Welcome to the September edition of Blackhawks Bytes, a series featuring quotes and comments from players, coaches, management, journalists and fans alike concerning everything Chicago Blackhawks. The purpose of this ongoing column is to capture a slice of the existing outlook, attitudes and culture surrounding the team. Please join me as we have some fun with the everyday, albeit fascinating aspect of human nature; the power of words.
Related – Blackhawks Bytes: Foligno, Donato, Raddysh & McGillis
Our favorite season is just around the corner! Hockey players are coming out of the woodwork, back to their respective team cities from their lake houses and vacation spots. This is the perfect time to catch plenty of quips and quotes as everyone prepares for the 2023-24 campaign. Below we’ll discuss some fan opinions, as well as examine how defenseman Seth Jones is getting ready for the season. Plus we’ll hear from, and about, our favorite new Blackhawk Connor Bedard.
Fan Quotes on Davidson & Murphy
I really should quote the fans more often, and The Athletics’ recent fan survey gave me the perfect opportunity. Beat writers Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus posed a plethora of questions to Blackhawks fans, including their thoughts on management, coaching, the rebuilding timeline, season expectations and more.
A few thoughts really stood out to me, the first being a fan comment on general manager Kyle Davidson and his aggressive approach to the rebuild.
After the last few years of the Bowman era felt like riding on a rudderless ship slowly filling with water, Kyle Davidson, with Danny Wirtz’s blessing, is starting to see his vision come to fruition. Davidson understood the situation and let the ship fall to the bottom of Lake Michigan. He understood that only a new ship would let the organization finally set sail. There are still some rough waters to navigate, but the light in the distance is visible.
(from ‘Blackhawks 2023-24 fan survey results: Optimism reigns with Connor Bedard on the way’, The AthleticCHI – 8/28/23)
First off, I just love the metaphor of a ship on Lake Michigan. It certainly pounds the point home. Davidson had to make some very controversial decisions, including trading away players such as Brandon Hagel, Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach. He also determined not to re-sign Blackhawks’ legends Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
These were very unpopular and difficult decisions at the time. But according to the survey, Davidson has 79.8% of the fans’ support with the highest ratings of 4 and 5.
Related – Blackhawks Need to Move On From Tank Narrative
Another comment that caught my eye was about the unfortunate situation defenseman Connor Murphy was put in surrounding Pride Night in late March. At the last minute, the organization decided the players would NOT be wearing special warmup jerseys, citing their Russian-born players might be at risk. The only problem with this line of thought was that other teams with Russian players did wear Pride warmup jerseys, with no repercussions.
The Blackhawks’ ham-fisted handling of the Pride jerseys was a low point in a mostly miserable season. Making poor Connor Murphy — who had vocally supported wearing the jerseys and insisted the team would wear them in light of controversies elsewhere — defend the decision was cringe-inducing.
It’s true, Murphy never should have been put in that position. Someone higher up in the organization should’ve held a press conference and handled the fallout that came from that decision.
In my opinion, Murphy is the ultimate team player both on and off the ice. In this situation, he was taken advantage of.
Jones Embraces Challenge of Rebuild
Murphy sports the alternate captain jersey for a reason, as discussed above. But his fellow blueliner Seth Jones also wears the “A”, and has been in the discussion to replace Jonathon Toews as the next captain of the Blackhawks. Jones didn’t know he was in for a rebuild when he first signed his mega eight-year, $76 million contract with the Blackhawks in July 2021. But now he’s saying and doing all the right things to embrace this new challenge.
In an exclusive interview with Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Jones discussed many things. We’ll start with his decision to move to a 90-flex stick, instead of the 100-flex he’s used most of his career. This is in line with trying to add more offense to his game.
You get that whip and pop off your stick when you’re taking a snap shot [with a more flexible stick]. It just comes off a little bit quicker, and with a little less energy that you have to use.
There really aren’t big bombs from the point anymore. We use one-timers on the power play and that’s really it. You may get one or two one-timers a game. The main focus should really be five-on-five and trying to make the most out of your shots on 95% of your shifts.
Besides a stick change, Jones also discussed a change in his offensive approach, which we should all be looking for as the season unfolds.
Depending how far away that guy is when I’m at the blue line, maybe I can make more plays out of that [position] — instead of just shooting it — by being a little more patient. [I’m] just trying a couple moves. It’s hard to simulate in practice, but once you get that thought process down, it helps a lot.
Finally, Jones weighed in on the organization’s decision to move on from his younger brother, Caleb Jones, who signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2023-24 season.
I’m not sure what [the Hurricanes are] going to do — they have a lot of ‘D’ signed at the moment – but [Caleb has] a real chance at playoff hockey, which is something everyone wants. Me and him had some good chemistry last year, and Chicago just wanted to go a different way and play some of the young defensemen that we have.
They DID have some good chemistry! But I believe the Blackhawks actually did right by Caleb. He had certainly fallen down in the depth chart with all the new defensive prospects knocking at the door. They felt Caleb would have a better chance to succeed elsewhere. In the meantime, Seth is optimistic about the other prospects.
Our ‘D’ core is very young, but there’s a lot of potential there. Not just [Alex] Vlasic but [Isaak] Phillips and [Wyatt] Kaiser and some other guys. It’s going to be a very bright future for the Hawks. And hopefully it doesn’t take too long — I’m getting old.
“I’m getting old”, says Jones! Well, at 28, he doesn’t seem all that old. But this will be his 11th season in the league. Let’s hope the Blackhawks can find some success before it’s too late for Jones.
Bedard Impressed at an Early Age
Connor Bedard has been on everyone’s radar since word got out that he would likely be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. But people who have worked closely with him knew he was special at a very early age.
Vancouver-based skills coach Jon Calvano has worked with Bedard since he was 5 years old, and cited how impressed he was with Bedard’s focus both on and off the ice. When Bedard was just 10 years old, Calvano thought nothing of inviting Bedard to the skate with some of the NHL players he was working with, such as Mathew Barzal, Brendan Gallagher, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Morgan Reilly.
Turns out Calvano was right in his intuition. He stated,
He just jumped into the drills. There was no oddness of anybody, it was just, ‘Okay, I’m a hockey player, and I’m out here and I’m going to jump in and I’m going to make a pass to Ryan.’ And I just sat back and realized, ‘That’s pretty odd for a 10-year-old not to be phased by an NHL player.’
Calvano also spoke about a bit of an outside of the box drill where Bedard actually impressed the NHL players.
We were doing some obstacles and different training with slipping pucks through apparatuses. A lot of the pro guys are stuck in their way as far as how they’re going to train and what their abilities are and what they like and don’t like, and I was trying to open their mind up and explain to the guys that this is what we’re going to do and they all looked at me like I had three heads on.
And I was like, ‘Connor, come here.’ And Connor, a little kid, skated to the front of the line, ‘You know this drill, you know this circuit, go do it.’ And he did it, and all the guys were looking at him like, ‘How old is this kid?’ They kind of saw that no fear or the big stage even at 10 or being on the ice with NHL guys didn’t phase him.
That really is some impressive stuff that Bedard isn’t phased by older and more experienced players than him; even those potentially better than him. Which leads me to my next segment.
Bedard & McDavid at BioSteel Camp
Fast forward to the present day, where an 18-year-old Bedard is participating in his second Biosteel Camp. This is an offseason camp hosted annually by Biosteel, offering intense pre-season training for some of the best NHL players. This year that included one of the best current hockey players in the world, Connor McDavid. When asked about McDavid and whether he could live up to that kind of production himself, Bedard somehow managed to highly praise McDavid while also leaving the door wide open for himself.
Obviously (his stats are on) a different level. You never want to say, ‘Oh, I can’t do this.’ I don’t think that mindset is that great. But I’m not him. I’m my own person and my own player. He’s the pinnacle right now. You’re like, ‘This guy is the best…and how can I get closer to him?’ That’s such a great thing in sport: you’re always competing against guys. For me to get to spend some time with him and be on the ice with him and try to compete with him, he’s obviously unbelievable and you can barely talk about his stats because they’re so ridiculous, but I’m trying to be my own player and be the best I can be.
“But I’m not him. I’m my own person and my own player.” Bedard doesn’t appear to be comparing himself to anyone. Which is such a great mindset. He wants to be the best that he can be, while also holding himself to a very high standard. I think Blackhawk’s fans are going to be in for quite a treat with this young man. The future looks bright in Chicago!
Foligno Showing Leadership Early
But it takes more than just one highly talented player to make a successful team. Every player has a role and must work together towards a common goal. That’s where veterans like Nick Foligno come in. Bedard indicated Foligno was already reaching out to him on a regular basis.
Connor Bedard, speaking from the BioSteel NHL Camp, says Nick Foligno texts or calls him every few weeks to see how he's doing.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) August 29, 2023
"I've heard from every single person that has mentioned him, that he's one of the best people you'll ever meet."
It looks like Bedard, and the rest of the young players on the Blackhawk’s roster, are in good hands. Foligno is part of a veteran group that includes Taylor Hall, Corey Perry and Tyler Johnson, as well as Jones and Murphy and even Jarred Tinordi.
Many are expecting Hall to have the biggest impact of this group, considering he will likely play on the same line as Bedard. The two have a similar skill set and are both first overall draft picks. But I see Foligno as a dark horse to have the biggest impact, both on and off the ice, kind of like Max Domi did last season.
At 35 years old, Foligno is the oldest member of the team besides 38-year-old Corey Perry. Foligno also boasts 16 years in the league, not to mention 11 playoff berths. He was also a previous captain for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Plus he’s already doing all the right things off the ice by reaching out regularly to the youngest potential star on the Blackhawks.
We shall see what kind of effect he’ll have in the lineup, depending on how head coach Luke Richardson decides to deploy him. But I believe his influence in the locker room will be invaluable.
Related – Meet the New Blackhawks: Nick Foligno
The season can’t get here fast enough so we can see how this will all play out. Keep it here with The Hockey Writers; we’re extremely excited to offer you news and analysis as training camp and preseason games get underway. We just have a few short weeks to wait!
