Connect with us

Published

on

CHICAGO — There was no easing in for the Chicago Blackhawks at the start of training camp. Not with Jeff Blashill in charge.

Connor Bedard and Co. had a rigorous first day of practice, and Blashill was everywhere — barking out various instructions and pointers. It took a toll, too.

“My feet are killing me,” a smiling Blashill said Thursday. “I haven’t been on the ice since April, so that was a hard adjustment. I don’t remember them hurting that bad, but I guess that’s what happens every training camp.”

And that’s a relatively minor adjustment for Blashill in his first real look at his new team since he was hired as coach in May. His big task is moving along a painful rebuilding process after Chicago won a total of 74 games over the previous three seasons.

There is talent — led by Bedard, who just turned 20 in July — but the Blackhawks assuredly will be one of the NHL’s youngest teams on opening night. So Blashill has some work to do.

“Out of camp, one, we want to start to build a culture here. … The second goal would be to make sure your systems are in place,” Blashill said. “Third goal would be to figure out who’s in what spots.”

Blashill said Thursday was mostly about culture, focused on winning fundamentals. The intensity and pace — especially for the first day of training camp — were noticeable. There was little down time, with Blashill and his coaching staff hurrying the players into place ahead of each drill.

“I loved everything about today,” captain Nick Foligno said. “I think it sets the tone for what Blash is going to want, what our coaching staff wants, and the standard that we want to have.”

Bedard said the players knew what was coming.

“He warned us a little that we were going to be skating,” he said. “I think it’s good. You need to do that and it’s going to build a culture and the way we’re going to play.”

The job with the Blackhawks is a second opportunity for Blashill to prove he can be a successful head coach in the NHL. The 51-year-old Michigan native went 204-261-72 in seven seasons with the Detroit Red Wings before he was let go in April 2022.

Blashill spent the previous three years as an assistant to Jon Cooper with Tampa Bay, but he likely will be calling on his experience as a head coach in the minors as he navigates the growing pains with the youthful Blackhawks.

“There’s real comparisons to my experiences that I had in the American (Hockey) League,” he said. “But in the end, a coach said this to me a long time ago, he was a former player, (he) said his best coaches made them do it right, and we’re going to make our guys do it right.”

Blashill and the Blackhawks opened training camp without veteran goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who has been sidelined by injuries since he agreed to a two-year contract last year in free agency. General manager Kyle Davidson said Brossoit is going to be out “long term” after he had offseason hip surgery.

The Blackhawks acquired Spencer Knight in a March 1 trade with Florida, and they signed the goaltender to a contract extension last week. They also have Arvid Soderblom in net.

Continue Reading

Sports

Source: No further discipline for Stars’ Rantanen

Published

on

By

Source: No further discipline for Stars' Rantanen

The NHL Department of Player Safety has decided Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen will not receive any supplemental discipline for his boarding major against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, a source told ESPN on Wednesday.

Rantanen was ejected from the Stars’ loss to the Islanders after an injurious hit on defenseman Alexander Romanov. With less than a minute to go in regulation, Rantanen skated through a check by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and shoved Romanov in the back, sending him violently into the end boards. He was eventually helped from the ice.

The Islanders didn’t offer any update on Romanov’s health after the game, other than to say he didn’t have to leave the arena for the hospital.

“When one of your friends gets hurt on the ice, it’s way more important than hockey. We get the two points. We’re happy about that. But our first concern was Romy,” Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said.

Rantanen, the Stars’ leading scorer with 27 points in 20 games, was given a five-minute major for boarding, which carries an automatic game misconduct. Dallas played the last 27.3 seconds without him, nearly tying the game on a goal with 0.1 seconds remaining that was overturned by the NHL Situation Room for goalie interference. New York won an emotional game 3-2.

Islanders coach Patrick Roy, who unleashed a profane tirade at Rantanen as he left the ice, said the hit was “disrespectful” to his team.

“I’m going to say is [that] when you see the number, you have to lay off. Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy,” Roy said. “I was in Colorado when [Rantanen] was drafted there. It’s not his style. But at the same time, that should not be part of our game.”

Ultimately, the NHL saw the play as Stars coach Glen Gulutzan did, with Gulutzan arguing that Rantanen was simply off-balance and didn’t intend to deliver a hit on Romanov near the end boards.

“If you watch the play, I think Mayfield holds up Rants and they actually clip skates. So Rants is going off-balance going in there too. If you played the game and you’re off-balance, you usually put your hands out,” Gulutzan said. “I’ve seen Rants play enough in the last 10 years. It’s just one of those hockey plays that happened. I’m hoping Romanov is OK. It’s a dangerous play for everybody.”

Rantanen will be available when the Stars face the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Continue Reading

Sports

Jets sign captain Lowry to 5-year, $25M extension

Published

on

By

Jets sign captain Lowry to 5-year, M extension

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Winnipeg Jets signed captain Adam Lowry to a five-year, $25 million contract extension Wednesday. The deal starts next season.

The 32-year-old Lowry has played his entire 12-year NHL career with Winnipeg, serving as captain since 2023-24.

St. Louis native Lowry has a goal and two assists in seven games this season. The 6-foot-5 center has 122 goals and 154 assists in career 782 games.

Continue Reading

Sports

Bruins’ McAvoy, hit in mouth by puck, has surgery

Published

on

By

Bruins' McAvoy, hit in mouth by puck, has surgery

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy had surgery Wednesday to repair facial injuries and will be sidelined indefinitely.

McAvoy was hit in the mouth by Noah Dobson‘s slap shot Saturday in the second period of Boston’s 3-2 victory in Montreal.

“He’s doing good,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said before Boston’s game against Anaheim. “He’s recovering right now at home. We still don’t know how long he’s going to be out for.”

McAvoy has 14 assists in 19 games this season.

Continue Reading

Trending