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@boilermaker thanks, my friend. I truly believe HHS’s success with the Blackhawks coverage depends on all of you. Without this community, none of it happens. We’ve already built a great group here, and your comments and analysis make the forum better every day. I love reading what everyone brings — keep it coming, invite others, and let’s keep growing this thing together. Much appreciated.
@LAHAWK Welcome to the HHS family! Really appreciate your kind words about my articles. We’re lucky to have a great group of people here who love hockey, share their opinions, and keep the conversations going.
I’m always up for debates and different perspectives — as long as it’s done with respect, that’s how we all get better. Any feedback on my articles or ideas to improve the site are always welcome, don’t hesitate.
If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, just drop it in the forum. I try to check in at least once a day and enjoy adding my voice to the discussions. Looking forward to your takes!
—Frenchy
Chunk
Well that kind of depends, doesn’t it? After a turnover in your own zone, what are his responsibilities? If I had to guess, he’s not allowed to just chase the puck all over the zone until he gets it back. It was bad, but it’s also preseason playing with a bunch of guys he hasn’t much in practice and who likely won’t be with the club to start the year.Point it out, learn, and move on…
I want to see how he does with Burakovsky and Donato. I’ll also hold any judgement on Nazar until I see him back with TT and Bertuzzi. They both looked very disjointed and unsure to me yesterday.
……….
Chunk, I had a bad feed yesterday. Help me out…… At the sidewall bedard took a pass and it looked like he coughed not got stripped. Which was it….. Then he was so flat footed and unaware he didn’t even move his feet he pathetically reached as the Wing drove thru the circle. Wrong?
And I didn’t see Bedard below his endline much, if at all. Kid was above or at the top of the circles when the puck was below the dots in his zone. Looked to me he had winger responsibilities. Wrong? Anyone have a thought?………. So no Chunk, we don’t know what his resposibilities were on the cough/strip but regardless the attempt and awareness at recovery of the puck was feckless. As he’s been 80% of his time as a Hawk..[/quote]
Hey Rico. No getting around it. It was a crap play by Bedard. I was following the puck after the turnover so didn’t see exactly what Bedard did. I’m not going to fret much that he’s not a Selke candidate. His game is offense. If he can be reasonable defensively (a la Kane) and put up 100 pts, I’ll be a happy camper. If you are expecting him to turn into some greatly improved defensive player, you are likely going to be gravely disappointed.
If I’m handicapping it right now, I think Frondell ultimately ends up the 1C and Bedard will ultimately end up a wing. I just think it will free him up to be the point producer he’s destined to be. Frondell is really impressive on his skates and just finds the right places to be. He’s incredibly solid. I watched his last game on the Flosports app. He’s a lot of fun to watch.
Hello everyone, hope y’all had a wonderful summer.
Thanks Boilermaker for directing to this site. Really enjoying CoachFrenchy’s blogs. Clear, concise with ton’s of info, and in-depth analysis.
As far as the team, the old adage wait until after the first 20 games to see what you have really pertains to this team. New systems (again), new players young team will take awhile for Blashill to sort out the players roles.
Welcome back LA. I figure Blashill learned something under Cooper.
Hello everyone, hope y’all had a wonderful summer.
Great to hear from you LA. Hope you’re doing well.
We’re fortunate to have such a knowledgeable writer as Frenchy. We got a good thing going here between his blogs and this thread.
Looking forward to the season. They’ll be some growing pains early as you mentioned, but I think they will eventually gel and show some progress.
Replying to MH’s 1:27 post.
I’m still expecting KK to be one of the two remaining to make the team.Could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if they run him up and down the RFD shuttle this year.
As Mr Ricochet mentioned, it’s weird how young KK still is.Nik Hjalmarsson (yes I’m aware a totally different type of D-man) did not stay up for good until he was 22 years, 4 months.
KK would not be 22 years, 4 months until the start of the ’26/27 season.
At that time (early October 2026) he would only be one month older than Duncan Keith, when Duncan Keith played his first ever NHL game.
And as great as he became, Keith still had some warts early in his NHL career.KK’s development arc is already disappointing based on his draft position (Adam Boqvist 2.0 anybody?)
Hopefully he gets it, sooner rather than later.Hello everyone, hope y’all had a wonderful summer.
Thanks Boilermaker for directing to this site. Really enjoying CoachFrenchy’s blogs. Clear, concise with ton’s of info, and in-depth analysis.
As far as the team, the old adage wait until after the first 20 games to see what you have really pertains to this team. New systems (again), new players young team will take awhile for Blashill to sort out the players roles.
I can’t get my quote to take….
Replying to MH’s 1:27 post.
I’m still expecting KK to be one of the two remaining to make the team.………………
rpeters, KK just turned 21 in June. Besides that wasted season as a 19/20 yr old in the NHL has 16 more NHL games 56 AHL games. He’s still green and hopefully gets placed properly to develop and right now IMO that’s the AHL…….. But camp and the preseason should flesh this thing out.
Grz is a lock to make the roster and eat 20:00 a night for this squad.
Blackhawks defense rostered players:
Murphy
Vlasic
Kaiser
Rinzel
Crevier (lost waivers exemption, he stays up unless the team trades or sends him down and risks losing him for nothingOut of those 5, only Murphy is a true veteran. Vlasic has 179 NHL games, Kaiser 98, Crevier 56 and Rinzel 9 games.
That would leave (2) roster spots that both get consistent TOI (if you think Crevier is mostly sitting).There are three good reasons to keep another veteran to stabilize the defense for now.
1) Spencer Knight 2) Connor Bedard 3) Frank NazarIs Knight best developed by having him face a shooting gallery and lots of breakaways every game? Low save %, damaged confidence, etc.
Or would it be better to let him get slightly more comfortable with a possibly “weak”, but not “learning on the job” defense in front of him?
Is it really a great idea to have Bedard and Nazar consistently play while down a goal or two?
Or would it be better to have them play more minutes in tied games or learning how to protect/increase a lead?
(don’t get me wrong, if it’s a disaster all 3 will tough it out like they should, I just don’t think it’s the best way for them to develop)you still can do something like:
Vlasic / Rinzel
Murphy / Kaiser
Gryz / rotating youngster (Crevier, Arty, EDM, etc) or flip Gryz and KaiserStill plenty of NHL experience to be had for defensive newbies (which includes Rinzel, Kaiser), while maybe upgrading the NHL game experience for your most important non-defense players.
I’m not 100% convinced Gryz gets kept, but this is my best argument in favor of it.…………
Really good post, MH. You lay it out as it is and what the options are. Depending on camp/preseason I could see KD deciding EDM, Artie and KK need more seasoning and instead of rotating 1 in at times thru the season he gets another vet Dman for the reasons you post. You don’t want Bedard wasting shifts hemmed in his zone, Knight facing idiotic total shots against or see Nazar go thru that kind of dysfunction, weak structure or semblance of stability. … I do think EDM has a decent chance to break camp with the squad but if not I wouldn’t rule out another vet Dman added.
