There’s been no shortage of news surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks of late. Most notably, the organization hired Jeff Blashill as their 42nd head coach in franchise history on Thursday (May 22). They officially introduced him in a press conference alongside Blackhawks’ general manager Kyle Davidson on Tuesday, May 27. This denotes a new chapter for the Blackhawks as they attempt to take the next steps toward contention. Here are five thoughts from Blashill being named head coach, and what it means for the Blackhawks.
Blashill’s Background, & Input From Former Players & Colleagues
We all know by now that Blashill wasn’t the Blackhawk’s first choice. They made a run at some new blood in David Carle, but he chose to stay at the University of Denver. They were also interested in long-time NHL coach Mike Sullivan, but he had previous connections with the New York Rangers, and unsurprisingly took that route.
So, was Blashill just the best of what was left? A lot of people see it that way. But Davidson can’t just conjure up the perfect coach. He liked the experience Blashill brought to the table with developing young players. I’m sure it was also nice to bring on a coach with some previous NHL experience.
According to Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN radio, a couple of people in the Blackhawk’s organization are super happy Blashill is on board. One of them is Tyler Bertuzzi. Blashill was the coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins when Bertuzzi started his pro career in the AHL, as well as when he moved up to the Red Wings organization. They overlapped there six seasons altogether. Said Bertuzzi of his previous experience with Blashill,
He likes to preach simplicity, north-south, play hard and obviously plays will be made when they’re available. If you play hard for him, he’s an easy coach to get along with. Obviously you’ll get your chances to make your plays and do all the other things, but the three base things are probably work hard, play simple and go out there and do your best. If you make a mistake, do your best to get it back and give it 100%.
That certainly sounds like a good plan for this current Blackhawks’ young roster. “Work hard, play simple and go out there and do your best.”
Blackhawks’ legend and current team ambassador Chris Chelios actually spent two years as a part-time coach under Blashill in the AHL after he retired from playing. Chelios offered these testaments of his former co-worker.
Very accountable, good structure, getting the point across and worked really well with the young kids, which should be a great situation with all these kids the Blackhawks have acquired over the past couple years. He’s always had a great rapport with the younger kids, but now that he’s got this experience, if and when the Blackhawks sign some veterans and free agents, he can relate to that and I think he’s just gotten better with experience.
Chelios is referring to Blashill’s seven seasons with the Red Wings, as well as his three seasons working as an assistant coach under Jon Cooper for the Tampa Bay Lightning. By the way, former Blackhawk fan favorite Brandon Hagel is now with the Lightning, so he has some knowledge about what kind of a coach Blashill is.
These are all positive insights regarding the Blackhawks’ newest bench boss. But we really won’t know how it’s all going to pan out until training camp in September and the beginning of the 2025-26 season. Time will tell.
Blashill’s Introductory Press Conference: Forming the Foundation
When 51-year-old Blashill was introduced to the media on May 27, many fans seemed upset that both Davidson and the new coach skirted around any kind of a timetable toward playoff contention. Instead, they just eluded to “trusting the process.”
Related – Chicago Blackhawks Are No Longer the NHL’s Dumping Ground
But really; how can either one of them set a timetable at this point? Davidson doesn’t yet know who he might land in free agency, and Blashill hasn’t had a practice, or even met with most of the players yet. All they can really do is set themselves up as best they can for success, and then let things play out. It’s not the answer people are looking for, but there are a few thing we can glean from what we’ve heard over the last few days.
First off, my initial impression of Blashill was a positive one. He appears confident in himself and his abilities, and he seems to have a realistic understanding of the situation he’s walking into. Here are some quotes from the new bench boss that stood out to me. Regarding the Blackhawks’ prospect pool, Blashill said,
The scouts here have done an excellent job. We have a number of great young players in the system, and also young players that are going to be with us to start the season in Chicago and knocking on the door in Rockford. We have an opportunity to have depth at every position and, honestly, potential superstars at every position. That’s very unique in this league. My job now is to help mold them, teach them, coach them and lead them to becoming great winners.
“…depth in every position and, honestly, potential superstars in every position.”
Let’s think about this for a minute. At forward, the Blackhawks have Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore, just to name a few. We already know Chicago has one of the deepest defensive prospect pools on the NHL. Alex Vlasic is already a proven NHL defenseman, and he’s just getting started. Artyom Levshunov is on the cusp of graduating to an NHL regular, as is Kevin Korchinski. Add the emergence of Sam Rinzel to this group, just to name a few!, and the Blackhawks could be cooking in a couple of years.
In goal, Spencer Knight looked like he had all the right tools last season to become an elite goaltender. Plus, there’s names like Arvid Soderblom, Drew Commesso and even Adam Gajan forming some solid depth behind Knight.
Blashill’s Game Plan
Blashill even got into some X’s and O’s about the style of play he wants to preach with his new team.
We want to make sure, when we don’t have the puck, we’re a pressure team. We want to take away other teams’ time and space. You can do that a number of ways: through gapping, squeezing and using defensemen to take the puck out of the opponent’s hands as quickly as possible in our end…[or by] making sure we’re aggressive on the forecheck and making it feel like the other team has to earn every inch of ice.
Obviously, Blashill wants to utilize the talents of the defensemen and have them be an aggressive part of getting the puck back to the forwards. This is a similar approach to what interim head coach Anders Sorensen was trying to instill, so it won’t be brand new to the players. It also speaks to Blashill developing a game plan around the skill set of his players, versus trying to force them into a system that doesn’t match their talents.
Another quote from Blashill, this time for when the Blackhawks have possession of the puck.
When you have the puck, [we want to] make sure we’re predictable to each other. By being predictable to each other, we can play faster. As you play faster, now your talent comes through.
Predictability and speed are two buzz words I’ve heard over and over from the players and coaches over the past season. This is the identity the team is working towards, so it’s refreshing that Blashill has picked up and that and seems to be on board.
It will be important for Blashill to get more out of the forward group than last season, starting with new franchise cornerstone Bedard. The new coach touched on how he wanted to do this; mentioning Bedard creating more separation and space for himself, stopping on pucks and keeping his shifts shorter. Incidentally, Bedard didn’t attend the recent World Championships, presumably to focus on ways to increase his speed this offseason. Ah, there’s that “speed” word again.
Blackhawks’ New Coaching Staff Taking Shape
Even before Blashill was announced at the new head coach, we knew from Davidson that Sorensen would be staying with the organization in some capacity. We now know he will remain as an assistant coach under Blashill. This might seem a little awkward, but it turns out the two are actually friends.
Michael Peca will also be an assistant coach for the Blackhawks. The 51-year-old previously carved out a nice 14-year NHL career for himself, playing for six different teams. He won the Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component, twice in his career. Most recently, Peca has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach for the New York Rangers. He will likely work with the forwards, and I’m guessing from his background he’ll be stressing strong two-way play.
Related – Blackhawks’ Nazar & Vlasic Building Confidence Amid Success at World Championships
According to hockey insider Frank Seravalli, Mike Vellucci will be the other assistant coach, working with the defensemen. The 58-year-old was most recently an assistant coach for Team USA at the World Championships. Yes, the same Team USA that won the gold medal and included Blackhawks Vlasic and Nazar.
Before that, Vellucci was an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last four years. He also has plenty of previous experience in the OHL and AHL leagues.
Former assistants Kevin Dean, Derek King and Derek Plante won’t return, but goaltending coach Jimmy Waite and assistant video coach Matt Meacham will remain on staff. We have yet to hear of any developments regarding the future coaching staff for the Rockford IceHogs.
Captain Foligno Speaks to the Excitement of a New Season
Captain Nick Foligno, who was at the press conference along with alternate captain Connor Murphy, wrapped up the introductory press conference day with these thoughts regarding the players, their new coach and the upcoming season.
Foligno touched on how not everyone is built to undergo a rebuild. It’s hard, and it takes a huge commitment. But he feels the remaining veteran players understand that, and the younger players are super excited to carve out NHL careers, as well as build something from scratch.
This goes hand in hand with another statement Blashill made, …once you get that culture in place, the winning takes care of itself.”
It appears the players are of the right mindset, and so is the coaching staff. They’re well on their way to building the right culture, and Blashill intends to help them continue it. It looks good on paper, but will all the right pieces fall into place?
Related – Blackhawks’ Top 5 “Tool Belt” Celebrations From 2nd Half of 2024-25 Season
So, let’s get back to the original question. When the heck are the Blackhawks going to be competitive again?! Well, nobody seems to know the answer to that just yet. I understand that’s not much consolation for fans, so here’s my prediction. The Blackhawks make the playoffs in the 2026-27 season, and they’re serious contenders by 2028-29. Like I said above, time will tell.
Until then, let’s just enjoy the process.
