The Blackhawks entered Saturday tied for a playoff spot.
That fact has no real significance. The season is less than two weeks old; the Hawks have played only four games. But it’s something of an achievement for this team nonetheless.
They’ve unquestionably exceeded expectations during these first four games. The systems coach Luke Richardson has installed have the Hawks outperforming their talent level, and some of general manager Kyle Davidson’s low-key, low-risk pickups over the past year — guys like Sam Lafferty, Jason Dickinson and goalie Alex Stalock — are off to hot starts.
The home-opener victory Friday against the Red Wings was one of the more memorable, surprising, feel-good wins this Hawks team has earned in years.
They’re not letting two comeback victories get to their heads, and rightfully so. After practice Saturday, Max Domi kept repeating that they’re approaching things one day at a time, admitting it is a cliche yet an accurate cliche.
But the internal self-belief with which the Hawks entered this season — which nobody else in the hockey world shared — has received a bit of validation.
“The players are believing the message,” Richardson said Saturday. “They’re understanding what they’re supposed to be doing on the ice. [Today we watched] all kinds of clips in the neutral zone where we got better from the beginning of the season until now, already. [It] seems like it’s starting to become automatic.
“As teams start to pre-scout us, they’ll see it, too. So we’re going to have to adjust to that. But if we have that base, it’s easy to adjust. If we’re not organized, if you don’t have a base plan to go off of, it’s pretty hard to adjust. … It’s a good start, but [there’s] a long way to go.”
Richardson’s easy-to-understand systems are one factor driving this early success, but the sense of equality — where every player is treated the same — that Richardson has instilled might be an even bigger factor.
Starting three-on-three overtime Saturday not with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews or Seth Jones but rather Lafferty, Dickinson and Jack Johnson was partially matchup-based — Lafferty had been checking Wings star Dylan Larkin all game — but also sent a message: The players playing the best will play the most.
Domi said that was used as “motivation for the rest of our team,” and two minutes later, he scored the game-winner.
The same equality emphasis has held true on off-days, as well, such as in video review sessions.
“We want to make sure they feel everyone is accountable the same, and everybody’s going to get the [same] acknowledgement when they do it right,” Richardson said. “[MacKenzie] Entwistle is a great example. He missed a check in one of the earlier games this season, and I pointed it out in the video room. I said, ‘We’re not trying to embarrass anyone here, but you have to have that check.’
“Then he had a great forecheck and plastered somebody…and we put that on the video [Wednesday]. I pointed out, ‘I know I showed ‘Entsy’ missing his check. Well, I want to show you guys when we do something right.’ You can’t just take it for granted.”
The Hawks’ unofficial new mantra of “every man contributing equally” will be tested now, though, by starting goalie Petr Mrazek’s groin strain.
The injury is not “as bad as they thought” and Mrazek is officially day-to-day, but it sounds like he’ll likely miss a little time.
Stalock will start Sunday against the Kraken but prospect Arvid Soderblom, called up late Friday, will make just his third career NHL start this week against either the Panthers or Oilers. The Hawks had wanted to give the 23-year-old Swedish netminder another year of development in Rockford full-time, but that plan is now on hold.