NEWSLETTER
Has it been perfect? No. But the start to the Derek King era of Blackhawks hockey has no blemishes on the record so far. After topping the Predators in overtime on Sunday, the Blackhawks made it two wins in-a-row, better known as a winning streak, after getting past the Penguins in the shootout last night. Maybe all the Blackhawks needed to do to get out of their 1-9-2 hole to begin the season was to stop thinking so much, and just play the game as they know it. King’s message has been to loosen up and play relaxed, it has translated to five good periods of hockey out of six and two wins. It’s progress.
• Not to mention, Pat Foley has been back on the call for both of these past two wins for the Blackhawks. Always great to hear a good “Hawks Win!” from Foley.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1458289926747959296?s=20
• Death. Taxes. Jonathan Toews backhand five-hole in the shootout.
Pretty sweet five-hole from Toews here, too 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9li72JMHO7
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 10, 2021
• Toews has taken the tenth-most shootout attempts in NHL history (102) and has converted 51 times, the most shootout goals scored in NHL history.
• While Toews has not been able to get his first goal of the season yet, the longest drought of his career to begin a season, he ranks fourth on the team in points with eight assists, tied for second on the team in that category as well. He also ranks second in the NHL in faceoffs taken (281) and third in the NHL in win percentage (60.5%) among players to take at least 175 draws this season.
Eyes in the back of his head! Whata feed from Toews to Khaira for the 1-0 goal!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/7eSbxBpkM0
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 10, 2021
• It was a night of firsts for the Blackhawks with the game’s opening goal coming from Jujhar Khaira, his first as a member of the Blackhawks. Khaira found himself in the place of Brandon Hagel, playing with Toews and Dominik Kubalík last night. While he’s not the same kind of play Hagel is, Khaira played his role well in last night’s contest and was rewarded with this sweet pass from Toews.
• Continuing the night of firsts, Seth Jones tallied his first goal as a member of the Blackhawks as well, making it a 2-0 game in the second period.
Dach with the screen, Jones with the snipe!#Blackhawks lead 2-0 pic.twitter.com/wGCsbVauDo
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 10, 2021
• After a start to the season that caused concern for what the future trajectory of Jones might be, and how his contract extension (which begins next season) may actually be Stan Bowman’s final dagger to the Blackhawks organization, Jones has turned a corner. He leads the Blackhawks in minutes per game this season and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 26:13 minutes per night.
Seth Jones played 31:24 TOI tonight and scored his first goal of the season. He has 12 points in 14 games. He started the season poorly, but has rebounded and is one of the better players on the #Blackhawks now. The more of that, the better.
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) November 10, 2021
• He’s looking and playing more like the true No. 1 defenseman that the Blackhawks have missed since the decline of Duncan Keith over the past few seasons.
Seth Jones after logging 31:24 of ice time tonight: “I feel fine.”
Just another day at the office. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/ZO2a3JKAyw
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 10, 2021
• The defensive scheme of the Blackhawks under Jeremy Colliton was heavily scrutinized. His hybrid man-to-man system was more unconventional in the NHL and the roster rarely had the right players to play that style effectively. While Derek King is not coming in and dismantling the whole scheme Colliton ran, it appears things are flowing a bit better defensively for Chicago and making things easier, simpler for the team to play effectively.
Seth Jones doesn't have an explanation for why it took so long for the team defense to settle in, but, "I don't think it's too late."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 10, 2021
• Last night’s win was the second of Marc-André Fleury’s Blackhawks career. He took it on the chin in the first meeting between the Blackhawks and the Penguins back on October 16, allowing four goals in 11:25 minutes of action. In his second chance at revenge against the team that took him first-overall in the 2003 NHL Draft, Fleury played like the reigning Vezina Trophy winner the Blackhawks thought they were getting this season.
hang it in the Louvre 🖼 pic.twitter.com/JTb8gnRtjp
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 10, 2021
• He also mixed it up a bit in the crease with Jeff Carter. But you can’t blame him since Carter was the reason Fleury didn’t end up with an incredible shutout performance last night. He did what he could though, stopping 42 of 44 shots faced and both shootout attempts against him.
Marc-Andre Fleury on beating Penguins: “I was happy to get the nod and get a crack at the them again. It was embarrassing for me last time.” #Blackhawks https://t.co/856Rr7GtOL
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 10, 2021
• Fleury’s performance was able to be enjoyed by one of the more full crowds that the Blackhawks have played in front of at home since the record sellout-streak at the United Center ended. With the team making changes in the front office and coaching staff, as well as getting two wins at home now under their belt, maybe the fans will begin to trickle back into the building as the new regime in Chicago starts to turn the page from the Bowman/Colliton era.
Blackhawks crowd report: Not completely full, but the best crowd since the sellout streak ended pic.twitter.com/XEhufajbUc
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 10, 2021
• Even with the Penguins storming back in the third period last night, it wasn’t enough for them to overcome the Blackhawks on the road. The Penguins are 0-5-3 in their last eight trips to the United Center and have not held a lead in Chicago over the Blackhawks since the 2008-09 season!
Mind-boggling stat: Penguins haven't held a lead in Chicago since Feb. 27, 2009. That's 495 minutes and counting. #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 10, 2021
• That is insane. Imagine if the Blackhawks and Penguins had met in the Stanley Cup Final one of the years in which the two teams dominated through the late-2000’s and 2010’s.
• In roster news, Wyatt Kalynuk was activated off of LTIR yesterday and today was sent to the Rockford IceHogs. He’ll likely get a number of games in the AHL to get up to game speed before making his way back to the Blackhawks.
Blackhawks send Wyatt Kalynuk to Rockford, likely to ramp him up before he rejoins the team.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 10, 2021
• Under Derek King last season in Rockford, Kalynuk played in eight games and tallied two goals and ten points. He played significant minutes with the IceHogs before making his way to the NHL and staying with the Blackhawks. While under Derek King in Chicago, Erik Gustafsson has played a total of 14:27 minutes over six periods of hockey and two overtimes. Last night, he had two shifts in the third period and sat the entire five-minute extra frame. If you think Kalynuk isn’t going to take his place in the lineup, you’re wrong.
Erik Gustafsson played 8:06 TOI tonight. Riley Stillman was the next lowest defenseman with 15:47 TOI.
Gustafsson played 6:21 TOI on Sunday night.
I wonder who is coming out of the lineup now that Kalynuk is healthy again. #Blackhawks— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) November 10, 2021
• An awesome moment last night for the Olczyk family as Eddie was on the TV broadcast and his son Nick, a broadcaster with the Indy Fuel in the ECHL, was given an opportunity to do the WGN Radio broadcast last night.
https://twitter.com/NOlczyk16/status/1458223686952042500?s=20
• Who’s cutting onions in here?
• In league news yesterday, the Anaheim Ducks announced that General Manager Bob Murray (who played 1,008 games with the Blackhawks in his NHL playing career and served in the front office during the 1990’s) was placed on administrative leave while under investigation for creating a toxic work environment.
Daily Faceoff’s @frank_seravalli reports that Ducks GM Bob Murray is under investigation for allegations of creating a toxic workplace environment by way of his repeated verbal abuse and harassment of Ducks players, coaches and personnel. https://t.co/uIQMI0GOYW
— DailyFaceoff.com Hockey (@DFOHockey) November 10, 2021
• The Ducks, unlike the Blackhawks, are making the right decision to take Murray out of his active role while the investigation into his conduct continues and intensifies.
Key part of #NHLDucks statement on GM Bob Murray placed on administrative leave:
This investigation has been underway and this move to separate Murray from the team now is based on "recommendation from their initial findings."
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) November 9, 2021
• From what is being reported around the league, the environment that Murray has created in Anaheim is far from “news.” He has served as the General Manager in Anaheim since the 2008-09 season. It was in that 2009 postseason that Murray was involved in an assault investigation after throwing a chair following the Ducks’ loss in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals and inadvertently hit a woman with it.
The lack of surprise from sources about Bob Murray being placed on leave and being investigated is … jarring. @AnaheimDucks
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) November 9, 2021
• Big yikes all around.
• In better news, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is returning to the club after missing the beginning of the season. He entered the NHLPA substance abuse program prior to the start of the season and has been away from the club since. Yesterday, he posted a message on his Instagram account, giving some details into his absence.
News from #Habs goaltender Carey Price, who shares on his Instagram account that he sought residential treatment for substance abuse.
"I am working through years of neglecting my own mental health, which will take some time to repair." pic.twitter.com/oM3OUA4HQ2
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) November 9, 2021
• Price has been the face of the Montreal Canadiens franchise and the top goaltender in Canadian hockey for the better part of a decade. As The Athletic’s Apron Basu writes, it’s finally time that Price has room to breathe in his career as Montreal’s “golden boy.”
The weight of what Carey Price has experienced as the starting goalie for the Canadiens is starting to come to light.@ArponBasu on how Price became a victim of his own reputation in the "pressure cooker" of Montreal ⤵️https://t.co/1GJFcMhsFp
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) November 10, 2021
• From one positive note to another to close today, Jake DeBrusk got the better of this exchange with a Bruins fan last night, earning himself some pregame Oreos in the process.
This is very wholesome and adorable pic.twitter.com/eutuW0P4QM
— JEFF (@jeffisrael25) November 10, 2021
• Can’t think of a better pregame meal.
• That will do it for today. Hope you all enjoy your Wednesday!
