2019s frustration that sets in. I think when that frustration sets in, it\u2019s important to have a different look. Both for the ability to get in, and to kind of fight through the frustration.\u201d <\/p>\n

As my colleagueGail Kauchak<\/a> pointed out, there haven\u2019t been many personnel adjustments to the power play, with the top unit remaining unchanged from before<\/a> in their last practice. But, they\u2019ll see if different strategies and looks could make the difference, while maintaining chemistry.<\/p>\n

2. The Defense Pairs<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks recalled Sam Rinzel and Kevin Korchinski from the Rockford IceHogs on Feb. 4 after they placed Wyatt Kaiser on injured reserve with a lower-body injury<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Blashill discussed with Kaiser out, the recalls make it seven defensemen, making it easier to run practices, and he also wants the players to be \u201cingrained\u201d and up to speed on everything they\u2019re doing, in preparation for the final stretch of the regular season. <\/p>\n

Korchinski is the wild card at the moment. Rinzel will likely still be quarterbacking the top power-play unit, as he did when he was initially recalled from Rockford on Jan. 30. But Blashill made it sound iffy about Korchinski\u2019s playing status for now, and per Scott Powers of The Athletic, he will not be in the lineup against the Predators<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"KevinKevin Korchinski, Chicago Blackhawks (Matt Marton-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Blashill said about Korchinski on Feb. 18, \u201cI thought he left the last time playing better that second night than the first night, and he had confidence. I\u2019ve talked a lot with Nighty [Jared Nightengale], and I think he\u2019s done a solid job, you know. So he\u2019s just got to keep putting himself in a position that, if he gets an opportunity to play, that he plays well. And that\u2019s just what this league is. You know, very few guys just get handed jobs over and over and over, and you got to keep earning it and proving it\u2026 I don\u2019t know if he will or won\u2019t, but if he gets a chance to go in, he\u2019s got to go in and play well.\u201d <\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, Blashill made no commitment either way on possibly going back to a seven-defensemen lineup. However, the trade deadline also puts things into play. <\/p>\n

3. Trade Deadline Looms<\/p>\n

Speaking of the trade deadline, it\u2019s on March 6, and the Blackhawks are on a four-game road trip, with their final game on March. 3, which makes the deadline loom larger. <\/p>\n

Blashill said before departing for the road trip about possible asset management, \u201cAsset management\u2019s not something we\u2019ll worry about right now. We\u2019re going to play to win tomorrow, and those things are out of our control. And if, you know, something happens, something happens. That\u2019s up to Kyle [Davidson] and his management group, and we\u2019re going to play to win tomorrow, and we\u2019ll play our guys that we can give us the best chance to win.\u201d <\/p>\n

Related: 3 Blackhawks Who Could Be Traded Before the Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n

There has been a lot of noise surrounding players like Connor Murphy, Jason Dickinson, Ilya Mikheyev, and others. But the Blackhawks are going to stay in the moment and cross that bridge if or when they get there. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that the Blackhawks were struggling going into the break, and are 10 points out of the final Wild Card spot. But they are looking to resume their season with a statement. <\/p>\n

Blashill talked about working with the team on their conditioning after the time off and getting their systems back in place so they could go into Nashville playing without thinking. <\/p>\n

Landon Slaggert also noted to me that they\u2019re implementing a new system in their d-zone, and that has been an area of focus for them.<\/p>\n

Therefore, was Blashill happy with what he saw in the mini training camp?<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we\u2019ve done a good job of starting by easing them into it, getting harder progressively, getting them back to some five-on-five situations, feeling what that\u2019s like that they\u2019re going to feel like tomorrow [Feb. 26], and we\u2019ll find out tomorrow if we did a good job or not. Ultimately, I think the guys did a really good job. They have good energy. I think we\u2019re ready to play a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

I spoke with Captain Nick Foligno about what he was looking for on the road trip, \u201cWe got to take a step, right? That\u2019s what I\u2019m looking for. We have to take a step as a team and then get off on the right foot. I mean, it doesn\u2019t mean we have to go on a four-game winning streak, but we have to start showing signs of our game really coming back to life. And you know, before the break, that wasn\u2019t who we were, and we\u2019ve moved past that now. I think we\u2019ve had a great week and a half of practice where we\u2019ve really honed in on what makes us special and what makes us a great team, and that\u2019s what I want to see us put into these games. So, I\u2019m excited to get on the road here and get into a place like Nashville that\u2019s fighting for the playoffs. It\u2019s going to be a great environment and a good opportunity for our team to really hit the ground running.\u201d <\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing like jumping back into things by facing a division rival. We\u2019ll see if the tweaks and the refreshed mindset will give them the results they\u2019re seeking. <\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hey, remember the Chicago Blackhawks? The Original Six franchise based in Chicago, Illinois? They last played on Feb.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,5,3140,1562,4,5851],"class_list":{"0":"post-473623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-blackhawks","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-jeff-blashill","14":"tag-kevin-korchinski","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-nick-foligno"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116138765412284079","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473623","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=473623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}