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.
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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.
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