Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson to implement new tactic
After being inspired by a series-clinching play for the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson finally has a plan to utilize the team's speed.
Chicago is one of America's most famous cities, with some of the most historical sports teams on the continent. However, with these teams' recent performances, many are now calling them 'historically bad,' and the stats make it hard to argue with. The Chicago Bears finished the last NFL season 23rd in the league, the Blackhawks 31st in the NHL, and the White Sox now stand in the MLB at dead last.
While there are no doubt problems with players and management in each team, at the end of the day, they are all professional for a reason and can perform at a high level when the right structure is put in place. Looking for the right structure to reverse Chicago's recent misfortune, Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson has reportedly decided to go all in on player speed. After being inspired by the play Hampus Lindholm and David Pastrnak pulled off to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the recent Stanley Cup playoffs, Richardson gave the team the O.K. to create more breakaways.
"In short, [Luke Richardson's] giving Hawks wingers green lights in certain situations to take off behind the opposing defense and try to create more breakaways.
If two Hawks forwards are battling for the puck along the boards in the neutral zone, for example, he wants them to try to win the puck backward to a waiting defenseman. In the meantime, he wants the weak-side winger to take off toward the far goal, creating an opportunity for the defenseman to hit him with a stretch pass or fire the puck off the far end-wall as a kind of bank pass."
If two Hawks forwards are battling for the puck along the boards in the neutral zone, for example, he wants them to try to win the puck backward to a waiting defenseman. In the meantime, he wants the weak-side winger to take off toward the far goal, creating an opportunity for the defenseman to hit him with a stretch pass or fire the puck off the far end-wall as a kind of bank pass."
With little more to lose, this could be the right direction for the Blackhawks. Among those with enough speed are center Andreas "Greece Lightning" Athanasiou, right winger Ilya Mikheyev, and the much younger left winger Lukas Reichel, who spent most of his summer training for the upcoming season. Additionally, Luke Richardson has added that he has already noticed an improvement in the speed and overall physicality of the hockey the team was playing from one day of camp to another.
"I thought it was better than yesterday. I thought it was some pretty good pace and a little bit of physicality, and we're starting to see some, you know, things we're asking them to do [...] I'd still like to see us attack the net, shoot a little bit more, but it's still kind of finding itself, settling down. There's bouncing pucks and guys finding their hands."
The Chicago Blackhawks start their regular season on Tuesday, October 8 against the Utah Hockey Club. While this is the first game against the Utah Hockey Club, it could also be the first chance viewers get to see the struggling team make the breakaway play. Hopefully, they can find out sooner or later if they will have to pay for laying all their cards out on the table.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 22 | 72 ANSWERS Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson to implement new tactic Will the Chicago Blackhawks be able to use Luke Richardson's play in the upcoming season? | ||
| Yes, once | 17 | 23.6 % |
| Yes, more than once | 37 | 51.4 % |
| No, not at all | 18 | 25 % |
| List of polls | ||
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