NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks were off on Sunday but I wanted to bring something up early this week before they get back on the ice for practices. I’ve had a few folks in the comments here on the site and on social asking about the defensive pairs thus far in camp. The Blackhawks’ “teams” for the scrimmages have been made up of three forward lines and five defensemen. So there has been a lot of rotating on the blue line. And that makes it somewhat tricky to say “this guy is skating with this guy” like we have done with forwards because the veteran defensemen are spread out. For example: Alex Vlasic and Seth Jones aren’t on the same “team” and I think most of us expect them to be back together when the regular season begins.
With that in mind, I expect to see some more game prep early this week with the Blackhawks hosting the Red Wings for their first preseason exhibition on Wednesday night. That will give us a much better idea of who’s skating where and how guys look with a regular partner for 14-20 minutes.
- Fun note: Jeremy Roenick will speak with the media this afternoon here in Chicago and donate something to the Hockey Hall of Fame before he is inducted on Nov. 11. I remember when JR arrived in Chicago and blew the roof off the old barn. And it was a thrill to have him provide the foreword to my first book about the Blackhawks. I’m glad he’s finally going into the Hall.
- Now let’s get Steve Larmer in!
- It’s Monday, Sept. 23. The Blackhawks have preseason games on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th and there still has not been an announcement regarding if/how/where we can watch the games. This is a double-struggle because a) they’re both road games, and b) the Blackhawks plan to play young players who are battling for roster spots. It would be great if we could see the performances so the over-reactions could be qualified.
- I will also note that, for those of us who are Xfinity customers patiently biting off what’s left our nails waiting for a deal to be announced, the first regular season game that would air on Chicago Sports Network isn’t until Oct. 11 (the opener is on ESPN). Would it be ideal if everyone could see the final three preseason games? Absolutely. But the two sides have time before games that matter are missed by the majority of the local audience.
- Scott Powers wrote his observations after three days of camp for this morning and he asked a question I’ve been wondering for a few days: is there a spot for Andreas Athanasiou on this team? Everyone is pointing to Ryan Donato skating on a “fifth” line with Joey Anderson and Landon Slaggert like those three guys are on the outside of the roster, and plenty of us have made the point that Lukas Reichel should probably be in a top-six role (if he earns one). But the Blackhawks have AA, one of the fastest skaters in the league, centering a line with Craig Smith and Pat Maroon. That feels awkward. And it hasn’t looked like a strong fit early in camp. I expect the coaches to mix up the lines this week and we’ll see if AA gets a different look, but so far I really don’t know what to make of his spot on this roster.
- Maybe he fits better on a line… in Columbus?
- Ben Pope wrote about the things Connor Bedard worked on this summer to get better.
- Yeah, this is going to be weird for a while. Steve Stamkos scored a goal against the Panthers last night. Wearing the mustard and white of the Nashville Predators.
- Macklin Celebrini got on the board in his preseason debut. A reminder: the good folks who made the NHL schedule for this season put Celebrini on the visitor’s bench for the Blackhawks’ home opener this season (Oct. 17).
- Man….
- Finally, apologies to our football fans in town getting used to watching a team with an exciting No. 1 pick struggle offensively, but… yeah. Seen it before. Been there, done that.
