Christmas Is Cancelled

Table of Contents

• Intro
• The Games
• Player Spotlight
• Playbook
• Sick Bay
• Week Ahead

Intro

Your weekly Hawks update

Because this blog is new, I want to make some things clear on the format.

These posts are pretty long, so if you open this and think, "Yeah, ain't no way I'm reading this," hold on. These weekly posts are long because they're supposed to give you something to read throughout the week. Think of this as a weekly Blackhawks magazine written by some fan who has no hair.

Read it at your own pace, recount the previous week, learn some things about hockey in the playbook, and compare how the Hawks are doing this week. All from the comfort of your bathroom.

Moving on.

It's another hard week. The Blackhawks added 3 players to the injured reserve roster. Seth Jones, Alex Vlasic, and Joey Anderson are the latest casualties. I haven't seen it official anywhere yet, but CapFriendly has Colin Blackwell listed as cleared.

The injuries mostly come from the blue line, and because of this, the Hawks are forced to callup players from Rockford. Wyatt Kaiser was called up for Sunday's game, Isaak Phillips was called up earlier in the week, and Louis Crevier has been making his first steps in the NHL.

Aside from the injury news, the Blackhawks' worst news of the week was much more serious. Kevin Korchinski's absence was due to the passing of his father. The Blackhawks were able to attend the funeral and support their brother during a time of need. Korchinski has no idea who I am, but I send my prayers to him and his family. Losing a parent is tough on anybody.

With the blue line filled with rookies and the forward core comprised of Bedard and everyone else, it might be time for Kyle Davidson to make a move for some help. The Anthony Beauvillier trade was cute, but Bedard needs some help.

As far as Kyle Davidson is concerned, things aren't too pressing. Mark Lazerus had a great interview with Davidson that is worth a read if you have an Athletic subscription. Davidson has made it clear in the past that he is willing to make unpopular moves if what he thinks he is doing benefits the Hawks' future.

Cry all you want about picking up a Phil Kessel, Davidson will bide his time.

The Blackhawks went 0 for 3 in the games this week. Connor Bedard gave us a beautiful goal in the Connor duel. The Kraken embarrassed the Hawks in a 7-1 blowout. And the Canucks fooled us fans into thinking that the Hawks might be able to pull something off.

Here's how the week went.

The Games

All games go back to last Monday (12/04). Stats are from Natural Stat Trick.
A glossary for all fancy stat terminology can be found here.

Hawks @ Oilers 12/12 7:30 PM
4-1 Hawks Lose

The Connor duel, which involved a total of 4 Connors, was not as bad as I thought it would be. The Oilers were on the hunt for their 8th straight victory. Connor McDavid was pissed at the world for even doubting his hockey prowess for even a second.

The Hawks released news that Seth Jones was going to be sitting this one out because of an undisclosed upper-body injury. With our only competent defensemen out, our blue line was taped together with a defensive core that can only be described as “jaw-dropping.”

Remember when I gave Nikita Zaitsev praise last week? Well, he did great in this match too. He even scored an own-goal on Petr Mrazek. Total sarcasm. He sucked.

Lukes Reichel looked bad this game and clearly, he’s in his head. He had a beautiful opportunity and he hesitated to make anything happen out of it. That being said, giving up on Reichel this early in his career is a fool’s errand. However, I am pretty fed up with his performance this season.

Don’t worry, the Bedard goal is down below. I don’t think I need to say much about how his shot caused the sound barrier to tear into a new dimension.

The Hawks put up a good game in the first period but failed to produce much of anything. This game highlighted their weaknesses in the neutral zone, which I talk about below.

The Hawks had decent possession in the first with a 52.47 Corsi For percentage (CF%). They would finish the game with a 37.61 CF%, in all situations, which is to say, the Hawks did not have the puck a lot.

The Hawks had 23 shots on goal and 29 shots against. The Hawks went on the power play twice and got nothing out of them. The power play was the worst I’ve seen it. For some reason, Zaitsev was the point man for the second unit. That should tell you everything you need to know about their power play.

Bedard had 2 shots on goal, 5 shot attempts, and 2 scoring chances. He had a couple of mistakes and his positioning in the defensive zone was questionable. But he scored a beautiful goal, which is below. Alex Vlasic also had a nice hand in the goal. His stretch pass to Bedard is one of the many reasons why I love this kid. Vlasic played 20:24 of ice time.

Hawks @ Kraken 12/14 9:00 PM
7-1 Hawks Lose

If you stayed up this late to watch this game and finished watching. I applaud you.

From the hockey tactical side, there’s not a lot worth digging into, unless you want to see what not to do. And most of that boils down to a lack of talent and a lack of heart.

On the talent side of things, you can’t be surprised. The defense was horrible. You had Zaitsev on the first power play unit. There’s Murphy and a bunch of rookies. The blue line is going to hurt without Jones, regardless of how bad you think he is.

On the heart side of things, this team needs to play with some sort of fire. Last season the Hawks were bad. But they were still a fun team to watch. This year the Hawks flat-out suck. The fans get it. We’re supposed to be bad. Rookies are developing and are bound to make mistakes. We’ve heard the song all season long.

But where is the effort? What does Luke Richardson need to do?

I’m not ready to point at his coaching yet. We need more talent on the team before we can look at Richardson's system. Right now, the Hawks play as basic of a hockey system as you can get.

But I am starting to wonder. What does Richardson do now that he has this spiraling product of a hockey team? What will Kyle Davidson do now that he has a roster built like Swiss cheese?

Speaking of Swiss cheese. Arvid Soderblom was horrid. I've defended him in the past. I've played and held on to the "he's developing" card. Soderblom sucked so hard that it's time to send him to Rockford. You can't get worse by calling up Jaxson Stauber.

For positives, Taylor Raddysh scored the lone Hawks goal off of an Anthony Bellvilier pass to make it 2-1.

Hawks vs Canucks 12/17 2:00 PM
3-4 Hawks Lose

Considering our injury roster is starting to look like a battle casualty list, the Hawks put up a decent effort in the first period. 13 shots for the Hawks and 5 for the Canucks, at all strengths. Hawks had a 58.97 CF% in the first as well.

Then things came back to earth.

Cancucks would get a late goal in the 1st and 2 back-to-back goals in the second. The second period was the Hawks' weakest as they put up 14 shot attempts to the Cancuks 24. Once Vancouver got their 4th goal in the second, they held back and protected the lead a bit.

Hawks would finish the game with 50 shot attempts to the Canucks 52. Foligno would get 2 goals and Bedard would get 2 assists. Reese Johnson put up a scrappy effort and even fought Nikita Zadorov. Mrazek would finish the game with 22 saves on 26 shots for a .846 SV%. He did make a ridiculous save.

The game's highlight play was Bedard splitting defenders and getting the puck over to Cole Guttman. The power play also looked much better, at least for the first unit. 2 power play goals are nice but the first PP unit played with 5 forwards with Kurashev at the point.

Reichel also had a nice backchecking effort that almost led to a goal (more on backchecks in the Play Book). He had 3 shot attempts, 1 scoring chance, and 1 shot on goal. Otherwise, he was unnoticeable on the ice.

Joey Anderson got injured and did not return for the third period.

Bedard looked great against his hometown team with 5 shots on goal and 7 shot attempts.

Wyatt Kaiser got an extended shift in the D-zone and looked gassed. The ref let him switch out after the Hawks iced the puck.

Player Spotlight

Connor Bedard

It was tough picking one this week. In Alex Vlasic's one game this week, I thought he was going to make a strong case for the player spotlight 2 weeks in a row. Then he got injured.

From there it was pretty close between Bedard and Foligno. Both had comparable stats with Foligno getting the edge in the defensive zone.

But Connor Bedard, despite his mistakes in his own end, plays amazing hockey.

We got to see the "Connor vs Connor" duel in which Bedard showcased his disgusting shot to Edmonton. Bedard got 2 points against his hometown team. Finally, he continues to impress with a near point-per-game pace with 26 points in 30 games. He wins in it this week.

Stats for the Week

• 1 goal, 2 assists
• 10 shots on goal
• 15 shot attempts
• 6 scoring chances

Playbook

Last week I took a look at the defensive system that the Blackhawks use. This week, we are going to break things down Barney Style. It's all about the backcheck.

There have been many occasions when the Hawks gave up goals due to poor backchecking. Defensemen time their pinches wrong. Forwards forget to recover to the high-ready position. It's like watching a nerdy white kid dance with no rhythm.

Look, I am not saying that fixing the backcheck will solve their problems and end world hunger. There’s a lot more going on with the Hawks' lack of success than the backcheck. Having said that, backchecking is a skill that is still vital to a team's success.

What is backchecking?

Source: Hockey Plays and Strategies, by Mike Johnston

Backchecking is initiated as soon as puck possession is lost in the offensive zone. Backchecking ends when the puck is turned over or defensive zone coverage is set up. Defensemen skate back and protect the middle of the ice. One low forward supports the D-men, this is the "F3." Two forwards can hang out high for a counterattack, or they can squeeze in low and pressure the attackers. Either way, these two forwards, "F1 and F2", should not let the opposing defensemen get ahead. That is a very basic backchecking system and of course, there are many ways to use it.

To begin the backcheck, the players who are away from the forecheck recover by doing one of the following:

1- Recover for a counterattack

2- Back up a pinching defenseman

3-Move into a high offensive position, known as the high recovery position.

The high recovery position is essential in preventing an odd-man rush. The forward who covers this spot, the F3, is reading the play. He can either pressure an attacker on their breakout (as long as he has support). He can initiate a “soft lock” by applying pressure toward the puck carrier. The "soft lock" angles the attacker towards the boards without going in for a hit. This forces the puck carrier to make a rushed pass or lose possession. Support is key, however, the defensemen should already be in a position to protect the middle of the ice.

Let’s look at Wyatt Kaiser’s play that doomed him to Rockford.

Notice how the F3 is soft locking the attacker into the boards. Kaiser decides to pinch in leaving the middle of the ice open. That’s bad.

 So, a couple of important keys to a solid backcheck:

1- Recovering/Providing Support

2- Protecting the middle of the ice

Key Players in the Backcheck

The backcheck is not only on the F3 and two defensemen. F1 and F2 should be applying backpressure as best they can. Some systems might have one forward hang back and wait for a turnover or a stretch pass. This requires a skilled offensive player and a competent defensive core. If you’ve ever seen Patrick Kane catch flak for not being sound on defense, this is one of those reasons why. The opposite of this is Marian Hossa. Hossa was an absolute animal on the backcheck and he applied back pressure like no other.

Throughout the backcheck, you want to pressure the attack from both sides, i.e. north and south. The F3 and D-men protect the middle of the ice and keep tight gaps. F1 and F2 apply backpressure and squeeze in. Once at the defending blue line, you should outnumber the attackers. The players will be more ready to transition into a counterattack or a sound defensive setup.

For the defensemen, they should stay inside of the dots. Staying inside of the dots is an easy way to ensure the middle of the ice is protected. I did say we were going to get Barney style, didn't I?

Communication

Another important aspect is communication. The defensemen and F3 need to be on the same play. They should be communicating. The D1 can guide the forwards onto which players they need to pressure. If implemented well, the D1 and F3 should apply pressure to the puck carrier without giving up space. The D1 can even pinch on the puck carrier and have the F3 recover.

The F3 can also hold pressure on the puck carrier until the red line, at which point he releases the puck carrier to the defensemen. If F3 protects the middle and is in a good position to support, D1 can stand up the puck carrier at the blue line. If the defenseman is standing up to the attacker, F3 must be in a position to support. This goes the other way around too.

If the F3 pressures the puck carrier past the red line, D1 must hold the middle of the ice. If the F3 angles the puck carrier to the wall, D1 still holds the middle of the ice. The two players must communicate with each other.

The Neutral Zone

As I covered last week, the Hawks moved away from man-to-man as soon as Jeremy Colliton was fired. Derek King implemented zone coverage and then we see Luke Richardson implementing the popular Box+1 last year.

But how about their backcheck? Has anything changed?

During the Colliton era, the Hawks utilized the 1-2-2 forecheck. When they transitioned to the neutral zone (NZ) the Hawks backchecked in the following manner. Two D’s hold the middle. F3 also holds the middle and skates with the D. F1 and F2 apply pressure and recover towards the middle.

As we can see, the middle of the ice is protected. However, this leaves a lot of room to play the puck wide.

With the two forwards applying pressure, this created a risky and aggressive tactic. If you lack speed, which the Blackhawks did at this time, opposing teams can make you look silly and dust you.

Or even worse, the opposing team initiates a quick counterattack, a defenseman loses the blue line and is unable to recover in time to support their D partner. This was something Seth Jones did a lot and has done a few times this season.

Implementing an aggressive forecheck and backcheck system requires fast players. Without fast players, you are better off playing a passive back check. A basic backchecking system where all three forwards close the gap is much more successful in the neutral zone. They are better at forcing turnovers and recovering in a sound defensive position.

So did the Blackhawks learn their lesson? Well… not really.

In the above clip, watch Lukas Reichel, the F3. When the Oilers enter the neutral zone, Louis Crevier is already pinching the high forward. Reichel, as the F3, needs to pick up the open space. Instead, Reichel watches Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pass the puck to Connor McDavid and then follows the puck, leaving a hole wide open and Vlasic alone. As soon as the Oilers enter the offensive zone, they take advantage of the open space and score a goal.

The Blackhawks still utilize two forwards high with F3 and their young defensemen to fend for themselves. The Bedard line is often positioned high and they are late to the defensive zone when attackers eventually enter.

Clogging the neutral zone makes for boring hockey. The Predators and the Islanders, especially last year, are known for their neutral zone play. With the Blackhawks, they just don't have the forward depth to take advantage of aggressive forechecking systems or backcheck.

The Blackhawks backchecking leads to a lot of bad defensive zone entries and goals. Clogging the neutral zone might not be something Richardson wants to do. He wants to play aggressively and fast. For the rookies, there's no better way to learn Richardson's style of play other than just playing it.

On the other hand, I do not see much difference in Colliton's forechecking and neutral zone play from what's currently being used.

 Time will tell once we get more talent.

Sick Bay

Injured players are accurate as of 12/18/2023 per CapFriendly, new additions in bold.

Taylor Hall – Knee/Out for season
Andreas Athanasiou – Lower body/week to week
Colin Blackwell – CLEARED ON DEC 18
Samuel Savoie – Femur/Out for the season
Lukas Philp – Achilles/6 months
Jared Tinordi – Concussion/unknown recovery time
Seth Jones - Upper Body/unknown recovery time
Joey Anderson - Shoulder/unknown recovery time
Alex Vlasic - Upper Body/unknown recovery time 

Week Ahead

Hawks vs Avalanche 12/19 7:30 PM

Hawks vs Canadiens 12/22 7:30 PM

Hawks @ Blues 12/23 7:00 PM

Let’s Go Hawks.
Dirty Third