Hawks' power play getting rookie quarterback
It's been a brutal 0-for-10 start for the Blackhawks' power play thus far, so Joel Quenneville and assistant coach Kevin Dineen made a rather drastic change at practice Tuesday, allowing rookie defenseman Henri Jokiharju to quarterback the first unit.
“He's deserving of it the way he's playing,” Quenneville said.
Jokiharju has been on the ice for just 27 seconds of the Hawks' 15 minutes and 50 seconds of power play time in the first three games. The 19-year-old did, however, have a chance to play the point during the preseason.
Jokiharju, who has a team-high 5 assists and has taken 10 shots on goal, was joined by Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat and Nick Schmaltz. The second unit consisted of Brandon Saad, Artem Anisimov, Dominic Kahun and defensemen Duncan Keith and Erik Gustafsson.
Quenneville has been impressed with the fact Jokiharju isn't allowing the bright lights of the NHL to affect his game.
“He keeps playing and doing his thing,” Quenneville said. “Give him credit that it doesn't change his approach or demeanor. I know it's a long season and we want to make sure that we keep some consistency to his game. … We're giving him a little bit more because he's handling it so well.”
Pump the brakes
About three times the normal number of reporters showed up to cover practice Tuesday at MB Ice Arena. Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews were both asked if they ever imagined this season would be so much different from last.
Both had the same message — hey, it's just three games.
“Let's not get ahead of ourselves,” Toews said. “We beat a good team in St. Louis and obviously Ottawa at home. They're a good team as well — there's no easy games.
“Those are two good wins to get on the road. We're going to slowly build up here. I'm not looking at the entire 82-game schedule yet and thinking, ‘Oh, this year's going to be different from last year automatically just because we've got 5 points out of 6.' It's going to take a lot of work.
“(Still,) there's no doubt having that confidence early is a good thing to keep working in the right direction.”
Slap shots
The Hawks called up forward Alexandre Fortin from Rockford. The 21-year-old played in 53 games for the IceHogs last season and appeared in two preseason games for the Hawks. Andreas Martinsen sat out Tuesday's practice with a back injury. … Joel Quenneville said Corey Crawford remains on schedule to play against Arizona Oct. 18 at the United Center. Cam Ward is expected to start in net Thursday at Minnesota. … Patrick Kane has 11 shot attempts in each of the Hawks' three games. His career average is 5.4. Twenty of those 33 attempts were on goal. … Henri Jokiharju became the youngest Blackhawks defenseman to record 3 assists in one game when he accomplished the feat Sunday against Toronto.