NEWSLETTER
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…
Blackhawks change head coach from
Jeremy Colliton
Born 1-13-1985, drafted by IslandersTo
Derek King
1st rd, 13th overall pick in 1985 draft, by Islanders#Numbers— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) November 7, 2021
• 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.
Blackhawks allowed the Predators only 21 shots on goal tonight.
That's tied for the fewest SOG they've conceded since Feb. 12, 2020, at Vancouver.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Patrick Kane became the 64th NHL player to reach 1,100 points with an assist on the OT winner last night.
He needed just 85 games to get from 1,000 to 1,100, four off the shortest span between 100-point markers in his career (81 from both 500-600 & 900-1,000). #Blackhawks
— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) November 8, 2021
• 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.
First win under his ~belt~ pic.twitter.com/D7ODbW0hpS
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 8, 2021
• Glad to see King enjoy his first experience in the NHL so much.
"I'm not gonna take my mask off because I'm smiling too much underneath"
– Derek King 😄 pic.twitter.com/361xLm26qA
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 8, 2021
• 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?
Derek King definitely keeps it fun. A collection of his jokes and lighthearted moments from the Blackhawks' postgame presser: pic.twitter.com/f2sfh2hq94
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Derek King: "I made it clear this wasn't about me. It's your first game and you get a win, obviously you're pumped about it, but…this is about those guys.
I told them, 'You guys should be proud of each other, because you stuck together and you fought through it.'"
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Blackhawks Search For Permanent Coach Won’t Happen Until After This Season https://t.co/W6lPrdTXAf
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 7, 2021
• 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.
Jeremy Colliton was put in a no-win situation when he took over as head coach of the Blackhawks. Three years later, he and the club expectedly did not win. https://t.co/RnaittgV5J
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Kane on Colliton’s firing: “It’s always tough to hear as players. You always feel like you could’ve done more to make that situation not happen.”
Said King and Crawford told them to play “free”, use their instincts.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Jonathan Toews: "A lot of little things were going wrong. … Let's face it there's been a lot going on this year. It's been hard on the players … back to training camp you've got a lot of new players coming in and we're starting over again. … wasn't for lack of effort."
— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) November 8, 2021
• More from Alex DeBrincat, laying some of the blame on the players. Which is fair to an extent.
Alex DeBrincat on Jeremy Colliton firing: “I was a little bit surprised. It’s tough, we didn’t really do him any favors.” #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/kv7cWpgxmp
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 8, 2021
• 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.
If you watched the #Blackhawks effort tonight… and you watched them play on Friday night… there is absolutely no question they quit on Colliton. He lost the room (if he ever had it in the first place). It's a damn shame they didn't make the move sooner
— Tab Bamford (@The1Tab) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Blackhawks recall Reese Johnson from Rockford again.
I don’t understand why they’re so high on him.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 8, 2021
• 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!
Lukas Reichel gets a hat trick and @goicehogs have their first home victory 🎩🎩🎩#MBvsRFD pic.twitter.com/U8fnnxGq5C
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Lukas Reichel getting hat tricky in Rockford tonight and earns the Sock Monkey MVP cap! 🎩 🎩 🎩 pic.twitter.com/2k244JpANx
— x – Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Brandon Saad gets it going early with a goal just 13 seconds in! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fx34T3CtJI
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 8, 2021
• Quickest draw in the West (this season)!
Brandon Saad of the @StLouisBlues opened the scoring at 0:13 of the first period, which marks the fastest goal from the start of a game this season.#NHLStats: https://t.co/kl8moO7M73 pic.twitter.com/ArMYC5NJEz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Zach Parise video tribute. Was a great dude to cover and one heckuva gamer pic.twitter.com/6MBXHS0QZm
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 8, 2021
• 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.
Students from a Pennsylvania high school have been banned from hockey matches after chanting vulgarities at a female goalie for an opposing team. The chants from among a group of 50 to 60 students were captured on video posted to social media. https://t.co/9sc1Z8qugQ
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 7, 2021
• Good.
• That will do it for today. I’ll leave the Blackhawks to give you the well wishes for this Monday!
Have a great Monday 🙂 pic.twitter.com/5TB5nBNcJd
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 8, 2021
