Blackhawks resume full practices as Olympic break continues: practice notebook

After all the engagements and golf trips, the Chicago Blackhawks returned to the Fifth Third Arena/Blackhawks Ice Center on Wednesday afternoon for the first official practice back from the Olympic break. Tuesday’s optional practice gave a few players a ramp-up to the official restart of the season. Two “new” faces joined the Blackhawks for practice as the team began what head coach Jeff Blashill views these practices as a mini training camp.

Lineup and Injury Notes

• As noted yesterday, Connor Bedard is going to resume taking face-offs now following the Olympic break.

• With Bedard back to taking faceoffs, he and Frank Nazar were split in the forward group with Nazar moving from top-line wing to the second-line center. Nazar has also removed the jaw guard from his helmet after recovering from his broken jaw.

• Wyatt Kaiser is out until after the break resumes, Jeff Blashill said yesterday. He did not have a full update on Kaiser’s timeline, but he is expected to return before the season is over. The Blackhawks placed Kaiser on IR retroactive to February 4 today.

• With Kaiser out, the Blackhawks recalled defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel from the Rockford IceHogs today. Rinzel was sent down to the IceHogs during the Olympic break to continue playing, while Korchinski represented the IceHogs in the AHL All-Star Classic during the AHL break. Korchinski has two appearances this season with the Blackhawks, but now has a big opportunity to step into the left side of the defensive group with Kaiser out.

• Korchinski and Rinzel were paired together in the defensive group, with Artyom Levshunov skating as the seventh defenseman, like he was heading into the Olympic break. On Korchinski, Blashill said that confidence and making the most of opportunities earned will be his biggest keys while he’s in Chicago with Kaiser out and beyond.

• Blashill talked sparingly about the defensive zone tweak to their system involving the strong-side wing coming down further to put pressure on the opposition. He said the Rockford IceHogs did a “test run” of the tweak prior to the AHL All-Star break before wanting to implement it in Chicago. The inspiration for the move comes from the success of the penalty-kill strategy, where the pressure in the system is to protect the middle of the ice and attempt to dictate where the puck goes.

• As the Blackhawks finished practice, the locker room began to fill with players, all stopping in full gear and sitting on the couches in the locker room as they watched the 3v3 overtime between Canada and Czechia. When Mitch Marner scored the OT winner, the Canadian Blackhawks players all cheered as if the Hawks themselves had won the game. It was a quick but semi-surreal experience to watch a portion of Olympic hockey in a room of NHL players.

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Chit Chat

Had the chance to speak with Sam Rinzel and Frank Nazar following practice about the break from the season, the return to the ice, watching the Olympics, and more.

How was the break?

Rinzel: “It was good. Got some action in Rockford and then got to go home for a bit for the All-Star break so it was nice … Obviously it was good to play a bit through the [NHL] break to keep fresh and keep your mind in it. I enjoyed it.”

Nazar: “It was good. Nice to go home and see my family, see my dog, all that good stuff…It was a pretty active break. I missed four weeks, so I didn’t want to sit around and not do much. More so, it was just not having pressure on my mind.”

Does the “mini training camp” feel like a warmup period or hitting the ground running again?

Rinzel: “There is a ramp-up for sure. Legs feel good, though. Everyone should be pretty fresh and good to go as the week goes on.”

Nazar: “I hope it’s like that because we had a great start to the year. Hopefully we can recreate that. As the practices go on, it’ll be a little more about teaching stuff than getting back in shape.”

How much of the Olympics have you watched?

Nazar: “A decent amount. I’ve actually been watching more of the non-hockey events than the hockey games…I really like the figure skating and the snowboarding half-pipe.”

Rinzel: “A lot of it, of course. I just want the U.S. to win. That’s all I care about.”

(For Nazar) What did you take away from playing with Connor Bedard and switching between wing and center with him?

Nazar: “I thought the last couple of games felt really good. We created a lot of chances and got a lot of shots. Being able to play with a guy like him and create those chances, you realize what the future is going to be like…One of the biggest things I took away was how crazy it is how a game can flip in just one sequence. You learn how to execute at those times and take advantage of that…Not much changed with us positionally. Within our system, everyone plays everywhere at some point. I only started playing center when I got to the USNTDP, so it was pretty simple for me.”