Dietz: As last week showed, young Blackhawks are bound to make mistakes

Every parent knows one indisputable fact: Their kids are going to make mistakes.

In the early years that means not sharing their toys. In later years it means missing the cutoff man in Little League, jumping offsides in Pop Warner or blowing an assignment in a youth hockey game. They'll also botch quizzes and tests or forget a line in the school play.

You get the point. Stuff happens.

Good parents understand when it's OK to look the other way versus when it's time to deliver a message. This is exactly the philosophy head coach Jeff Blashill takes when dealing with his young, talented Blackhawks.

Blashill, in his first year in Chicago, delighted in the team's 10-5-4 start. But two ugly losses last week showed everyone that things can go sideways quickly if you don't do your homework for every game.

The first example came during a 3-2 loss to Seattle on Thursday at the United Center. The Hawks blew a 2-0 lead, then watched Connor Bedard take an ill-timed unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the third period. It led to the Kraken's winning goal.

Then came Friday night in Buffalo. Multiple defensive breakdowns allowed the Sabres to score 3 first-period goals in less than four minutes and 2 more in eight seconds in the second period en route to a 9-3 dismantling of the Hawks.

After the Seattle loss, Blashill didn't let Bedard off the hook, saying the superstar has to control his emotions — even though it was clear Bedard was slashed near the net on a breakaway. Blashill also warned that this is a young team — one with many players who must learn how to navigate the rigors of an 82-game schedule.

And here's the thing — Blashill says there's nothing he can do to accelerate the learning curve.

“I’m a huge believer in you have to learn by doing,” Blashill said before the Hawks lost 1-0 to Colorado on Sunday. “You learn and you make mistakes, and it’s kind of how I’ve raised my kids, too. You can tell them all you want.

“They (have to) live it and (realize), ‘OK, yeah.’ Then you start to make adjustments.”

It appears 51-year-old Blashill — somewhat like Joel Quenneville in 2008 — has arrived on the scene at the perfect time. Blashill, like Quenneville, holds everyone accountable, no matter your age, salary or scoring ability.

“He set the bar extremely high from camp,” said 30-year-old forward Jason Dickinson, who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing 10 games with a shoulder injury. “It was probably one of the hardest camps I've been a part of. That right there sent a message that it's not gonna be what it has been.”

Dickinson was part of two very successful teams in Dallas, the second of which reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, so he knows what a winning culture looks like. Davidson said Blashill “pounds systems into us every single day” and expects everyone to learn from their mistakes — of which there were many in Buffalo. On that night, Alex Vlasic, Colton Dach, Oliver Moore, Ilya Mikheyev and Teuvo Teravainen either lost their man in D-zone coverage or had the puck stripped at a key moment.

The miscues led to 4 of the first 5 goals.

“What was happening? Well, this was our coverage and we didn't execute here, here and here,” Dickinson said of the message delivered by Blashill. “Now that we've covered it, if it happens again tonight there will be consequences.

“Like, 'One time I'll give you the pass.'”

But after that?

“Things get tighter and tighter and he keeps breathing down your neck,” Dickinson said. “I feel like he's put a lot of pressure to excel in the system.”

Blashill, Dickinson and defenseman Connor Murphy all had similar advice for the young guys: When you're not feeling it one night, don't over complicate things. It's OK if a shift ends in a tie; you just don't want to compound an error by making another one.

There's little doubt that with six of the next seven opponents sporting points percentages of .591 or higher, this is a critical juncture of the season. Navigate it with a few wins and it feels like a playoff berth is possible.

But if these cracks turn into a crevasse? Watch out below.

“You don't want to let these things linger,” Dickinson said. “The longer you keep losing the more the belief starts to fade.

“Guys start looking to other guys to win the game instead of looking at themselves. The higher you can keep the confidence the better for longevity of this things moving forward.”

John Dietz, a sports writer at the Daily Herald from 1998-2024, covered the Blackhawks from 2014-24. You can reach him at jdietz6917@hotmail.com.