Today’s News Clips Oct. 26, 2018

ChicagoBlackhawks.com

RECAP: Blackhawks 4, Rangers 1

By Chris Wescott October 25, 2018

RAPID REACTION: The Blackhawks have secured six out of a possible eight points in their last four games, and closed out their three-game homestand with two victories. This win came in the form of a 4-1 decision against the New York Rangers at the United Center.

Jonathan Toews opened the scoring with a nice breakaway goal. Duncan Keith passed it to the captain and two Rangers players collided, allowing Toews to slip in alone. He beat Henrik Lundqvist to make it 1-0 at 2:55.

Pavel Buchnevich tied the game for the Rangers a few moments later.

In the second, Alexandre Fortin gave Chicago back the lead, finishing a Nick Schmaltz feed on the doorstep at 10:33.

The Blackhawks increased their lead to 3-1 with 4:21 left on the clock, as Patrick Kane hacked in his team-high ninth of the season. The goal was challenged for goaltender interference by New York, but was upheld.

Alex DeBrincat fired in the empty-netter with 1:09 left to finish it off, recording his eighth of the season.

A GOALIE POINT: Corey Crawford registered his first point of the season on Toews' opening tally. The netminder previously had five points in his career, recording one assist in 2010-11, and one each season between 2013-14 and 2016-17. He is now tied for 21st in the NHL among active goaltenders. His opponent tonight, Lundqvist, is at the top of that list with 23. Crawford finished the game with 18 saves on 19 shots.

FORTIN CONTRIBUTING: It wasn't long ago that Fortin was just a 21-year-old forward making his NHL debut. After getting his feet underneath him, Fortin has begun to show up on the stat sheet. He has two goals and an assist in his last four games.

TALKING POINTS:

"Didn't really give up too many chances or too much defensively. We played pretty rock solid. Two games in a row where we kind of stayed patient. 1-1 last game we got a goal to make it 2-1. This game we were up 2-1 and still playing patient. We had control of the play most of the time and it was nice to finish it off with a couple insurance goals." - Patrick Kane on the win over New York

"I think check pressure and swarming them right away when they get in the offensive zone. Not giving them any zone time and then on offense I think we're doing a good job spending time with the puck and making them play in their own end." - Nick Schmaltz on controlling the play

WHAT'S NEXT: The Blackhawks head to St. Louis on Saturday to face the Blues for the third time this month. The game will be played at 7 p.m. CT and can be seen on WGN and heard on WGN 720.

ChicagoBlackhawks.com

BLOG: Foster helps out as third goalie on Thursday

By Chris Wescott October 25, 2018

Back on March 29, Scott Foster made headlines around the hockey world when he was forced into action against the Winnipeg Jets. The accountant by day stepped into the spotlight as the emergency goaltender and made seven saves on seven shots.

On Thursday, Foster was back at the United Center and joined the team for an optional morning skate. You may see Foster around at a few more the rest of this season.

"He'll be out there at these optional skates as we go along here," said Head Coach Joel Quenneville.

"With the starter, whether he's going to go out there or not, we've got two goalies all the time."

Having a third goaltender gives players, who want to get extra work in, a goalie to shoot on once the starter leaves the ice, or if the starter takes the option altogether.

When the Blackhawks approached Foster with the opportunity, Quenneville says he liked the idea and joked, "it beats the beer league."

ChicagoBlackhawks.com

THREE STARS: Boqvist racking up assists in OHL

By Austin Siegel October 25, 2018

Every Thursday throughout the 2018-19 season, chicagoblackhawks.com will highlight prospects who have stood out for their junior, college or professional team in the previous week's action.

Here are this week's Three Stars.

FIRST STAR:

D Adam Boqvist, London (OHL)

THE NUMBERS: 10 GP, 0 G, 10 A

Adam Boqvist wasn't expected to factor at all into the Blackhawks plans this season, but an impressive training camp performance delayed his assignment to the OHL. Since joining the London Knights, it's been more of the same for the 8th pick the 2018 NHL Draft. Boqvist is tied for second in assists among OHL defensemen through ten games with the Knights. He dished out two assists in London's 4-2 win over the Sarnia Sting on Sunday and took home third star of the game honors.

SECOND STAR:

LW Fredrik Olofsson, Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA)

THE NUMBERS: 4 GP, 1 G, 5 A

The second Swede in this week's prospect roundup, Freddy Olofsson isn't as much of a known commodity as Boqvist. The Blackhawks fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Olofsson is still just 22-years-old and lighting up the NCAA with the Omaha Mavericks. Olofsson struck on the power play in a 4-1 loss to Notre Dame over the weekend and dropped two assists against Union College earlier this month. The Blackhawks hold his draft rights for another year, and an impressive senior season could keep Olofsson firmly on the team's radar.

THIRD STAR:

G Alexis Gravel, Halifax (QMJHL)

THE NUMBERS: 11 GP, 8-3-0, 0.917 Pct

The Blackhawks snagged Gravel in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, adding to the organization's impressive depth at goalie. A German-born Canadian, Gravel has improved on the numbers that enticed the Blackhawks on draft day with a .917 save percentage through 11 starts in Halifax this season. In a 4-3 overtime win over Drummondville, the 18-year- old Gravel stopped 47 shots and took home first star of the game honors.

Rockford Report:

The IceHogs just keep rolling as Rockford's point streak reached five games with a 5-2 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night. Victor Ejdsell scored twice for the IceHogs and Collin Delia made 29 saves in the win. Delia is 13-2-2 in his last 17 games regular season games with Rockford and hasn't lost back-to-back games in his last 27 appearances. Dylan Sikura leads all Rockford skaters with 7 points, just one point ahead of older brother Tyler Sikura. Through seven games in 2018, the Sikura brothers have accounted for 25% of all Rockford points.

ChicagoBlackhawks.com

THREE STARS: Boqvist racking up assists in OHL

By Chicago Blackhawks Media Relations October 25, 2018

The Chicago Park District and the Chicago Blackhawks today celebrated the official opening of the new Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Rink at Norwood Park in Chicago's 41st Ward. The new 75' x 160' rink features a SportCourt surface for both street and roller hockey use, creating accessibility across multiple seasons.

"As Illinois' National Hockey League entity, the Blackhawks organization is dedicated to growing the game across the city by investing in our community," said Blackhawks President & CEO John McDonough. "This rink at Norwood Park will help us continue to expose children to hockey by bringing greater access to the game to families in the surrounding area."

The rink, located at 5801 N. Natoma Avenue, will serve as a public park amenity and will be programmed by the Chicago Park District. While the Chicago Blackhawks may hold occasional clinics and camps at the rink, its primary purpose is for residents to use at their own discretion.

"We appreciate the Chicago Blackhawks' support of our parks and we're excited to open this incredible new amenity at Norwood Park," said Chicago Park District Chief Operating Officer Pat Levar. "This rink will open endless possibilities for youth to learn to play hockey, hone their skills and excel in the sport."

"For years residents on the northwest side of Chicago have dreamed of having a hockey rink to call their own," said Alderman Anthony Napolitano, 41ST Ward. "It is so exciting to see this project come to fruition. It was a pleasure working with the Chicago Park District, Mayor Emanuel and my favorite sports organization the Chicago Blackhawks. The 41st ward will be forever grateful for this generous gift."

This is the second rink funded by the Blackhawks through the National Hockey League/National Hockey League Players' Association's Industry Growth Fund (IGF) as part of an initiative to further develop youth hockey. The Blackhawks opened the first street hockey rink last year at Kennedy Park in Chicago's Morgan Park neighborhood.

Also last year, the Chicago Blackhawks opened the new MB Ice Arena - Chicago Blackhawks Community Rink, a state-of- the-art 125,000 square-foot community rink located two blocks south of the United Center. In addition to serving as the practice home for the Blackhawks, the facility is a critical community space where the Blackhawks can bring the skills and values of hockey to kids at the grassroots level. For example, more than 6,000 Chicago Public School students visited MB Ice Arena last semester for the First Stride program, a free field trip that is also partially supported by the IGF. First Stride includes an on-ice learn-to-skate portion and an education session using hockey terminology to master foundational math and science concepts.

NBCSportsChicago.com

Four takeaways: Blackhawks top guys lead the charge again

By Charlie Roumeliotis October 25, 2018

Here are four takeaways from the Blackhawks' 4-1 win over the New York Rangers at the United Center on Thursday night:

1. The hottest start of Patrick Kane's career

With the Blackhawks leading 2-1 late in the third period, Kane scored to extend the lead to two goals and it essentially sealed the deal. It was his ninth goal of the season, becoming the first Blackhawks player to score nine goals in the first 10 games of the season since Jeremy Roenick in 1993-94.

"In some ways, yeah," Kane said on whether this is the best start of his career. "It'd be nice to have a little bit more production on the power play and still control the puck a little bit more, things like that. It's always a work in progress, but nice to be producing and hopefully just keep getting better as the season goes on here."

Seven of Kane's goals have come in the third period or overtime, showing just how important they are coming too.

2. Jonathan Toews climbing up franchise record books

After going pointless in his past three games and goalless in his previous six, The Captain got back on the scoresheet by scoring the Blackhawks' first goal of the game. Toews received a pass from Duncan Keith in the neutral zone, sliced through two Rangers defensemen, both of whom tripped and fell down, and beat Henrik Lundqvist short side for his sixth of the season.

With the goal, Toews tied Dennis Hull for sixth on the Blackhawks' all-time list with 298.

3. Depth scoring

The Blackhawks haven't gotten much offense from their bottom-six this season, with their top guys carrying the load through nine games. But with Nick Schmaltz getting moved to the third line, part of the payoff is the balance it creates.

And they got some much-needed depth scoring on Thursday. With game tied 1-1 in the second period, Schmaltz fed a terrific pass through the slot and found Alexandre Fortin, who tapped it in from the doorstep for his second goal in three games.

"I had a step on that guy," Schmaltz said. "That's kind of a tough shot when you're coming like that at such a tight angle. The goalie is right against the post so you don't really have much room to find a spot. So once I saw his stick there all alone it was kind of an easy no-brainer pass there."

4. Corey Crawford chips in at both ends

Speaking of depth scoring, the Blackhawks not only got contributions on offense from their bottom-six but also their starting goaltender. Crawford registered a secondary assist on Toews' goal in the first period, and is now tied for 21st among active NHL goalies with six points.

"I got lucky on that one," Crawford joked. "I don’t even remember what the play was. It’s always nice to steal that from one of our guys, though." Crawford finished with 18 saves for his third straight win, and has allowed only one goal in each of them. Crawford's goals against average improved to 1.52 and has the third-best save percentage (.946) among goaltenders who have started at least four games.

NBCSportsChicago.com

Emergency goalie Scott Foster practices with Blackhawks

By Michael Allardyce October 25, 2018

SCOTT FOSTER IS BACK!

Well, we don't know exactly what's going on but Foster was in full gear and practiced with the Blackhawks on Thursday morning ahead of their game against the New York Rangers.

Foster was not made available to the media afterwards, but coach Joel Quenneville said this won't be the last time you see him out there as Foster is expected to practice with the team for some optional skates going forward. Both Corey Crawford and Cam Ward were at practice as well.

"It's pretty cool to see him go through what he did last year and the story that he was," Jonathan Toews said. "And then obviously you can rely upon him to show up for practice every once in a while. He's good out there. He definitely makes you work on your shot."

Foster famously made an emergency appearance during a game last season and shutout the opposition. This isn't Foster's first reappearance with the team, he attended the Blackhawks convention this past summer and also made an appearance at the NHL Awards.

Chicago Tribune 9 goals in 10 games: Patrick Kane off the best start of his career and best for any Blackhawk since Jeremy Roenick in '93-94

By Jimmy Greenfield October 25, 2018

Fattening up on the worst teams in the NHL is as important to earning a playoff spot as winning on home ice, maybe more so.

Do neither at the same time and you’re just asking for trouble.

Sure, it’s still October but the last-place Rangers aren’t likely to get any better and they’re definitely not coming to the United Center again this season. This was a game the Blackhawks had to have.

The Rangers kept it unnervingly close but Alexandre Fortin scored a go-ahead goal in the second period and Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat had third-period goals as the Hawks skated to a 4-1 victory Thursday night.

Kane’s goal with 4 minutes, 21 seconds left was his ninth of the season in 10 games, the best start of his career and the best for any Hawk since Jeremy Roenick did the same during the 1993-94 season. The play was reviewed twice before it finally was official.

“I guess it just came out so quick and they had to check to see if the net was on its pegs,” Kane said. “Then (check for) goalie interference. It was like three different celebrations there.”

Corey Crawford wasn’t tested much in stopping 18 shots while winning for the third time in four starts. Since allowing three goals to the Coyotes in his first game back from a concussion last season he has allowed one goal in each of his last three games.

The Hawks dominated most of the first period but only had an 11-7 shot advantage and came out of it tied 1-1.

“I thought we had an excellent first period,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “And in the second period we had some stretches there and then in the third the last 10 (minutes) were exactly what we’re looking for.”

Jonathan Toews snapped a six-game goalless streak a little more than three minutes in. He took a feed from Duncan Keith and sliced past a pair of Rangers defensemen, who fell to the ground like a a couple of tin soldiers and still were sprawling as Toews beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

A brilliant effort from Nick Schmaltz put the Hawks back in front midway through the second period. He patiently skated in a semi-circle around the Rangers’ zone then zipped a pass through the crease to a waiting Fortin, who tapped it in for his second goal in three games.

“That’s kind of a tough shot when you’re coming like that at such a tight angle,” Schmaltz said. “The goalie is right against the post so you don’t really have much room to find a spot. Once I saw his stick there all alone it was kind of an easy no-brainer pass.”

Brent Seabrook played in the 1,014th game of his career, breaking a tie with Eric Nesterenko and moving him into sole possession of third place among franchise leaders. He trails only Stan Mikita (1,396) and Bobby Hull (1,036).

It was the second straight triumph for the Hawks, who are 6-2-2 after 10 games, including 3-2-1 at the United Center. They are off to the kind of strong start they deemed necessary after missing the playoffs last season.

“Lot of good hockey players on our team,” Quenneville said. “Proud guys wanting to get back to doing what we want to do and that’s playing in the playoffs. We know how tough the regular season is, so commend the guys on their preparation and having that attitude of being a playoff team.” Chicago Tribune

Corey Crawford is back and the Blackhawks are legit

By Steve Rosenbloom October 26, 2018

If you had any question why the Blackhawks missed the playoffs last season for the first time in 10 years, all you have to do is look at the crease this season.

Corey Crawford, coming back from the concussion symptoms that prevented him from playing after Dec. 23, ranks second in the NHL with a 1.52 goals-against average and .946 save percentage among goalies who’ve played at least 180 minutes.

What’s more, Crawford ranks third with a .917 high-danger save percentage, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, a terrific number when playing behind skaters who’ll strand a netminder in a second.

Yes, it’s early, and yes, we’re dealing with a small sample size, but the numbers nonetheless reflect Crawford’s importance if this team is going to compete for something other than a second straight top-10 draft pick.

Or maybe I should say the numbers underscore his importance as the Hawks bled out last season.

I never expected Crawford to come back like this. In fact, I doubted he would come back at all. But I knew his value, and I knew offseason free-agent signing Cam Ward wasn’t going to deliver anything close, no matter how much GM Stan Bowman hoped and prayed and tap-danced.

It’s an obvious thing, but it’s worth saying: Goalie is like quarterback – a team flies or dies because of that position. Funny then that, around the NHL, Crawford hasn’t drawn the love that you’d think a two-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie should. He was playing behind pretty, shiny things such as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane Duncan Keith. Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Brent Seabrook. NHL observers have only so much love to give, apparently.

But even for those observers, Crawford’s value must be obvious right now.

After the Hawks’ 4-1 win over the Rangers at the United Center on Thursday, Crawford has allowed just one goal in each of his last three games.

What’s more, he has allowed the Hawks to win all three in regulation, a sign of a more complete team and a big difference from Ward’s inability to win games in anything except the gimmick that is overtime.

Most notably, Crawford’s play has made the Hawks a playoff contender. He has made them look legit the way he did last season before going down and taking all hope with him.

The Hawks still have issues, but most importantly right now, the most important position isn’t one of them.

Curtis Joseph, the former goalie that Blackhawks fans might’ve remembered as a Maple Leaf or Blue, told the Athletic what decision he would’ve changed in his career as a player: “I would have followed Scotty Bowman around for a little bit. Let me follow Scotty Bowman around and win some Cups.’’

Glenn Healy, executive director of the NHL Alumni Association, said he’s “all-in” regarding learning whether cannabis can eventually replace opioid-based painkillers “if science proves it first.’’ Hey, while science is at it, can it confirm that cannabis helps Blackhawks fans watch Brandon Manning?

Chicago Tribune Emergency backup goalie Scott Foster returns to the ice for the Blackhawks in a new role

By Jimmy Greenfield October 25, 2018

Scott Foster, who last season became a sensation as an emergency backup goaltender thrust into NHL action, returned to the ice for the Blackhawks on Thursday.

But don’t worry, he wasn’t there because Corey Crawford and Cam Ward are injured.

Foster has been invited by the Hawks to participate in optional game-day skates so at least two goalies will be available at all times.

Last season, Foster famously went from being the league-mandated emergency backup goalie to actually playing for the Hawks when Anton Forsberg got hurt before the March 29 game against the Jets and Collin Delia suffered cramps with 14 minutes to go in the third period.

Called into action, Foster stopped all seven shots he faced in the 6-2 win and became a media sensation.

On Thursday, Foster watched as Crawford and Ward warmed up and took shots from teammates. When Crawford left the ice after about 20-30 minutes, a typical length of time for the starting goaltender, Foster took his spot in net and participated in drills.

“He likes the idea,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It beats the beer league.”

Chicago Tribune Blackhawks Q&A: Should Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane be traded if the Hawks aren't a playoff team?

By Jimmy Greenfield October 25, 2018

This is my first crack at answering reader questions since taking over the Blackhawks beat and I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks for a great batch to answer, and I hope to do this often.

If you aren’t yet part of our Blackhawks Fans group on Facebook, go here and join. I’ll be soliciting questions there and moderating Hawks-related discussions throughout the season.

OK, let’s drop the puck.

If this season goes south and it is clear the Hawks will not make the playoffs, would you put Jonathan Toews and or Patrick Kane on the trade block and look to blow up the team and start a rebuild around DeBrincat? — @RMB31293

Toews and Kane both have full no-movement clauses and it’s hard to imagine either agreeing to leave the Hawks under any circumstance.

Now if you're asking if I would do that, the answer is: yes, I'd put them on the block and find out exactly what I could get for them. If I'm offered a king's ransom for Toews, I'd seriously have to consider taking it. He's off to a great start (less so in the past week), but he's on the wrong side of 30 and had the worst season of his career last year. The Canadiens (Max Pacioretty) and Senators (Erik Karlsson) both traded their captains in the last few months, so the idea of the Hawks trading theirs isn't ludicrous.

Toews is a player any NHL team would love to have centering one of its top two lines, but I don't think he is tradeable because of his salary cap hit. He's just not a $10.5 million player anymore, and with four more years left on his contract after this season it's not going to get better. It may not get worse, but it won't get better.

As for Kane, he's still one of the NHL's most talented players and has been slump-proof over the course of his career. He's signed to the same deal as Toews through the 2022-23 season and should keep producing at high levels, making anybody on his line immediately better in the process. Not exactly sure what a trade for him would look like, but it would have to be full of young NHL-ready players and first-round picks.

Now, if you're asking if the Hawks would do this, I'll shut that down right away. Not a chance that happens. First of all, Alex DeBrincat is a terrific player who the Hawks love, but he's not a franchise-type player to build around.

Second, I don't believe Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz and President John McDonough would allow a full rebuild that involves trading away the two most important players in team history. It's one thing to not make the playoffs with Kane and Toews. It's another thing to not make the playoffs without Kane and Toews.

Finish this sentence. At the end of the season Brandon Saad will be _____. — @nick6hoffman

... 26 years old.

I don't have any predictions for how many points Saad will have this season or what team he'll be on. Suffice it to say if he doesn't have at least 20 goals and 45 points, it will be considered a disappointment. After nine games, he has two goals and two assists, but it's early enough that he can get back on pace with a few more strong games. Consistency is what you want, however, and Saad hasn't shown he can score consistently since coming back to the Hawks last season.

With only two years left on his $6 million contract after this season, he might be a good trade deadline candidate if the Hawks aren't in the playoff picture. Can they win the Stanley Cup? — @ChiTownsports

Yes. Will they? No.

Goalie equipment update? Seems more pucks are going through goalies, and a lot more pain for goalies on shoulder saves, plus more goals. — Bob Z. Facebook

The NHL made goalie pants thinner two seasons ago. This year, the size of chest protectors was reduced. This was all done in the name of more scoring, which it seems to have accomplished. But it's also resulted in goalies getting bruises where they weren't getting any before. Goalies are not happy and I would expect this to be a topic in the offseason, if not before.

Perception from afar is always tricky, especially if we let it lead to shaky assumptions. But Patrick Kane sometimes looks especially frustrated. Is this a fair assessment, and if so, any idea what's driving that? —Chris M.

Kane hasn't seemed frustrated when talking to reporters and recently when asked him about getting new linemates, he said it's something he's dealt with before and he's fine with it. On the other hand, the Hawks just played three poor games in a row and it could be dawning on him that it's going to be a long slog to just barely make the playoffs.

When does Stan Bowman hit the scramble button? —Teddy G. Facebook

The Hawks look like a team that can contend for a playoff spot more than they look like last year's last-place squad, so I don't think he will have to do that. They also don't have a trade chip this year like they did last year when Ryan Hartman returned a first-round pick from the Predators. The Hawks have every intention of re-signing Nick Schmaltz, who is a restricted free agent after the season.

If the Hawks aren't in the playoff picture when the NHL trade deadline arrives on Feb. 25, I suspect Bowman would make some minor deals. But you're not going to get much for unrestricted free agents Jan Rutta, Brandon Davidson or Andreas Martinsen. I can see Marcus Kruger, whose contract expires after the season, being attractive to playoff contenders, but he's not going to bring back more than a fourth-round pick, I’d guess.

What can management/coaches do with our blue line? The players are split between once all-star veterans and rookies? All have skill but none are in their prime. —Abe B., Facebook

You just made the argument for why this is a “tween” year for the Hawks. The young players aren't quite ready and the veterans aren't quite stars. But there have been three developments so far this season that bode well for the near future.

1. Henri Jokiharju is already a top-four defenseman.

2. Erik Gustafsson has had a strong start to the season and looks capable of consistently getting top-four minutes.

3. 18-year-old Adam Boqvist, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 draft, had a great training camp. And while Boqvist probably was never going to make the team, it's not at all unreasonable to hope he'll be ready by next season.

Granted, it's early but if those three players continue to have strong years the defense could be a strength next season instead of a weakness.

Thanks everybody.

Chicago Sun Times

Brent Seabrook finds himself in company with Blackhawks legends

By Madeline Kenney October 25, 2018

When defenseman Brent Seabrook took to the ice on Thursday night against the Rangers, he stepped foot in the company of two Blackhawks legends and made franchise history for the second time this season.

Thursday marked Seabrook’s 1,014th regular-season game. The milestone made him surpass Eric Nesternko (1956-72) for third on the Hawks’ all-time regular-season games played list. Now, he only trails Hall of Famers Bobby Hull and the late Stan Mikita.

Seabrook — who became the franchise leader among defensemen for games played earlier this season — is on track to pass Hull’s record (1,036 games) in December. Meanwhile, he is still more than four-and-a-half seasons behind Mikita — the Hawks’ all-time leader, who played in 1,394 regular-season games.

Seabrook’s career doesn’t have one defining moment. His highlight reel is filled with clutch moments, including two overtime goals — one in an elimination game — in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. And his consistency is what has made him an integral part in the Hawks’ nine consecutive playoff appearances.

“He’s another guy that comes to mind when you think of the consistency,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “You just know what you’re going to get out of him every single night. He prepares the same way, he’s got the same routine, he’s got the same habits. Obviously there’s a reason to why he’s doing all that and he’s made it this far in his career and he’s still playing well.”

Last season, Seabrook had one of his worst performances of his career. But even then, he led the Hawks blue line in goals (7).

Seabrook is off to a strong start this season and through nine games, he leads the team with 22 blocked shots. Seabrook also had six points, the most among the team’s defensemen.

Foster’s Return

Emergency back-up goalie and hero Scott Foster is back with the Hawks — kind of.

After making headlines last season for stopping all seven shots he faced during a Hawks’ win in March, Foster once again joined the team on the ice at the United Center. He participated in several drills at the Hawks’ morning skate, blocking shots from stars like Toews.

“It’s pretty cool to see him go through what he did last year and the story that he was,” Toews said. “And then obviously you can rely upon him to show up for practice every once in a while. He’s good out there. He definitely makes you work on your shot.”

But fans shouldn’t expect to see him starting in net anytime soon.

Coach Joel Quenneville said Foster, a 36-year-old accountant who was honored at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas this summer, will join the Hawks for optional morning skates going forward.

Asked how Foster reacted to the news, Quenneville joked: He likes the idea. It beats the Beer League.”

No line dancing

As the saying goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

While Quenneville is notoriously for shuffling his lines, he decided to keep the same lines he used Tuesday in the Hawks’ 3-1 win against Anaheim. “Every game is kind of different but I still think we’re going to be a better team by playing four lines throughout most parts of the game,” Quenneville said. “And if everybody gets some predictability to the lines, get some consistency where each other are on both ends of the rink it’s going to help our team game and hopefully you get some predictability so you can keep the lines together.”

Chicago Sun Times Blackhawks — 10 games in and rolling — beat Rangers 4-1 for second straight win

By Steve Greenberg October 25, 2018

Corey Crawford had family in town earlier this week. They were on hand Tuesday as the Blackhawks goalie stymied the Ducks for his first victory on home ice in about 10 months. Considering all Crawford went through as he dealt with the aftereffects of a concussion, it was a special occasion.

Hawks captain Jonathan Toews took time to let them know how impressed he has been with Crawford, who was in net again Thursday, his fourth start of the season, for a 4-1 win against the Rangers at the United Center.

“I’m just happy he’s healthy and he’s back to being himself and getting better every day,” Toews told them. “At the end of the day, I never would’ve imagined him playing at the level he’s playing at after being off for around 10 months. If I was out for 10 months, I wouldn’t remember if I was right- or left-handed.”

Back to being himself? Playing at a high level again after being “off”? Some might agree those words could be applied to this Blackhawks team on the whole.

Only 10 games into the season, the Hawks (6-2-2) have done at least a reasonable impersonation of the teams that made nine straight trips to the playoffs until the 2017-18 squad went belly-up. Last season’s team was — for a brutal, seemingly endless stretch — as “off” as could be with Crawford out of the mix.

Crawford has won three straight starts, giving up a lone goal in each. His team been more contentious, too. Even without Crawford, though, the Hawks were unbeaten — albeit surrendering four goals per outing — through their first five games.

“I like our start,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think the attitude has been good. I think the pace of our team game is better than it was last year. I think the guys have enthusiasm across the board, and we’ve got some competition for ice time. Obviously, the best part to the start of the season is ‘Crow’ coming back and the way he has played.”

The Hawks had wire-to-wire jump against the Rangers, with Toews lifting one above Henrik Lundkvist’s stick for a goal less than three minutes into the first period, Nick Schmaltz driving toward the net and assisting Alexandre Fortin in the second and Kane staying with a third-period rebound for his ninth goal. The last Hawks player to have that many 10 games in was Jeremy Roenick, who also had nine 25 seasons ago.

Alex DeBrincat added an empty-netter for his eighth score of the season.

“We played a good team game,” Kane said. “It was kind of similar to that Anaheim game where we just kind of stayed patient. We didn’t really give up too much, I don’t think, and kind of controlled the whole game. Back-to-back good games for us.”

Sure, it’s only 10 games. It’s nothing to get too excited about. These aren’t the 2010, 2013 or 2015 Hawks we’re looking at.

“It’s nice to start well,” Toews said, “but it’s meaningless if you don’t sustain it, you don’t keep improving. So we know it’s just a beginning.” A good one, though, as usual.

Daily Herald

Chicago Blackhawks' hot start continues with win over Rangers

By John Dietz October 25, 2018

It's still early and a whole lot can happen in the next 72 games, but it appears many pundits were awfully premature to write off the Chicago Blackhawks this season.

Present company included.

The reborn Hawks, who thoroughly dominated the New York Rangers in a 4-1 victory Thursday night at the United Center, boast a stunning 6-2-2 record after 10 games.

Only Nashville has more points in the entire NHL. Patrick Kane has 9 goals and basically can't be stopped. Corey Crawford is an almost unbeatable human wall. Jonathan Toews looks like he's 23 again.

Alex DeBrincat continues to be a scoring machine. Dominik Kahun, Alexandre Fortin and Luke Johnson are maturing before our very eyes.

And the entire defense corps -- thought to be a huge weakness -- is jumping into plays, stopping dangerous rushes, blocking shots and giving up fewer and fewer prime scoring chances.

In short, the rest of the league better watch out because it looks like the Blackhawks are back.

"Last year there was not a lot of positives the way it exited," coach Joel Quenneville said. "Lot of good hockey players on our team. Proud guys.

"(They) wanted to get back to doing what we want to do and that's play in the playoffs."

Toews, Alexandre Fortin, Kane and DeBrincat scored against the Rangers, and Crawford made 18 saves.

Toews' goal was the 298th of his career and tied him for sixth all time in team history with Dennis Hull. Kane, meanwhile, is the first Hawks player to register 9 goals in the first 10 games since Jeremy Roenick in 1993-94.

This game was tied at 1-1 midway through the second period until Schmaltz drove deep into the offensive zone, where he spotted Fortin sliding behind a stickless Brendan Smith. Schmaltz's pass connected and Fortin flicked home his second goal in three games.

"I saw Fortin's stick with no opposing sticks on the ice," Schmaltz said. "So it was a pretty easy pass (and) a good shot by him."

Kane made it 3-1 when he backhanded the puck between his legs while he was standing in the goal crease behind a splayed-out Henrik Lundqvist.

"I kind of had an open net there and it hit the post (first)," Kane said. "Then my back was turned and I thought I put it in the net.

"I was celebrating and no one was reacting, so I was like, 'did I just miss that?' I didn't even know if it went in."

DeBrincat's empty-netter with 1:09 remaining put the game away.

The Rangers (3-6-1) managed just 3 shots on goal in the first 18 minutes and 1 during the entire third period.

"Now we're 10 games into the season, we're starting to kind of figure out the defensive end and what to do on the backcheck," Kane said. "Hopefully it's all coming together, but it's still early so (let's) keep building here."

Daily Herald

Blackhawks invite 'beer league' goalie back to morning skates

By John Dietz October 25, 2018

Scott Foster is back.

Just don't expect the Oak Park accountant to actually get into another NHL game.

Foster, the emergency goalie who provided perhaps the most memorable moment last season when he made 7 saves against the Winnipeg Jets at the United Center March 29, has been invited by the Blackhawks to partake in optional morning skates.

"I think he likes the idea," coach Joel Quenneville said. "It beats the beer league."

That's where the 36-year-old Foster does most of his goaltending, in a league at Johnny's IceHouse. Last March, though, he got the opportunity of a lifetime when Anton Forsberg was injured during pregame and Colin Delia cramped up in the third period of a 6-2 victory over Winnipeg.

From our game story that night: Foster made a pad save on a shot by Tyler Myers 61 seconds after entering and also made impressive stops on Dustin Byfuglien and Paul Stastny with 5:39 and 4:38 remaining. The crowd was chanting "Foster! Foster! Foster!" down the stretch and absolutely erupted when he was named the No. 1 star of the game.

"That's something you'll never forget," he said. "You understand what's happening and they're going to have a lot of fun with it, so you might as well, too."

Now he gets to have a bit of fun helping the Hawks prep for games this season.

"It's pretty cool to see him go through what he did last year and the story that he was," Jonathan Toews said. "Obviously we can rely upon him to show up for practice once in a while. He's good out there. He definitely makes you work on your shot."

Mr. Consistent:

Brent Seabrook played in his 1,014th game for the Blackhawks Thursday, passing Eric Nesterenko for third on the team's all-time list. He's now just 23 games from passing Bobby Hull for second.

"You just know what you're going to get out of him every single night," said captain Jonathan Toews. "He prepares the same way, he's got the same routine, he's got the same habits. Obviously there's a reason to why he's doing all that, and he's made it this far in his career and he's still playing well.

"Nice to see him tally up all those games. I didn't get to play in his big 1,000th game last year, so it'll be nice to be out there with him tonight."

Seabrook is 380 games behind Stan Mikita's franchise-leading 1,394.

Nice assist:

Corey Crawford recorded just the sixth assist of his career on Jonathan Toews' first-period goal against the Rangers on Thursday. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead on the play and went on to beat the Rangers 4-1.

Tom Barrasso's 48 assists are the NHL record for a goalie. Barrasso played for six different teams (mostly with the Penguins and Sabres) from 1983-2003. Told he was 42 away from the record, a smiling Crawford quipped: "Forty-two? Man. I'm going to start making dumb plays, then. I got lucky on that one. I don't even remember what the play was. It's always nice to steal that from one of our guys, though."

Slap shots:

Corey Crawford has allowed just 6 goals in his four starts this season. He also boasts a .963 save percentage in his last three games. ... Alex DeBrincat (goal, assist vs. New York on Thursday) has a point in nine of 10 games. He has 8 goals and 6 assists on the season. ... Brent Seabrook took 5 shots on goal, the most he's taken since Feb. 15 when he had 10 against Anaheim. ... The Rangers did not score a power-play goal for the first time in five games. ...

Daily Herald

Schmaltz makes key play as Blackhawks beat Rangers 4-1

By Jay Cohen – Associated Press October 26, 2018

Nick Schmaltz waited and waited until he saw an opening.

The Chicago Blackhawks are making all the right moves right now.

Schmaltz set up Alexandre Fortin's tiebreaking goal in the second period, and the surprising Blackhawks beat the New York Rangers 4-1 on Thursday night.

"It was good to see a play like that connect," Schmaltz said. "Hopefully we can keep helping the team offensively."

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews also scored as Chicago (6-2-2) won for the third time in four games. Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist, and Corey Crawford made 18 saves in his fourth game after suffering a concussion last year.

The Blackhawks' solid start comes in the wake of their last-place finish last season, missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

"A lot of good hockey players on our team. Proud guys," coach Joel Quenneville said. "Wanted to get back to doing what we want to do, and that's play in the playoffs."

New York (3-6-1) managed just one shot on goal in the third period of its third loss in four games. Pavel Buchnevich scored in the opener of a four-game trip, and Henrik Lundqvist made 33 stops.

"That was really probably as poorly as we've played all year," coach David Quinn said. "We've done a good job of skating and competing, but that certainly wasn't the case tonight."

The Rangers also lost defenseman Adam McQuaid to an unspecified injury in the first period. Asked for an update on McQuaid, Quinn said it was too early to tell and he hadn't talked to the training staff yet.

The game was tied at 1 when Schmaltz circled around the offensive zone before taking the puck to the net and threading a pass through the goalmouth to Fortin for a tap-in 10:33 into the period. It was Schmaltz's sixth assist of the season, tied for the team lead.

"Once I saw his stick there all alone it was kind of an easy, no-brainer pass there," Schmaltz said.

The Blackhawks put it away when Kane knocked one off the post before slamming it home for his team-best ninth goal 15:39 into the third. DeBrincat added an empty-netter with 1:09 left.

"I think we got what we deserved tonight," New York forward Chris Kreider said. "We really didn't give ourselves a chance to win."

Chicago jumped in front on Toews' 298th career goal, matching Dennis Hull for sixth on the franchise list.

Toews went in all alone on Lundqvist after McQuaid and fellow New York defensemen Brady Skjei got tangled up near the blue line and fell down. The captain then slipped a shot under Lundqvist's legs for his sixth of the season 2:55 into the game.

Buchnevich responded for the Rangers, tying it with a hard wrist shot on a rebound at 4:09. It was Buchnevich's third of the year. NOTES: Rangers F Matt Beleskey was assigned to Hartford of the American Hockey League after clearing waivers. Beleskey has appeared in just one game with New York since he was acquired in the February trade that sent Rick Nash to Boston. ... Scott Foster is going to help the Blackhawks at some optional morning skates after his memorable appearance as an emergency goaltender last season. The 36-year-old Foster, an accountant who played college hockey for Western Michigan, was pressed into action March 29 against Winnipeg and stopped all seven shots he faced over the final 14 minutes of the Blackhawks' 6-2 victory. ... D Brent Seabrook played in his 1,014th regular-season game with the Blackhawks, snapping a tie with Eric Nesterenko for third on the franchise list. Hall of Fame forwards Stan Mikita (1,394) and Bobby Hull (1,036) hold the top two spots.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Visit the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.

Blackhawks: Visit the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

The Athletic

Powers Points: Dylan Sikura regaining his swagger with IceHogs

By Scott Powers October 25, 2018

The NHL was all Dylan Sikura thought about this offseason and heading into Blackhawks training camp.

The idea he might have to start in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs never crossed his mind. He had gotten a taste of the NHL with five games late last season, and he was confident he’d start there again and begin making an impact with the big club.

But then training camp didn’t play out as he expected, and he started recognizing his probable fate. When Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told Sikura he was being assigned to the AHL late into camp, it didn’t come as a surprise to Sikura.

Like he’s done in a lot of situations in life, Sikura turned to his older brother Tyler Sikura, a fellow Blackhawks prospect, for guidance. As usual, Tyler didn’t let him down.

“I remember talking to my brother, I remember him saying that coming down would be the best thing that happened to me,” Sikura said.

Sikura embraced that mentality. He cast aside his frustration and disappointment and began focusing on how he could make the best of playing for the IceHogs.

“I think you got to take it with the positive,” Sikura said. “Some guys take it negatively and they go down to the AHL and they kind of act like they’re a little too good for the league or whatever and they don’t really develop and they kind of get hidden in the shadows.”

Sikura especially took comfort in knowing that being sent to Rockford didn’t mean he couldn’t one day be a successful NHL player. He doesn’t have to look far for a reminder. Pictured on the walls outside the IceHogs’ dressing room are all the Blackhawks who played for the IceHogs and went on to win a Stanley Cup with the organization

“You see the pictures on the wall here,” Sikura said. “It’s pretty much everyone that’s up here has been down here at some point. I think it’s important to play games and adjust to the pro level. I know I obviously got a taste of it last year, but it was only five games at the end of the year. It’s definitely start of the season is a bigger jump and obviously it was my first training camp, kind of didn’t know what to expect there. So it was a lot of new things for me. I think being down right now is about playing and getting power play (time) and getting put into minutes to score and produce points is really helpful.”

Sikura’s situation is similar to Nick Schmaltz’s two seasons ago, and the Blackhawks are hoping for a similar outcome. Schmaltz began the 2016-17 season with the Blackhawks in the NHL, but he struggled and wasn’t showing the same game that had made him an elite college player and one of the organization’s premier prospects.

Schmaltz went down to Rockford, played a lot, regained his confidence and has been a different player for the Blackhawks ever since.

“I think don’t change your game is the biggest thing,” Schmaltz said on Thursday. “I think when you come here sometimes you may not feel comfortable right away. You don’t want to turn the puck over. You don’t want to try to make a play that you’re used to making. I think when you go down there you kind of regain that confidence and start making those plays again and then once you get that confidence going at the pro level you carry that right to the NHL. At least it really did for me.” Sikura is building toward that. He’s continued to display his ability to possess the puck and create for himself and others. Through seven games with the IceHogs, he has two goals and five assists. He leads the team with seven points and is second with 19 shots on goal.

What Sikura is learning at the pro level about the offensive side is risk and reward.

“I think a lot of it’s time and place,” Sikura said. “There’s plays to be made out here. I think I’m doing a good job of making them. At the same time, you can make three great plays and one turnover and it ends up in the back of the net and it’s looked upon badly. I think in the offensive zone when I come up the wall I think there’s a lot of plays to be made.”

IceHogs coach Jeremy Colliton has been pleased with Sikura’s offensive side. It’s the other parts of Sikura’s play Colliton is watching closely.

“It’s not an easy league, but he’s found a way to produce, especially on the power play,” Colliton said. “I think that unit’s been really good. I think, yeah, he can do more away from the puck and defensively, and if does that, similar to (Victor Ejdsell), you’ll have the puck more if you defend hard and work hard away from it. But he’s shown he’s got some skill and can make a play. It’s fun having that in your lineup. I expect him to continue to get better.”

Sikura realizes that too.

“I think that’s the big thing adjusting to pro you kind of always have to be engaged in the game and can’t really let up whether it’s backcheck or the D zone or just neutral zone,” Sikura said. “You can kind of always influence where the puck’s going. You can always be a presence out there. It’s something I did really well in college. I think I was all over the ice and I was backchecking a lot. And I think towards maybe the end of camp I started getting away from that. You got to learn. Sometimes you got to be better without the puck than with the puck. Guys can make a living off doing that. I think obviously the defensive zone, that’s a big thing I’m trying to learn.”

Sikura has his eye on the bigger picture. He wants to be for the Blackhawks what he was at Northeastern University.

“I think I can play at the NHL level right now,” Sikura said. “I don’t just want to be a guy that’s going out there every other shift maybe not playing a lot. That’s not my game. That’s not my style. I’m kind of a guy who likes to have the puck, likes to make plays.

“I think the way I look at it, they didn’t send me down here to play five games. They want me to play down here and learn how to play my style down here. Whether it’s tomorrow or two months, three months, at the end of the year, whenever my time comes, I think being down, you have to prep yourself and always be ready for that call. You see a guy like Forts (Alexandre Fortin), I don’t know if he was expecting to get the call or not, but he did a good job of readying himself and obviously getting adjusted to the level. Whenever the time comes, I’ll be ready.”

1. Jonathan Toews probably put it best when asked if he’s been surprised at all about the way Corey Crawford has played since returning from a 10-month layoff.

“At the end of the day, I never would’ve imagined him playing at the level he’s playing after being off for around 10 months,” Toews said Wednesday. “I was joking yesterday, if I was out for 10 months, I wouldn’t remember if I was right- or left-handed. It would definitely be a struggle just mentally to find the game again, let alone play at the top (level) that everyone expects you to play at. So it’s pretty amazing what he can do mentally.”

Crawford kept on impressing Thursday by holding the New York Rangers to one goal on 19 shots. With that, he’s now made 106 saves on 112 shots for a .946 save percentage in four games. In 5-on-5 play, he’s stopped 79-of-83 shots for a .952 save percentage. “Surprised? Let’s put it this way: we’re all excited,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after Thursday’s game. “I think you never want to look too far ahead as a coach, so you’re forecasting, let’s just see how he is, let’s see how he handles it one game at a time and at the end of every game he’s played we all say, OK, we’re all saying, ‘Wow, that was a pretty impressive game by the Crow’ and not looking any further than that, just want to recap the four games and he’s done a heck of a job for us. Outstanding start for his season and for our team. Last year he got off to a tremendous start, we know his importance.”

Crawford was also asked whether he was surprised.

“I think the guys have played really well,” Crawford said. “Me and (goaltending coach Jimmy Waite) did a lot of work before getting back into games to make sure I’m feeling good on the posts. It’s those little plays that make a difference; not over-sliding and being out of position, just trying to be patient and be in the right spot. But our guys have been playing great.”

I was texting with a former NHL goalie Thursday night and was curious what he was especially impressed about with Crawford’s return.

He wrote, “It impresses me how the team plays so different in front of him. Everyone just plays with such confidence. And he is playing calm and hungry and confident. When you are off for a long time and you have to watch your team play you get hungry to get back in and help your team. It’s frustrating just watching.”

2. Quenneville seems to be settling into a rotation for his defensemen in 5-on-5 play. Here’s how he’s distributed 5-on-5 ice time the past four games:

Against Rangers

Henri Jokiharju 20:01 Duncan Keith 16:36 Jan Rutta 14:24

Erik Gustafsson 19:24 Brent Seabrook 14:24 Brandon Manning 10:31

Against Ducks

Jokiharju: 17:25 Gustafsson: 14:28 Manning: 12:48

Keith: 15:45 Rutta: 13:39 Seabrook: 11:34

Against Lightning

Jokiharju: 18:28 Gustafsson: 16:07 Brandon Davidson: 11:22

Keith: 17:42 Rutta: 14:58 Seabrook: 11:13

Against Blue Jackets

Jokiharju: 18:28 Gustafsson: 1604 Seabrook: 14:01

Keith: 16:30 Rutta: 15:06 Davidson: 13:06

What stands out most is how much trust Quenneville already has in Jokiharju. Second, Jokiharju, Keith and Gustafsson have definitely become the three defensemen Quenneville is leaning on most. It’s also notable that Quenneville is mindful of how much he’s playing Seabrook. While Seabrook is starting games with Gustafsson, Seabrook is seeing less 5-on-5 time as the game goes along.

3. It’s not surprising three of the Blackhawks’ four goals Thursday were delivered by Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Toews. The trio has scored a total of 23 goals this season. The rest of the team has 14.

Kane leads the team with nine goals and is followed by DeBrincat’s eight and Toews’ six. Marcus Kruger, Brandon Saad and Alexandre Fortin are tied for fourth with two goals. Kane is the first Blackhawks player to score nine goals in his first 10 games since Jeremy Roenick did so during the 1993-94 season. “He has the knack of scoring some big goals, important goals,” Quenneville said of Kane. “Puck follows him around, he wants the puck and he’s probably played with everybody on some shifts this year. He elevates that line no matter who he’s with.” Quenneville may not have taken my advice exactly,but Fortin has certainly proven he’s worthy of a bigger role. Now through seven games, Fortin is first on the team in individual high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes in 5-on-5 play and third on the team in individual Corsi per 60 and individual scoring chances per 60.

4. The Rangers and Ducks aren’t the Lightning, but the Blackhawks still showed the past two games they can stifle inferior teams.

Against the Ducks, they had a 51-37 edge in 5-on-5 shot attempts, 25-15 in shots on goal, 22-16 in scoring chances and 9-5 in high-danger chances.

Against the Rangers, the Blackhawks were just as good. They led 51-37 in 5-on-5 shot attempts, 25-16 in shots on goal, 27-20 in scoring chances and 12-9 in high-danger chances.

It’s just the third time all season the Blackhawks have won all four 5-on-5 categories in a game. The other game was against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 13.

5. Quenneville continues to expand DeBrincat’s role in his second season. DeBrincat has now added the penalty kill to his duties.

Quenneville used DeBrincat 52 seconds on a shorthanded shift against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, and he went back to him against the Rangers on Thursday.

DeBrincat did play some on the penalty kill during his final season with the Erie Otters of the OHL, and Quenneville gave him the occasional shift last season.

“We didn’t mind him on it last year, when he’s out there, not quite regular, but I just think the way he plays 5-on-5 with his stick, his possessing and awareness to deny opportunities, his anticipation is high end,” Quenneville said Thursday.

6. During my recent trip to Rockford, I talked to Ejdsell about being a healthy scratch for the IceHogs and what needed to change. He believed he knew what he needed to do.

A day later, he got it done. He scored his first two goals of the season in the IceHogs’ win over the San Antonio Rampage. Below is his first goal from Wednesday:

Ejdsell was fine in the other areas too, but what’s most important is that production. His skating is never going to be amazing and he may never shine in other areas of the ice, but he can find a place in the NHL if he can create consistent offensive chances. He sees the game well in the offensive zone and has a big shot, and he usually capitalizes when he gets those opportunities. Let’s see where he goes from his recent performance.

7. Blackhawks emergency goalie legend Scott Foster was back on the ice at the United Center on Thursday morning. Quenneville said Foster will join the team for optional skates for the rest of the season.

“Just when the starter, whether he’s going to go out there or not so we got two goalies,” Quenneville said. “I think he likes the idea. It beats the beer league.”

You might recall that I did go watch Foster play in a beer league game last season.

8. It had been a few years, but Tuesday didn’t mark the first time Schmaltz and Luke Johnson had been linemates.

Their first time came at the University of North Dakota during the 2014-15 season. Schmaltz was a freshman and played wing, and Johnson was a sophomore and played center. They played together for about a month and went on to center different lines.

“It’s pretty cool,” Schmaltz said. “Not a lot of guys can say they’re playing with a guy they spent two years of college with. It’s pretty cool. It makes North Dakota’s program look pretty good. They develop a lot of NHL guys, and they do it the right way. Happy that I spent my time there. Happy for Luke. He’s playing well. He’s playing key situations, doing well defensively and hopefully he can start chipping in offensively as well.” Johnson had a similar reaction.

“Obviously he’s a great player and makes a lot of plays,” Johnson said. “It is cool we’re playing together now in the NHL and former teammates. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I just try to play my game, try to get open for him.”

9. Johnson didn’t know when he’d return to the NHL after the Blackhawks decided to assign him to the IceHogs on Oct. 18.

“I wasn’t too sure what was going to happen,” Johnson said. “I knew it could be like a couple days or couple weeks or whatever. I think the biggest thing was to go down and play more and get those minutes. I played a lot down there, so it was good for me to play in key situations, play in every situation. I think that was huge.”

Johnson took advantage of that ice time and tallied a goal and an assist in two games with the IceHogs. The Blackhawks were pleased with him too and brought him right back up.

10. Schmaltz moving from center to wing does change his game a bit. The question is whether it changes his value too. With him due another contract after this season, could he make less on his next contract as a winger than center?

I asked an NHL agent, not Schmaltz’s, about it.

“Not at all in my opinion,” the agent said. “Everyone knows he can play both center and wing. His next deal will be based on production.”

Schmaltz didn’t seem too worried about it either when I asked him Thursday.

“I think it’s good to be versatile,” Schmaltz said. “I think whatever the team needs I can help out. I think I’m naturally a center. I think I might have the puck a little bit more in the middle there where I can go and grab pucks, transition that defense into quick offense. But at the same time, I don’t mind the wing either. I think I can create stuff off the rush. There are pros and cons to both. Definitely enhances my game to be able to play both positions.”

Schmaltz does see himself playing center permanently at some point.

“I think eventually, yeah,” he said. “I’m getting better at draws over the last 4-5 games. I think I’m over 50 percent. That’s a good sign. Keep working on that. I think that’s the biggest thing for me is just the faceoff dot. I think I can tighten up a little defensively, but that comes with maturity and time. I’ve gotten a lot better since I first came. Continue to grow and probably down the road. You never know game to game, every game’s different. I could be playing center, left wing, who knows next game. Just focus on tonight and do the best I can at right wing.”

Schmaltz said he and the Blackhawks have yet to discuss his next contract.

“Nothing yet,” he said.

11. Schmaltz has been keeping an eye on his good friend William Nylander’s contract situation with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I’m pretty close with him,” Schmaltz said. “It’s kind of tough, tough situation. Hopefully it gets resolved soon. He’s a great player. It’s fun watching him night in, night out. Hopefully he gets it resolved soon and all the best to him.”

12. As for Schmaltz’s faceoff numbers, which he mentioned, they have improved as of late. He’s won 19-of-32 faceoffs in his past six games. He was 3-of-4 on Thursday.

As a team, the Blackhawks have been heavily relying on Toews again. He came into Thursday’s game with a 58.6 winning percentage (112 wins, 79 losses) and won 10-of-18 faceoffs against the Rangers. 13. Henri Jokiharju played in his 10th NHL game of the season on Thursday, which is significant because it means his contract won’t slide a season and there’s no chance of him returning to the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.

There was a lot of talk in the offseason about where Jokiharju would play this season. The Blackhawks were a possibility, but it also seemed like a long shot considering the contracts in place and his age. (Connor Murphy’s injury opened that door.) There was also confusion about whether he was loaned to the Winterhawks from his Finnish team. If he was loaned, the Blackhawks could send him to the AHL this season. If not, the Winterhawks could enforce the CHL-NHL transfer agreement and force the Blackhawks to return him to Portland.

“It was a little complicated,” Jokiharju said. “Just normal stuff in hockey, but it was pretty complicated. But this was the easiest way, just stay here.”

General manager Stan Bowman never gave a definitive answer on whether Jokiharju could be assigned to the IceHogs. In the end, it doesn’t matter, and Jokiharju is grateful for that.

“Of course, it’s a big thing for me,” Jokiharju said. “You can’t probably put into the words how good it feels for me.”

14. In a past column, skill analyst Brian Keane explained the work he and Jonathan Toews did this summer in Chicago. I was able to ask Toews this week about that same training and what he felt he gained from working with Keane.

“Just edges, puck handling, all those little things, I think you feel real clumsy doing it at first and then the more you do it, the more relaxed you feel not only with the puck but on your skates and keeping your balance especially in games,” Toews said. “So, all that stuff translates pretty well. He’s one of those guys, obviously there’s a lot of skill coaches that young players are working with, but Brian’s one of those guys who was pretty helpful with a lot of guys that were here this summer.”

15. Erik Gustafsson might want to begin considering using his fake slap shot and pass more often. It’s worked perfectly both times he’s turned to it this season.

He first connected with DeBrincat in overtime to lift the Blackhawks over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 13. He set up another game-winning goal when he found Kane with it against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

Gustafsson explained the move after a recent practice.

“I think I like to pass it more than I like to score goals,” Gustafsson said. “I’d rather do that than scoring goals. It’s something I came up with two guys in front of me, talked about it before the game too. The goalie’s stepping up on me if I’m loading up on my stick a little bit and I saw him coming out right away, like way out. Kane just finds those open spots. He’s so good at that too. Luckily I found his stick.”

Kane further broke down what happened.

“I think there’s a lot of different elements to it,” Kane said. “If you watch the play, Arty’s (Artem Anisimov) going to the net and he draws two checkers because they’re either trying to cover him at the front or they think he’s going to get the shot-tip pass or whatever. Also, I think what Gus does really well is he winds up to the slapshot and his body’s still facing the net where he’s shooting and the pass isn’t going straight. It’s kind of like a slap and he’s coming across his body. It’s pretty tough to read. Obviously the goalie had a tough time reading it.”

Gustafsson explained a lot of it had to do with deception.

“I think you just got to look up and look at the goalie,” Gustafsson said. “You can’t look at the guy you’re going to pass. You got to look at the goalie and see where the other guys are.”

16. There’s that part, and then there is Kane’s shot.

From Gustafsson’s side of it, he’s trying to give Kane a pass he can handle.

“I don’t usually pass it hard,” Gustafsson said. “I just have to put it over there so he can skate into it or maybe stop or whatever he does. I think that’s a key too, don’t pass it too hard. If you pass it like a slapper, it’s going to be tough for him to shoot it. Try to lay it in between his legs or whatever it is, but not too hard.”

For Kane, he’s mindful of how hard to shoot it. “Things like last night you just see you’re open there, you’re really not trying to swing too hard or anything like that,” Kane said. “You’re just trying to let the stick do the work. It was good to see it go in. That was all Gus and Arty and Seabs on the play to make those plays and I just had to finish it off.

“I think that’s something you’re always working on in practice. We’re always working on the one-timer aspect of it. We’ve really been working on it this season a lot to kind of connect flush on it, you’re hitting the puck the way you want to. Continue work on it and hopefully it can become part of your game you can add in. I think I’ve added it in the past five or six years, but even more so where it’s even more effective.”

17. Kane could easily have two more goals to his season tally. He was robbed in consecutive games this week.

Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Louis Domingue first denied him with an amazing save on Sunday.

Two days later, Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson got him.

I was curious if he just tips his hat when goalies make such plays on him or if it’s more irritating.

“On the Domingue save, I don’t really know if I could have done much different to be honest with you,” Kane said. “I’m coming with a lot of speed. I caught the pass really well and shot it where I wanted to. He just made a great save. Not too mad about that one.

“The one last night, same type of thing, the puck’s coming off the pad, it’s spinning a little bit, so you’re just trying to settle it down. I probably could have taken an extra half of a second, been a little bit more patient and make sure you’re putting it in the middle of the net instead of going back, you know, just trying to hit the net. It’s easy to say now. I think both saves were really good saves by the goaltenders. Sometimes you take that extra second and or extra half a second and it can pay off in the end instead of trying to rush the shot.”

18. Blackhawks defenseman prospect Ian Mitchell was a different player from the start of his freshman season at Denver to the end of it.

Like a lot of freshmen, it took Mitchell a minute to adjust to the college game. In the second half of the season, he had made the necessary alterations and started to show why the Blackhawks invested a second-round pick in him. He was making a difference in most games for Denver late in the season.

Now back for his sophomore season, Mitchell is expected to be that same player from start to finish.

“Every time he steps on the ice, have an impact on the play — offensively, defensively,” Denver coach David Carle said.

Mitchell has shown he can do that offensively. He put up two goals and 28 assists in 41 games last season and was one of college game’s top freshman defensemen. He’s off to a strong start this season too with a goal and three assists in his first four games.

Where Mitchell wants to make his biggest strides this season is on the defensive side. He got better in that area last season playing with fellow Blackhawks prospect Blake Hillman, and there’s still more room to improve. He worked to add weight and muscle to his 5-foot-11 frame this offseason and is up to 175 pounds.

Carle believed Mitchell was capable of being more effective on the defensive side. It was a matter of putting his skating ability to work in other ways.

“One area he wants to get better and I think we agree is in his rush D and shutting plays down through the neutral zone and angling people through the puck before getting to the defensive blue line,” Carle said. “He’s got all the ability to do it. He has the drive to do it. It’s a more concerted effort to execute in those situations. It’s not like a weakness in his game. He wants to do it on a consistent basis more so than he did last year. It’s all there for him to be able to do it. “Most of our defensemen come in and they are used to skating backwards more than we do. You can look at a team like the Hawks in what they do with their D-men coming up. They’re angling from the middle of the ice out instead of skating backward and giving up lines and spaces.” Carle, who is in his first year as head coach at Denver, shares a lot of similar philosophies as Mike Montgomery, who left Denver to become the Dallas Stars coach.

Mitchell felt fortunate to play under Montgomery for a season.

“I think the biggest thing is he just challenged guys to be difference makers every shift that they played,” Mitchell said. “That’s something that really stuck with me where don’t just go out on the ice to kill time on the clock. Go out to be a player and make a difference and help out your team. That’s something that stuck with me that he preached.

“It’s pretty cool (to see him in the NHL). You see the type of success Dallas has had the start of the season, they look really good too. You can definitely attribute that to the style of play Monty has instilled in with that team. In the future, they’re probably going to be an exciting team to watch. Monty’s just a great coach. He’s going to do a good job with them.”

19. Mitchell is focused on playing well for Denver, but he’s also got his sights set on making Canada’s World Junior Championship team. He was among the players invited to play in Canada’s World Junior Showcase in July.

“That’s definitely something I’ve wanted for a long time,” Mitchell said. “To have a chance to play on the World Junior team is special. That’s something I’m really, really striving to get to. That’s one of my big goals this season to be on that team come Christmastime.”

Carle knows how important it is to him.

“He’s very driven to make that team,” Carle said. “We think he has a good opportunity to do that. Anytime you wear your country’s jersey and play on that stage, it’s definitely a goal he’s striving for.”

Playing in the NHL is another goal on Mitchell’s list. If he continues to progress as expected this season, it’s likely he and the Blackhawks will discuss a contract after the season. The Blackhawks would have probably been open to him signing last season too, but he didn’t think the time was right.

“Honestly, it wasn’t something for me that I considered all that much,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t think I was at the level to make the jump to play professionally. With the situation we have at Denver, it’s a good spot for me to get better and stronger. I wasn’t really thinking it was a good time for me to leave school.”

Carle wants to get Mitchell ready for that jump.

“Absolutely, we’re trying to help him achieve his goal to play for the Blackhawks one day,” Carle said. “That’s as much our job as anything else. We want to help and support him and help his development on and off the ice so he can be an impact player for the Blackhawks.”

Mitchell has been following Jokiharju’s time with the Blackhawks. They were both taken early in the 2017 draft, and they’ve gotten to know each other.

Mitchell also took note of Adam Boqvist and Nicholas Beaudin, the Blackhawks’ 2018 first-round picks, at prospect camp.

“All three of those guys are very special players,” Mitchell said of Jokiharju, Boqvist and Beaudin. “You can see right away the kind of skill that they have. There’s a reason why the Blackhawks invested such high picks in all those guys. You can definitely tell the future’s bright on the D core there. Hopefully it’s going to be competitive too. Hopefully we can all earn spots there. We’re all competing for spots, so it’s going to be good for us down the road to have that motivation to try to be better than the next guy.”

20. Finally, here’s a look at how some of the Blackhawks prospects are doing throughout the world: Nicolas Beaudin, Drummondville (QMJHL), defenseman Beaudin suffered a wrist injury on Wednesday, and the team announced he is out indefinitely. He has one goal and eight assists in nine games this season. He has three primary assists and one secondary assist in 5-on-5 play and has been on the ice for 11 goals for and four against.

MacKenzie Entwistle, Hamilton (OHL), forward

Entwistle is the hottest Blackhawks prospect right now after extending his points streak to seven games on Sunday. He has seven goals and four assists during the streak and eight goals and four assists in 12 games this season. Below is video of his latest goal.

Evan Barratt, Penn State (NCAA), forward

Barratt’s sophomore season is off to a strong start. He has one goal and five assists in his first four games of the season, including a goal and four assists in two games against Niagara last weekend. He had 11 goals and seven assists in 32 games as a freshman.

Phillip Kurashev, Quebec (QMJHL), forward

Kurashev continues to be one of the most productive Blackhawks prospects this season. He tallied three assists in a game for the Remparts on Wednesday. It was his second three-point game of the season and his third multi-point game. He has four goals and 13 assists in 14 games this season. Below is one of his assists from Wednesday.

Mikael Hakkarainen, Muskegon (USHL), forward

Hakkarainen will likely put up a lot of points in the USHL this season. The plan was for him to play this season at Providence College, but he returned to the Muskegon Lumberjacks after one college game. Through three games, he has three goals and three assists.

Josiah Slavin, Lincoln (USHL), forward

Slavin is also off to a positive start in the USHL. He has two goals and six assists in eight games. He had a goal and four shots on net in his revious game.

Niklas Nordgren, HIFK (Liiga), forward

Nordgren was back in HIFK’s lineup on Tuesday after missing about a week with a minor upper-body injury. He had an assist in his first game. He has two goals and one assist in four games since moving up to HIFK’s senior team.

Adam Boqvist, London (OHL), defenseman

After going pointless in his first three games with the Knights, Boqvist has 10 points in his past eight games. He’s riding a three-game point streak with six points during the three games. He has zero goals on 32 shots on net. Boqvist has four primary assists and four secondary assists in 5-on-5 play and has also been on the ice for 12 goals for and eight against in 5-on-5 play.

Maxim Shalunov, CSKA (KHL), forward

Shalunov recently carried CSKA to a memorable shootout win. After going through its first four shooters, CSKA turned to Shalunov three consecutive times and he delivered each time. Below is video of the last goal.

Ivan Nalimov, Kunlun (KHL), goalie

Nalimov continues to miss time with a broken hand. He hasn’t played a game since Oct. 3. He has a .917 save percentage in four games this season. His lack of action won’t be helpful for the Blackhawks as they decide whether to sign him next season.

Andrei Altybarmakyan, HC Sochi (KHL), forward As expected, Altybarmakyan being traded from SKA to HC Sochi has allowed him more KHL ice time. He’s played in three games for Sochi so far and averaged 13:43 of ice time. He has two shots on goal and zero points.

The Athletic Collin Delia never stops learning, and that could be his ticket back to the NHL

By Cat Silverman October 26, 2018

Prior to the 2017-18 season, no one expected that former Merrimack goaltender Collin Delia would make his first NHL start before the year was up — including Delia himself.

The Blackhawks had given him no indication that he would be getting a start in late spring as a thank you for all his hard work during the year. He didn’t even expect he’d be getting the call-up until it happened, late in a season that had seen an almost comical carousel of goaltenders rotate through the crease in an attempt to stay afloat without Corey Crawford.

For Delia, it was an incredible experience. But the Rancho Cucamonga, California native seemed about as unrattled by the season as possible — no small feat given how the year had gone.

He started in the AHL, then got shuffled down to the ECHL after a slew of poor starts. It was a battle to get time in the ECHL crease, and then it took an injury to Crawford to give him his next look in the AHL. From there, though, he managed to worm his way into the starter role, get an NHL call-up, and later lead the Rockford IceHogs to a Cinderella Calder Cup playoffs run that ended just one round shy of the championship series.

Three leagues, 50 appearances. Dozens of bus rides and practices, all leading to such a successful rookie campaign that some had him pegged as Crawford’s potential heir apparent in the making.

For an undrafted free agent, that’s an improbable story. But for the former Merrimack starter, it’s almost exactly what you’d expect.

Ask almost any goaltender or coach and they’ll give you the same answer: changing your game’s fundamentals during the season is madness.

Goaltending requires an almost complete lack of thought; if you’re caught thinking during the game, the puck is already past you and in the net. Trying to change a fundamental in your game requires actively thinking about engaging that new position or technique and developing new muscle memory over hundreds upon hundreds of reps. Very few can successfully do that when they’re in the midst of making starts. Instead, most goalies utilize their summers for those changes.

In the month prior to Crawford’s injury in Chicago, though, Delia was lost in no man’s land.

He can’t tell you off the top of his head how many consecutive days he went without a start. The 24-year-old is huge on looking forward, not analyzing what’s already happened, so that stretch from mid-November through December isn’t burned into his memory.

The Blackhawks had sent J.F. Berube down to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, though, where he was splitting the net with veteran Jeff Glass.

Delia, an undrafted free agent brought on board that summer, had some technical inconsistencies in his game that needed cleaning up. He was sent to the ECHL’s Indy Fuel to get some reps, but the lower-tier affiliate didn’t want an AHL prospect taking starts from their own starters. It left Delia without a game to play from Nov. 14 to Nov. 25, and that Nov. 25 start — a 6-3 ECHL loss to the Kansas City Mavericks — as his only start until getting recalled to Rockford for a late December start following Crawford’s injury. With playing time sparse, Delia and goaltending development coach Peter Aubry decided to do the unthinkable and tweak his technical game itself.

“Think about holding a giant beach ball,” Delia said, demonstrating with his arms out wide like a hug. “That’s where your hands should be. … I’d been holding my glove, my arms wrong, really leaving some holes, so we worked to get a better technical foundation there and did a lot of work with that when I wasn’t starting as much.”

Sure enough, a glance back at Delia’s old highlights from his tenure with Merrimack College shows an agile, smart goaltender whose glove pointed skyward and whose arms almost dipped down to his pads when he rotated through the crease.

Aubry pulled Delia’s elbows up and shifted his hands inward, rotating the trapper to prevent pucks from skimming off the top and rebounding into the net. They worked at it using reps and visual analogies such as the giant beach ball until Delia went from a raw-but-talented minor-league prospect to someone who has a legitimate shot at an NHL career.

It’s not easy to make a change that major no matter how much time you have. Connor Hellebuyck, whose glove hand positioning has come under scrutiny in the past, has made it clear he’d never make that radical a change in his game due to the potential adverse risks — and even when he did make a biomechanical overhaul, it was done during the summer months.

For Delia, though, this seemed like an almost welcomed challenge.

Every goaltender is quirky in their own way. For Delia, he’s almost a caricature of what you’d expect from a Southern California native; slow, measured sentences full of carefully selected words, and a passion for learning about what exactly makes humans tick. That fascination carries over into how he learns the game of hockey — and it helped him become a unicorn, radically (and successfully) overhauling a key fundamental in his game during the middle of a season.

“During the game, you really shouldn’t be thinking at all,” Delia explained. “Any time you add something new to your game … you have to practice it over and over until you don’t have to think to do it, until it just happens naturally.”

Muscle memory, if you will.

Delia put the thought of when he’d get his next start out of his mind. He stopped focusing on that which he couldn’t change, instead committing himself to changing something entirely within his control. He spent his practices facing shot after shot while focusing on his new, sounder positioning, and came roaring back in the AHL starter’s net as almost an entirely new prospect. He looked better, but didn’t look unnatural; he’d managed to use his time off to obtain that muscle memory, and seamlessly brought the changes to the AHL (and then the NHL) without thinking too much about it.

Those NHL starts were the perfect litmus test. The biggest change in the game at the NHL level is in the decision-making speed for shooters, who fire pucks without a moment’s hesitation from a myriad of locations. The best NHL shooters have dozens of options at their disposal from any point on the ice, and they can make a decision in a split second.

Physically, Delia had developed his game enough to handle that. But even mentally, he looked comfortable — and for him, that all came from knowing his mind could handle anything he was physically prepared for.

Understanding that relationship between the mind and the body is yet another part of Delia’s game that sets him apart from the rest.

“The game slows down for you no matter what,” he said, depicting the flashing of a camera with his hands.

“It’s biology. The way your mind processes images when you’re in a high-adrenaline situation, the way you react to what you’re seeing … you process each image frame in slower motion. Your body literally slows down time for you.” “It’s fascinating,” he insisted. And he’s right; the idea that our brains kick our reflexes and our sensory processing into overdrive when adrenaline courses through our veins is one of the most interesting and complex neurological studies available for high-performance athletes.

Very few take the time to read about it, and even fewer take the time to internalize it in order to improve their games. As one of Chicago’s fastest rising stars, though, it’s hardly a surprise Delia does exactly that.

With such a radical midseason change, Delia’s summer took a bit of a different turn.

The 24-year-old has worked with so many coaches over the years, and he’s delighted with each new one he meets. This summer, he spent time in Switzerland with Martin Gerber’s Goalie Action camp, spending time both as a student and as one of the demo coaches.

“It’s all about finding new ways of having information presented to you,” he explained.

“Almost every goalie coach is giving you the same information. They aren’t teaching you completely different things … it’s how they present the information to you and how they explain it that makes the difference. You may not completely understand what one coach is saying, but the way another coach explains it … the lightbulb can go off. Hearing information presented by as many different people as possible can teach you something that you thought you already knew, but can click in a totally different way.”

Then, there was what he learned from being a coach himself.

“A lot of these kids didn’t speak English, so there was a language barrier. I had to learn how to communicate when I had to show them everything I meant, because I couldn’t just tell them.”

There was an adjustment period, for sure. But the experience taught him as much about nonverbal communication and his own relationship with his game as it taught the young Swiss students about what they were supposed to be doing on the ice.

It gave him a better sense of how he executed each skill he taught his students. Breaking explanations down into almost entirely nonverbal layman’s terms, using visual demonstrations and limited linguistic communication, forced an entirely new understanding of the process behind everything from stick positioning to crease depth management.

It wasn’t Delia’s only summer camp, and it wasn’t his only learning experience. But for a goaltender who places so much emphasis on the little things that take a player from good to great, it’s hard to picture a more useful experience.

Now, he’s able to bring that to the crease with an entirely new tandem.

Jeff Glass is gone, signed in Toronto with the AHL’s Marlies. J.F. Berube was dealt away to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jordan Schroeder, and in their place is Finnish newcomer Kevin Lankinen.

Delia insists he isn’t the “veteran voice” in the Rockford crease, but Lankinen says different. The pair have a friendly competition for starts, but Delia is always quick to engage in a spirited discussion with his first-year teammate. Should Lankinen have played that shot with his toe cap on the posts to give him better lateral control? Should he have stayed on his feet a little longer? Every play is another opportunity for the pair to talk shop, and it’s made for a seamless transition for the Finnish newcomer.

While in Tucson, Arizona for a two-game series against the AHL’s Roadrunners, Delia had one of the most bizarre starts in recent history. Improperly moored nets at the Tucson Convention Center left the prospect knocking the posts off of their pegs nearly every time he transitioned across the goal line, setting his toe cap too hard for the nets and creating a disjointed, broken-up game with eight separate stoppages to fix the moorings.

Despite masked frustration — the first dislodging happening just 36 seconds into the game — Delia’s game grew more efficient as the matchup went on, and he held strong for a 5-3 win with 35 saves.

And afterward? It was a strange game, but one to brush off and move on from. “What can you do?” Delia said with a smile and a shrug. “It’s happened to me before. I’m just going to play my game and worry about the things that are in my control.”

StLouisBlues.com

Blue Jackets score seven in win against Blues

By Louie Korac October 26, 2018

Boone Jenner and Anthony Duclair each scored twice for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 7-4 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Josh Anderson had a goal and an assist, Seth Jones scored his first goal since his return from a knee injury, and Artemi Panarin had three assists for Columbus (5-4-0). Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves.

"I think all of the opportunities that we missed the past couple of games started going in for us and we were very opportunistic tonight," Duclair said. "We had a rough start, but at the same time the two quick goals to start the second really gave us momentum all of the way through."

The Blue Jackets trailed 2-0 before scoring four unanswered goals against Blues goaltender Jake Allen, who was pulled in favor of Chad Johnson in the second period after allowing four goals on 21 shots.

"When you get down two it's not what you want," Jenner said. "But it's that early in the game and you've got a lot of game left and we felt confident the way we were playing."

Johnson allowed three goals on 11 shots for the Blues (2-4-3), who are 1-3-2 in their past six games.

The Blues held a closed-door, players-only meeting for 23 minutes before leaders emerged to answer questions for the frustrating loss and to the start of the season.

"It [stinks]," forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. "If I had more English words I would explain this, but not much. It feels [bad] to be doing this in front of our fans. This is not the most fun time in our life and in my life personally. I don't know if you can [stink] more and then you get out of it. ... I just want to say sorry for our fans who support us. I feel [bad] now after games like this."

Jenner's power-play goal at 16:47 of the first cut the lead to 2-1. Duclair tied it 2-2 at 2:04 of the second, and Jenner gave Columbus its first lead at 3-2 at 3:29. David Savard made it 4-2 at 8:58 and Allen was pulled.

"We know we need to be better; I'm tired of having these conversations," said Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo, who was minus-3 in 20:33. "We just need to be better.

"We're just not good in our small aspects of our game. We're giving up odd-man rushes, we're giving up chances which are just uncharacteristic of this group. ... I'm tired of leaving our goalies out to dry."

Alexander Steen brought the Blues within 4-3 at 11:30, but Anderson scored 38 seconds into the third to make it 5-3, and Duclair on the power play at 2:35 made it 6-3. Jones, who missed the first seven games with a Grade 2 MCL sprain of his right knee before making his debut Tuesday, scored at 6:03 to make it 7-3.

Zach Sanford scored at 12:36 to pull the Blues within 7-4.

Tarasenko's first goal in seven games, on the power play, gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 4:26 of the first. Jaden Schwartz's first goal of the season at 12:40 made it 2-0.

They said it "We need to score a goal before they get three. It's an important part of the game. I think we settled in and played. I think we played a good hockey game." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella on being down 2-0

"We know they were a hungry team coming into tonight and we were too. We wanted a response. They're a good team over there." -- Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner "It's frustrating, for sure. I don't know what to say. It's not good enough, obviously. We're going to get back to work tomorrow. We can't feel sorry for ourselves." -- Blues forward Alexander Steen

Need to know

Forward Nick Foligno had his 147th assist for the Blue Jackets to pass Fedor Tyutin and move into third place all-time. ... Panarin has five assists in his past five games. … Columbus defensemen Zach Werenski, Scott Harrington and Ryan Murray each had two assists. ... Blue Jackets forward Markus Hannikainen made his season debut. He had one shot in 11:32. … Blues forward Ryan O'Reilly had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, five assists). … Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist made his season debut after missing the first eight games because of a concussion. He had two hits and was minus-1 in 8:33.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG-B, NHL.TV)

Blues: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, WGN, NHL.TV)

St. Louis Post Dispatch

Blue Jackets score seven in win against Blues

By Tom Timmermann October 25, 2018

The repeated thud-thud-thudding that has been the Blues’ season may have hit rock bottom on Thursday night in a 7-4 loss to Columbus at Enterprise Center, landing with an empty, hollow plop not unlike a bag of fertilizer falling from the top of a tall building onto wet grass. It’s almost sure to leave a mark.

Of course, maybe it only seems to be at rock bottom. Maybe there’s still farther to go.

The free-falling Blues’ future is still very much up in the air as it seems to be making a beeline for the basement. In any case, reports of the Blues having found their game in Canada turned out to be greatly exaggerated, at least on this night. After a brief flurry of interest to start the game that put them up 2-0, a score that only means grief in these parts, the Blues gave up a goal, then another, then another and, well, the final score was 7-4 so you get where this is headed. The theme for the night soon became the odd-man rush, which Columbus seemed to have time after time; for Blues’ goalies, the theme was fishing the puck out of their own net.

After the game, and after 23 minutes spent with the doors to the dressing room closed while players and coaches talked, Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo spoke to the frustration that affected the entire team: “I’m tired of having these conversations. We need to be better. We’re just not good in small aspects of our game. We’re giving up odd-man rushes. We’re giving up chances that are uncharacteristic of this group. Small things make a difference in the game now, especially the way every team is built, every team can score. We’ve got to take care of our end. I’m tired of leaving our goalie out to dry.”

But no one may have let their emotions out more than alternate captain Vladimir Tarasenko, who held forth in ways he hasn’t held forth very often and repeatedly apologized for how the team was playing.

“It sucks,” he said. “I don’t know the words. … It feels like (bleep) to do this in front of our fans. This is not the most fun time in our lives and in my life personally.”

It’s clear that few people enjoyed this one, considering the amount of booing that went on as the Blues left the ice, booing that would have been louder had the Enterprise Center not largely emptied out by that point as the Blues gave up three goals in the second period, three goals in the third period and gave everybody good reason to hit the road early.

The Blues have lost five of their past six (with two of the losses in overtime) and for the second straight game, they lost a game they led 2-0. Scoring goals doesn’t seem to be the problem. The Blues have lost two in a row in which they have scored four goals, and they’ve done that three times this season. Stopping goals, on the other hand, seems well nigh impossible. In nine games this season, they have allowed four or more goals five times.

The overall measure of this team now is that things are not good.

“You can suck more and more and then you can never get out of it,” Tarasenko said. “But we don’t need to try to create something beautiful right away. You just have to go step-by-step, like small plays. And have a belief in ourselves again, so we can play good hockey and we can outplay teams. Not only winning on accident, but completely outplay teams.

“I just want (to say) sorry for our fans who support us. I feel like (bleep) now after games like this.” Alternate captain Alexander Steen kept coming back to the topic of work. Work harder and the problems will go away.

“We just need to get back to working, and we’re not outworking the other team,” he said. “They’re outworking us right now. That’s why they’re getting bounces, that’s why they’re getting odd-man rushes, that’s why they’re getting chances and the opposite, that’s why we get a couple goals and then our chances start drying up a little bit and things like that. We obviously are going to look at it tomorrow. We’ve got a day one of cleaning it up. We’ve got to get back to structurally working. Plain and simple.”

“Like all parents tell their kids,” Tarasenko said. “The small steps. I don’t think about (a) perfect future right away, just grind together and find a way still. Find a way to get out of it. And just to clear this up, I don’t have any doubt about anybody in this locker room. We will do this. I believe in this. And trust me, we will put 100 percent out there on Saturday night against Chicago. And we will prove that we don’t have a (bleep) team like it was tonight. It’s not acceptable to lose like this at home.”

After giving up a 2-0 lead and falling behind 4-2, the Blues were briefly back in it when Steen scored late in the second to make it 4-3. Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo made some very good saves to keep it a one-goal game and then early in the third, Columbus scored to make it 5-3 and the Blues were done. That’s how things have been for the Blues. One goal leads to disaster.

“We were not good enough in the third,” Pietrangelo said. “Even if they get one, we’ve got to continue to chip away with our game and keep building.”

And now a team that started the season with sky-high expectations is facing the exact opposite. Were those expectations part of the problem, Tarasenko was asked.

“We sign great players and maybe think like goals and chances will come right away because we have such a good roster on paper,” he said. “Now things don’t go our way, so this may be a little bit different expectations (from) what everybody expects. But like I said, there are two ways: Stay here or try to find a way to get out.

“No, we know it don’t come easy. So we need to talk (it) over tomorrow. Like I said, every guy here feels the blame for it. Me, myself included. This team has to find a way.”

St. Louis Post Dispatch

BenFred: This is the turning point for Yeo, Blues

By Ben Frederickson October 25, 2018

There’s no tiptoeing around it now.

What had been wondered about before the season and whispered about as this awful start worsens by the day is now front and center — as obvious as the purple swaths of empty Enterprise Center seats that grew and grew during the Blues’ humiliating 7-4 loss to Columbus on Thursday night.

Mike Yeo’s job is on the line.

Blues players say they don’t think it should be, and I tend to agree with them. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is. Yeo knows.

“Heck, my job should be in question right now,” Yeo said after the Blues humiliated themselves and their fans by blowing a two-goal lead, pulling starting Jake Allen and rolling over to the point that, near the end, Oskar Sundqvist, who had sustained a terrifying facial injury during the preseason, found himself face down on the ice with a Blue Jacket ramming him from behind after the whistle, and none of his teammates did a damn thing to stop it.

Yeo mentioned this is the kind of start, and specifically the kind of loss, that prompts hard questions.

The hardest one is if he’s the right man for the job.

His players bristled when they heard that one.

Their coach didn’t blink.

“Of course,” Yeo said, acknowledging the situation. “That comes with the trade. But, I’m not going to coach to try to save my job. I’m going to coach to try to win a Stanley Cup. I believe in this group. Whatever we need, every single day, I’m going to try to do that.”

Are you listening, Yeo’s players?

If you like Yeo as much as you say you do, you are running out of time to prove it.

Watching Yeo up there on Thursday night, the man looked exhausted. He has tried every trick. He’s come out of losses fighting mad, throwing motivation from the podium like lightning. He’s come out of losses more disappointed than ticked. He’s come out of losses upbeat and optimistic. But this time, he came out of a loss acknowledging he knows he might not have many more losses left to come out of if this is not rock bottom.

“There has been lots of, trying to give them heck,” Yeo said. “There has been lots of, trying to motivate in different ways, whatever the case is. Right now, what I think we need to do is, come together.”

The Blues are 2-4-3. Seventh in the Central Division. But it’s so, so much worse than that.

They look like a group that spent the offseason listening to us talk about how good they can be instead of actually doing what it takes to be good. Yeo admits that now. He did not coach it out of them soon enough. That’s on him and his staff.

What else can you pin solely on Yeo? He pulls Allen and Chad Johnson gets peppered. He scales back human punching bag Jay Bouwmeester and another defenseman looks just as bad. Is it the job of an NHL coach to force his players to play hard, not quit and care about the fundamental aspects of the game they have been taught since they started skating on ponds? Blame the coach if you must, and that’s the way this is headed. That’s what happens in a league that changes coaches like NASCAR changes tires during a pit stop. But understand what that would say. General manager Doug Armstrong hired Yeo to be a public coach-in-waiting under former coach Ken Hitchcock. He stuck with Yeo as other intriguing coaching options came and went. He did not add to last years’ team because he saw this season as the beginning of a long run of postseason appearances and maybe, just maybe, something magic. Would he really scrap that plan so early? That’s how bad this team looks right now. And that’s how few other options a general manager has when he’s spent to the cap on a nucleus that lacks flexibility. Yeo knows the spot he’s in. Blaming this solely on him is as wrong has blaming it solely on Bouwmeester or Allen.

The Blue’s offense is not as dangerous as it should be. Their defense is performance art honoring Swiss cheese. They have allowed fewer than three goals just once. They choke on leads and sleepwalk through third periods. They are bad right now.

They sound like a group that finally realizes it. They sound like a group that wants to change it. They sound like a group that wants everyone to know this is not their coach’s fault.

“It’s not that,” Alex Pietrangelo said. “It’s got to come from us. We’ve got to get back to doing the small things.”

“It has nothing to do with anything going on outside of this room,” Alexander Steen said.

“There is no question of anyone thinking he doesn’t deserve to be here,” Vladimir Tarasenko said. “We support him. We believe in him. That’s why he’s our coach right now and we will (bleeping) play for him so hard.”

I asked Yeo what it meant to hear that kind of support. He appreciated it, and made it clear he believes in his team. He cares about his players. He thinks this can be a turning point.

“I’m sure the guys had a lot of good things to say tonight,” Yeo said. “It’s an emotional loss. There’s no question. It sucks to have a game like that in front of our fans. Where we are at, looking at the start to our season, everyone is frustrated and disappointed. Questions start to get asked.”

The biggest hangs over his head.

He knows players saying the right things won’t do a thing to save him.

Thursday was the start of something, one way or the other.

There’s no turning back once a coach acknowledges his job is on the line and plants his flag on a turning point.

What direction this turns will be decided by his players’ actions.

The Athletic

BenFred: This is the turning point for Yeo, Blues

By Jeremy Rutherford October 26, 2018

At 10:45 p.m. Thursday night at Enterprise Center, an hour before the Blues’ new Anheuser-Busch Biergarten would normally close after a game, musician Alex Ruwe played to a crowd of three.

A guitar strapped over Ruwe’s shoulder and the letters “STL” lit up behind him, there was no reason for the 17,068 in attendance to stick around after Columbus lit the Blues up in a 7-4 loss. He played his last note, packed his case and left.

Will the coach of the Blue Note be soon behind him?

Mike Yeo coached just his 123rd regular-season game in St. Louis against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, but it sure felt afterward like his tenure could be coming to an end — to those who booed the Blues off the ice, and even those in Minnesota, where Yeo spent five seasons before being fired in 2016, who felt his postgame comments sounded eerily similar.

“Heck my job should be in question right now,” Yeo said. “Of course that comes with the trade. But I’m not going to coach to try to save my job. I’m going to coach to try to win the Stanley Cup. I believe in this group, so whatever we need every single day, I’m going to try to do that.”

Yeo: “Heck my job should be in question right now. Of course that comes with the trade. But I’m not going to coach to try to save my job. I’m going to coach to try to win the Stanley Cup. I believe in this group so whatever we need every single day, I’m going to try to do that.”

After Monday’s third-period meltdown in Winnipeg, the general consensus was that general manager Doug Armstrong could make a move if the Blues’ seven-game homestand did not go well. Suffice to say it could not have gotten off to a worse start, but it seemed afterward that Yeo will at least see Game 2 of Saturday against Chicago.

Armstrong left his management suite following Columbus’ fourth goal and never returned. But the GM, along with Blues vice president of hockey operations Dave Taylor, appeared to be leaving the rink prior to Yeo addressing the media, leaving the impression that no news was imminent.

But how much longer can a club that spent to the NHL salary cap this summer watch this continue?

After nine games, the Blues’ seven points are tied for the third-fewest total in the league and they have won just one of their five home games (1-3-1). Furthermore, the club lost after holding a 2-0 lead for the third time this season, and after allowing three more third-period goals, it’s now given up a league-worst 18.

What’s worse is the club had no new clues on how to fix it Thursday than in the first three weeks of the season. The stock answer from the Blues has been that they need to do the “little things” better, and when you press them harder on why a team with so much talent is still not clicking, the repeated response has been they perhaps bought into their own hype.

Let’s skip past the “little things” defense because, let’s face it, the mistakes that the Blues have been calling “uncharacteristic” game after game are becoming characteristic. There comes a point when how you’re playing is who you are, even if forward Alexander Steen disagreed with that assessment.

“I don’t know how to answer that question,” Steen said. “That’s not who we are … everybody knows that.” We’ll agree to disagree on that for now. In the meantime, let’s get back to the Blues’ issues being rooted in the fact that they believed they were better than they actually are. Vladimir Tarasenko touched on it Thursday and Yeo echoed it as well. “This might be one of the things,” Tarasenko said. “We sign great players and maybe think like goals and chances will come right away because we have such a good roster on paper. Now things don’t go our way, so this may be a little bit different expectations (from) what everybody expects.”

Yeo added: “I think it all goes (back) to, we all came in with expectations, and we put results ahead of the process of becoming a team, building our game and with that building confidence in that game … and now obviously we’ve been reeling a little bit. We’ve had some moments in some games where we see what it looks like, we know the blueprint, we know what’s successful when we do it, and obviously we’re not sustaining that. So we need to use this as another reminder, the biggest reminder, that when we don’t have that, we’re not that tough to play against.”

How many reminders do the Blues need?

The date Thursday was Oct. 25, not Sept. 21, when Yeo’s club hosted Columbus in a preseason game at Enterprise Center. This was a regular-season game against the Blue Jackets, but you wouldn’t know it by the continued inconsistencies of the team’s top players.

Yeah, Tarasenko and teammate Jaden Schwartz — whom Yeo said Thursday were both pressing — scored first-period goals to give the Blues a 2-0 lead over Columbus. But then their line was on the ice early in the second period when the visitors’ Boone Jenner scored his team’s second goal in an 85-second span for a 3-2 lead.

“We give up one goal … and we give up like two and three right away,” Tarasenko said.

Like this literally happened three days earlier, when the Blues blew a 3-1 lead in Winnipeg in the third period, and fell 5- 4 in overtime.

This one wouldn’t need OT.

A turnover by Alex Pietrangelo led to Columbus’ fourth unanswered goal for a 4-2 advantage, and as Blues goalie Jake Allen was exiting the crease, replaced by backup Chad Johnson, Armstrong was exiting the management booth for the night as well.

Pietrangelo wound up being on the ice for five of the seven goals against and in the penalty box for another. A Norris Trophy candidate a year ago, he now has a plus-minus rating of minus-9, which is the worst in the NHL among all defensemen and the second-worst overall.

“It starts with me and trickles its way down,” Pietrangelo said. “We all need to be better, especially me, and just get back to what we’ve done here for years.”

And that’s wherein lies the real problem.

The Blues’ captain was referring to working harder. The Biergarten at Enterprise Center may have emptied out early Thursday because it was a weeknight and many of the fans probably had to work Friday morning. But for the Blues, work is optional.

How else do you explain Anthony Duclair being alone in front of the net with Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester corkscrewing himself into the ice behind it, or Steen and Pat Maroon casually backchecking as Artemi Panarin slices a pass to Josh Anderson for the Blue Jackets’ seventh goal? It was so bad Thursday that Bouwmeester and Allen, who surrendered four goals on 21 shots, weren’t even being targeted by fans.

“We just need to get back to working,” Steen said. “We’re not outworking the other team; they’re outworking us right now. That’s why they’re getting bounces, that’s why they’re getting odd-man rushes, that’s why they’re getting chances, and the opposite (for the Blues). We’ve got to get back to structurally working, plain and simple.” At least the Blues are admitting that, but will they admit they could be costing Yeo his job soon? After an offseason of upgrades the team looks fundamentally flawed, and whether that’s because of structure or execution, a significant trade at this point in the season is unlikely, so fair or unfair, the focus will ultimately be on Yeo’s future. The Blues kept their lockerroom doors closed for nearly 25 minutes after Thursday’s game ended, a meeting in which their coach said he was present. Afterwards, three players insisted he wasn’t the problem, with Tarasenko being the most defiant.

“We support him and we believe in him … that’s why he’s our coach right now and we will (expletive) play for him so hard,” said Tarasenko, who later requested media not to print his curse word. “There’s no questions about team don’t believe in the coach.”

Pietrangelo added: “One time it’s Mike, next time it’s Jake (Allen), next time it’s whoever. It’s gonna come from within this room. It’s not that. It’s gotta come from us.”

Yeo seemed appreciative of the support.

“This is a group that I really care about, and it’s a group that I really believe in,” he said. “That means a lot to me for sure. We’re not there right now, but I still believe that we’re going to be looking back as a turning point. … The only way that’s going to happen is if we dig in together. Obviously it’s normal, it’s human nature, there’s going to be finger- pointing, there’s going to be all kinds of questions and it’s hard for us as a group on the inside not to do that. But I think if we all look internally and figure out what we can do better and how we can add to the group more, then we’ll pull in tighter and we’ll pull in stronger together.”

It has to happen soon, though, or it will be closing time on the coach.