{"id":542062,"date":"2026-04-05T13:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T13:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/542062\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T13:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T13:17:14","slug":"blackhawks-new-generation-embracing-challenge-of-conquering-nhl-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/542062\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks’ new generation embracing challenge of conquering NHL together"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE \u2014 One year after Blackhawks<\/a> forward Ryan Greene was actually in college, he feels as though he\u2019s still there.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because when Greene, who played at Boston University, looks around the Hawks\u2019 locker room, he sees 16 players \u2014 including himself \u2014 24 years old or younger.<\/p>\n

Coach Jeff Blashill recently remarked his entire defensive corps could be playing in the NCAA Tournament, and he wasn\u2019t joking. Wisconsin will dress a forward (25-year-old Simon Tassy) in the Frozen Four this week who is older than most Hawks.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018[We\u2019re] just a lot of young guys getting to hang out every day and do what we love,\u2019\u2019 Greene said. \u2018\u2018With [Anton Frondell and Sacha Boisvert] coming in, we\u2019re even more young, but it\u2019s a good thing. I think this group is capable of a lot.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Around the room, all of the Hawks\u2019 youngsters are saying the same thing: They\u2019re having a blast beginning this challenge with each other.<\/p>\n

The idea of climbing the mountain from base to summit and ultimately conquering the NHL is daunting. The knowledge that this, more or less, is the group being asked to do it is simultaneously stressful and exhilarating. But none of these players would have made it to this level without self-confidence.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018We want that responsibility,\u2019\u2019 Greene said. \u2018\u2018We want to be the ones that get it done.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Connor Bedard will have to lead the charge. The Hawks need him to become a superstar centerpiece to have any chance. Fortunately for them, he appears to be trending in that direction.<\/p>\n

Bedard will need plenty of help, however, and that supporting cast is starting to come into focus. Not every youngster will pan out as a solid complementary player, but the Hawks need a decent percentage of them to do so.<\/p>\n

One of their most established long-term pieces, defenseman Alex Vlasic, described the last month \u2014 the stretch since the trade deadline during which the kids fully have taken over \u2014 as the \u2018\u2018most fun\u2019\u2019 he has had in the NHL so far.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018We have a good mixture of guys who like to keep it light,\u2019\u2019 Vlasic said. \u2018\u2018If we have a bad game as a team, we\u2019re pretty good at flushing it and coming to the rink the next day with a good mindset, [knowing there\u2019s] a new opportunity to attack that day.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018It\u2019s been such a blast to play with them and do it alongside them. It feels like we\u2019re in a brotherhood here, all going through it together.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Other defensemen echoed similar thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018It\u2019s us,\u2019\u2019 Ethan Del Mastro said. \u2018\u2018You\u2019ve got to be able to do it with these guys because this is who we have and who\u2019s here. It\u2019s exciting, but it\u2019s obviously a learning curve.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Said Wyatt Kaiser: \u2018\u2018It creates that kind of team atmosphere where it\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, these are the guys we\u2019ve got. We have to find a way to get it done.\u2019\u2009\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Goalie Spencer Knight watched firsthand as the Panthers conquered the league in 2024, which gives him a unique perspective<\/a> about everything that awaits the Hawks.<\/p>\n

He knows it\u2019s important to maintain a vision of greatness. He also knows it\u2019s crucial to embrace the grind it takes to get there.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018That\u2019s very much something we have to learn as a very young team: how to do this every single day,\u2019\u2019 Knight said. \u2018\u2018You can\u2019t go out, have a good game and [say], \u2018Oh, that\u2019s my good game of the week. We\u2019ll figure out the rest somehow.\u2019 It\u2019s every single day. Everyone is going to have good and bad games, but it\u2019s [about limiting] the deviation between those.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Knight said he is encouraged, however, by the Hawks\u2019 attitude and work ethic.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018Having good culture and good characters in the room will allow you to have buy-in from everyone,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u2018\u2018When you have buy-in, the coaches can implement a system that allows you to play hockey that is hopefully \u2014 one day \u2014 meaningful.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 One year after Blackhawks forward Ryan Greene was actually in college, he feels as though he\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,37,96,5263,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-542062","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-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116352296746162393","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542062","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=542062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}