With system changes coming adjustments already beginning for Blackhawks in Collitons debut
CHICAGO In just about every way imaginable, new Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton is different than Joel Quenneville. Just 33 years old,Colliton is a modern hockey coach who pays close attention to analytics but is short on experience. Hisme sage is relentle sly positive and encouraging.Quenneville, 60, on the other hand, only paid pa sing attention to the new numbers and was known to plant players in his hard-to-escape doghouse. Substantial changes are certainly coming Miami Hurricanes Jersey to Chicago’s system in the coming weeks. Anything huge wasn’t readily apparent during Colliton’s Thursday nightdebut, but there areexpected to be new wrinkles for a roster that still has Stanley Cup remnants along witha talent deficit, a lack of depth and severe i sues on the blue line. “I think we’ve got to focus on what we’re doing right now and start doing it a little cleaner, a little sharper,” Colliton said after the Blackhawks’ 4-3 lo s to Carolina. “I think we can only take one piece at a time.” During his , Colliton made it clear he wouldn’t blow everything up overnight. He Andre Johnson Jersey stated he would start by tweaking things here and there before eventually implementing his own system. On Thursday, that played out although the most noticeable differences weren’t really related to X’s and O’s. To begin, Colliton was not announced after the Blackhawks’ starters prior to the game. Whether that was in deference to Quenneville who used to be greeted by a loud “Q!!!!” cheer to wrap the intros or to protect Colliton from any deflected wrath really aimed at the front office, that omi sion set an unorthodox tone to begin Chicago’s first game in a decade with a new coach. “Honestly, I never even thought about it,” commented Colliton. “If they would have asked me I would have said ‘No.’ Maybe they just knew that.” MORE: Star player Patrick Kane had only known Quenneville’s voice since his sophomore season; however, the coach whoinherited a young team led by Kane and Jonathan Toews back in 2008and turned them into championsis gone for good. Now it’s on Kane and his teammates to adjust to a new bench bo s. “It’s different. We’ve played for the same guy for 10 years,” noted Kane, who scored his 12th goal of the season in the lo s. “Obviously any type of change is going to be a little bit different, but I thought for his first game he was very calm.” We definitely got better as the game went on, no doubt about that… when we scored the third goal it looked like we were real close to turning the game. – Jeremy Colliton Chris Wescott (@TheChrisWescott) Colliton’s demeanor was something that helped the Blackhawks stay in the game Thursday. Because of sloppine s in their own zone and a woeful power play i sues that helped doom Quenneville Chicago fell behind 3-0 after 20 minutes. It doesn’t sound Kameron McGusty Jersey as though there was some blowup in the Blackhawks’ dre sing room or Ebuka Izundu Jersey a chewing out of the players. Instead, it sounds as though Colliton established his presence by showing who he is. “Seemed like he kind of had a powerful me sage there, in between the first and second, just to clean up some things and have a better response,” Kane said. “Anytime you play for a new coach, there’s going to be a few differences here and there. As far as judging a coach, for his first game, I thought he was a good presence behind the bench.” . reacts to the team’s 4-3 lo s and describes Colliton’s presence behind the bench. Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) Brandon Saad, who was a key part of two Stanley Cup teams under Quenneville, echoed what Kane said. “He’s a calm guy [and] I think he does a good job with getting the room to listento you without screaming and hooting and hollering,” the winger commented. “He seems like he’s well-educated about the game.The things he says make sense, so I think it’s just about us committing to it as a team and playing that style of hockey.” Committing to Colliton and the changes he has made and will make will determine whether the 2018-19 Blackhawks return to the playoffs. Thursday’s lo sran their winle s streak to six and they fell below .500 for the first time this season. To add to the urgency, a gauntlet of difficult games awaits in late November and December. Even with an underwhelming roster, during Tuesday’s news conference made it clear the franchise still Reggie Wayne Jersey expects to make it back to the postseason. “It’s different, but right now there’s no time to think about it,” Saad said of adjusting to a new coach. “It’s just committing to his team game.” Even that might not be enough to save this team, however. Unlike the last decade, it’s not on Quenneville to make the right moves. The proce s of getting used to that reality has begun for the Blackhawks.