Derek King’s First Win, Hats Off to Lukas Reichel, Reese Johnson Recalled, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Last night could have been a turning point in the Blackhawks’ 2021-22 season. It could have also been just a good response to a difficult situation after the organization fired Jeremy Colliton and replaced him in the interim with Derek King. What it was for sure was a different vibe to the team and a group that played a lot different than it did 0n Friday night. Derek King is 1-0-0 in his NHL coaching career and the Blackhawks are 2-9-2. It’s progress.

•   Maybe there was a bit of voodoo at work as well…

•   King came into the situation with the Blackhawks, a team that has been one of the worst in the NHL defensively under Jeremy Colliton, and told them to play more free and more off of their instincts. To have to “think the game” less. It worked. The Blackhawks team that took the ice last night played a simpler game, and did less, to do more.

•   It went to overtime tied at 1-1, with Brandon Hagel accounting for the first Blackhawks goal. Quickly in the overtime period, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat descended on Jusse Saros on a two-on-one and buried the game-winner.

https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1457537824782274560?s=20

•   It was a deserved two points for the Blackhawks who, for the first time it seemed all season, played a normal hockey game. There were virtually no points in which you wanted to throw your remote at the TV, or roll your eyes, or curse out the team. It was refreshing.

•   And that directive to think less and play loose ended up resulting in a Blackhawks team that played a winning, sustainable style of hockey. Something we have not seen often, or at all, yet this season.

•   Kane’s assist on the overtime winner was his 1,100th point. Kane turns 33-years-old on November 19th and has a season and a half left on his current contract with Chicago. He has a ton of game left in him, but with the direction the Blackhawks have been going over the past few seasons, at what point do the Blackhawks have the difficult conversations about his future with the organization?

•   That’s a conversation for the future Blackhawks to worry about. For now, Derek King is 1-0-0 as Blackhawks head coach and the team’s first game under him was a breath of fresh air.

•   Glad to see King enjoy his first experience in the NHL so much.

•   Getting to know him in Rockford, he’s an incredibly likable person and I’m sure the Chicago fan base will quickly come around to him, even in the interim.

•   Seriously, how do you not root for this guy?

•   Now, again, he’s not the savior of the franchise and I don’t think he’ll end up as the permanent coach in Chicago once this season is over, but King may be the kind of coach and have the kind of approach that this roster responds to. This is a roster that is more talented than their 2-9-2 record shows and maybe giving the players more autonomy and being less of a moment-to-moment tactician is what they needed after all.

•   And when it comes to finding a permanent coach for the Blackhawks, yesterday we found out that interim General Manager Kyle Davidson has the authority to make that decision and that the decision will come after the 2021-22 season is over.

•   Also from yesterday, one final note on the end of Jeremy Colliton’s tenure as the Blackhawks head coach. He wasn’t the right guy from the start and he was put in a situation where he couldn’t succeed.

•   Following the win last night, a number of players had their first opportunity to speak about the firing of Colliton. Both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews said they felt responsibility for him losing his job.

•   Colliton went through more than a usual coach might during a normal time in sports and in the world, having the Blackhawks off-ice issues to deal with as well as their on-ice deficiencies never made his job easy.

•   More from Alex DeBrincat, laying some of the blame on the players. Which is fair to an extent.

•   While Colliton may or may not have truly held the respect of the locker room is up for debate. You’re not going to see NHL players actively talking down about their current head coach very often, if at all. But it was clear on the ice, the players were not on the same page as the guy behind the bench on most nights.

•   Good luck to Colliton in his future coaching roles, which he will likely have at some point again in the NHL.

•   In roster move news, the Blackhawks have recalled Reese Johnson, again, from the IceHogs.

•   Speaking of the IceHogs last night, Rockford topped the Manitoba Moose 4-3 for their third win of the season thanks to a hat-trick from rookie Lukas Reichel!

•   Through eight AHL games this season for the IceHogs, the 2020 first-round draft pick has six goals and eight points, both leading the team. He ranks ninth in the AHL among rookie scorers and is one of eleven rookies to have played at least five games and play at a point per game pace.

•   I said in my preseason predictions that Reichel would be with the Blackhawks by Christmas and would stay with the club the remainder of the season. Maybe it happens even faster than that.

•   From future Blackhawks to Former Blackhawks, Brandon Saad wasted little time getting the Blues on the board last night.

•   Quickest draw in the West (this season)!

•   Long-time Minnesota Wild star Zach Parise, now with the New York Islanders, returned to the Xcel Energy Center last night to a standing ovation.

•   Following up on the story from the Pennsylvania High School hockey game where students hurled vulgarities towards a female player on the opposing team, those students and all students from that school have been banned from attending games.

•   Good.

•   That will do it for today. I’ll leave the Blackhawks to give you the well wishes for this Monday!

written by

Mario Tirabassi is a writer for Bleacher Nation. You can follow him on Twitter @Mario_Tirabassi.

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