Blackhawks hold first practice at MB Ice Arena
Brent Seabrook has seen it all in his 13 seasons in the NHL, but what he saw this week at the Blackhawks' new practice facility took his breath away.
"The number one thing is space," Seabrook said. "I don't know if I'll see guys or talk to guys most days."
Indeed. The MB Ice Arena - located just six blocks south of the United Center - boasts 125,000 square feet of space and comes with every state-of-the art amenity you can dream of when it comes to helping hockey players hone their craft.
The Hawks held their first practice at the arena Thursday, and Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane also spent about 30 minutes skating with community partners from nine different organizations.
"They've given us everything imaginable to get better," Seabrook said. "I was joking the other day - I think the trainers are pretty excited that they got a whole bunch more space, but they're going to be (honked) off once they realize nobody's going to be leaving. They'll be here all day."
Coach Joel Quenneville thanked owner Rocky Wirtz and President and CEO John McDonough for the facility, but also added that a building isn't going to miraculously turn his team's season around.
"We can't just think that this is going to do it," Quenneville said. "There are a lot of ways where we have to find ways to better our team and ourselves."
Hello, offense:
The Hawks have found their scoring touch again, scoring 15 times in the last three games. The explosion coincided with Joel Quenneville's decision to move Nick Schmaltz to left wing and Artem Anisimov up to center the second line with Schmaltz and Patrick Kane.
Anisimov scored 3 goals in the third period against the Rangers on Wednesday, with each shot coming no more than 10 feet from the net.
"We know we can score goals in this locker room and for whatever reason we weren't working to create those," said defenseman Brent Seabrook. "Once we started getting pucks to the net, bodies to the net, D were getting pucks through - a whole bunch of stuff like that - things started to change and it's been good."
Nice save:
The save of the game Wednesday didn't come from a goalie but from the Hawks' Gustav Forsling. With the Hawks clinging to a 4-3 third-period lead, the young defenseman just barely got his stick on David Desharnais' wraparound attempt with 5:04 remaining.
Corey Crawford was protecting the right side of the net as Desharnais took a pass deep in the Hawks' defensive zone. Crawford had to protect that side and trust that somebody would have his back if Desharnais decided to go behind him.
"It's always a tough play when their guys have speed," Crawford said. "You can't really go on the post because you don't want to give up high short-side. And you don't want to be stuck deep in case he cuts across.
"It's almost like a set play for us where (the goalie) takes that side and our D man takes that backside. But still, that's a great play every time."