CHICAGO — Was it the players or the coach?
Nearly two weeks ago when Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson decided to fire Luke Richardson as the team’s coach, the answer to why the Blackhawks hadn’t met early-season expectations was unclear. Davidson thought he had improved the Blackhawks by bringing in a bunch of veterans in the offseason, but he must have even had doubts after 26 games. Nearly every player he invested $20 million-plus into during the offseason seemed like a terrible fit for the Blackhawks.
“You’re always evaluating and assessing what you could’ve done better,” Davidson said when asked about his offseason signings after firing Richardson. “I don’t know if we’re at that point right now where we’ve got enough information. Again, I think we have taken some nice steps, but we’re in last place. So you have to recognize that. With a little better execution and ability to manage some of the games and the personnel in games, could we be a bit ahead? I think so.”
So, Davidson rolled the dice. He fired Richardson and replaced him with Anders Sorensen, the Rockford IceHogs’ coach. How Sorensen coached the IceHogs in the AHL and his hockey mind had impressed Davidson, but there was no guarantee Sorensen would fix what had been happening. Sorensen’s plan to make the Blackhawks more offensive by pushing up their forwards on the forecheck and having the defensemen more engaged all over the ice could have easily failed. That strategy could have led to more odd-man rushes against, the one area where Richardson had concentrated on this season, and brought minimal offensive gain.
But it hasn’t backfired. Seven games in, it appears as if what Sorensen has implemented has been exactly what the Blackhawks needed. He’s unlocked them. And Thursday with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken, Sorensen and the Blackhawks did something they haven’t done since the 2022-23 season — win three consecutive games. Patrick Kane was still a Blackhawk when that last happened.
“Well, (the streak) should be good, right?” said Sorensen, who improved to 4-3-0 as coach. “It should be a good building block for the group. And you should feel good tonight, and then let’s get back at it tomorrow. But it was a big step for the group, young group, so I think we all feel really good about it right now and then back to work tomorrow.”
Davidson and Sorensen might not be taking a victory lap and the Blackhawks might still be a ways away from being a playoff team — they’re in 31st place with their win and the Nashville Predators’ overtime loss Thursday — but the Blackhawks do look like a different team under Sorensen.
It’s not just the game results, either. It’s their actual play. Richardson probably deserved a few more wins, but the Blackhawks didn’t look like they do now under him. It’s the way they’re connecting passes in the offensive zone. It’s how they’re breaking out of the defensive zone. It’s their creating legitimate rush chances. It’s their defensemen jumping into plays.
“It’s just prettier hockey,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “I mean, even if Anders says it’s not sexy, but it is. It’s good hockey, and I think that’s what guys are seeing. It’s not threading it through a guy’s legs or threading it through your own legs and lifting it and going into the net. It’s good hockey because it’s tape to tape, it’s clean, it’s in the back of the net. Or it’s a breakout play that just looks so good and now you’re flying. You have three guys or four guys flying in the rush and plays develop from that because we have the guys who have skill to make those plays. So that’s where it’s exciting to see our group understand that and get rewarded for that.”
It’s been good hockey by the players Davidson brought in this summer, too. Teuvo Teräväinen dished out two more primary assists Thursday, giving him a goal and seven assists over the last three games. He had 14 points in his first 30 games. Ilya Mikheyev scored two more goals Thursday, giving him four goals and one assist over the last three games. He had two goals and four assists on the season before the streak.
“Finnish-Russian connection is solid right now,” Foligno said. “Teravainev, we’re going to call him.”
The Blackhawks have been creating more chances — they had 12 scoring chances in the first period alone Thursday — and getting over that two-goal hump a bit more than they had been, but what’s been especially notable is they’re not adding that by subtracting from their defense. Goalie Arvid Söderblom deserves some due, but it’s not as if he’s had to stand on his head every night. He faced 28 shots Thursday. The total was 22 shots the game before that.
A big reason for that is Sorensen’s system has allowed his defensemen to play to their strengths and tap into their familiarity with him. Four of the Blackhawks’ six defensemen in the lineup Thursday played for him in Rockford. They understand how he wants them to be aggressive when the opportunity presents itself but also be smart.
“It’s more knowing to cut our losses, knowing to play in the margins a bit,” Sorensen said. “We want them up in the rush, but we got to be mindful. Also, the forwards, making sure that, hey, if you see the D up, where’s our next layer, making sure that we’re helping out in that way. We want to be a five-man attack and we want to be a five-man team that defends. If you’re defenseman or forward, it shouldn’t really matter.”
Nolan Allan with the celly after his first NHL goal 🥹 pic.twitter.com/sx1t9xUN5n
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 20, 2024
Nolan Allan saw his chance to step up in the play during the third period Thursday. He had the puck on the left point, passed it across the ice to Ryan Donato, jumped up in the play, got the puck back in the left circle and scored his first career NHL goal to seal a 3-1 win.
“Just with Anders’ system, he wants us more involved, getting up the ice, getting more involved in the offensive zone whether it just be pinching or jumping by guys and getting opportunities like that,” Allan said. “Just a sense of confidence we’re going to have a third guy high.”
The play of the Blackhawks’ young players might be the most encouraging part of Sorensen’s taking over. Though he is pulling more out of the veterans, the young players have played just as important roles. Allan, Kevin Korchinski, Louis Crevier and Alex Vlasic have been solid on defense. Connor Bedard is starting to look like himself again. Frank Nazar has stepped into a top-six role from Rockford. Lukas Reichel is playing consistent minutes. That’s a pretty young defenseman and centerman group.
There are reasons to believe the Blackhawks could get better, too. Seth Jones is close to returning. Petr Mrázek was activated off injured reserve Thursday, and Sorensen mentioned using him and Söderblom as a 1A-1B.
Sorensen is hopeful this is just the start, but he is pleased by what he’s seen.
“I think just the daily process of how we’re doing things,” he said. “But even within our game, I think we’re playing a bit more, we’re hanging on to more pucks, I think we’re making a bit more plays. We’re a little bit more on the rush, maybe, which has been good. I think today again, I thought we did that. I thought coming out of our D-zone, we’re coming out with numbers, and that’s a big part. And we’re connected coming out. It’s not one guy coming out. We’re connected coming out. So that helps.”
Seven games doesn’t make a season, but it sure appears Davidson’s bet on Sorensen is paying off.
(Photo: David Banks / USA Today)
