Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall ‘surprised’ by healthy scratch

Blackhawks’ forward Taylor Hall met the media on Monday. It was the first time he’d spoken since he was healthy scratched for Saturday’s loss in Vancouver. Hall confessed to being caught off guard by the move, and alluded to a lack of communication between himself and the coaching staff.

“I was just disappointed. I love to play,” Hall said when asked about his reaction to the scratch. “I just want to play better. I want to contribute to our team.”

When Hall was asked if he was surprised by the move, he responded, “Yeah, I was surprised. There hadn’t been a lot of…um…I just…it was unexpected. I just didn’t know that I was even close to being in that spot, really. If there were some conversations in the days leading up about my game, or if I was constantly being shown video, it would be one thing, but I was a bit surprised.”

Hall was then asked if he addressed his feelings on the situation.

“We communicated,” Hall said. “It wasn’t anything argumentative. [Head coach Luke Richardson] thought it was best for me to reset. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not immune to coaching. I’m not immune to being held accountable. I just want to play better. I want to be better for our team. There are some things in my game that, when I’m not playing well, Luke and the coaching staff want me to do a bit better. That’s really it. We talked today. I’m excited to play tomorrow.”

Hall was then asked if he wanted more communication from Richardson. Hall said, “Luke and I chatted. We talked. We’re on the same page.”

After practice, Richardson met the media as well, and was alerted to Hall’s comments on the communication breakdown. “That could be part of my problem, too,” Richardson admitted. “Sometimes you give veterans a little more of a grace period. I know he’s been frustrated, and I don’t want the frustration to lead too long, so it was a good time for a little setback, but for me to communicate with him, I need to get to know the player more, to see how they like to handle that. Obviously, we’ve talked lots during and after, but maybe it needs to be more before. That’s just something I learned about one player. He had a great practice today. Part of my thought process is to have a couple days like this just to reset and go. We hope it leads that way.”

When Richardson was asked if he and Hall were on the same page, he said they were. “He was great today. He’s all in about being better for himself and for the team. That’s all a coach can ask for. He’s always been great like that. Nobody likes to get sat our or miss a game, no matter what the circumstance are. For him, he’s also a guy who’s missed eight or nine months of playing games. He’s used to being at a high level. He holds himself there and we think of him as that. We’re just trying to figure out a way to get him back there.”

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