Coach calls off practice for 'mentally tired' Blackhawks after loss to Rangers
Less than 24 hours after dropping a 6-3 decision to the Rangers, the Blackhawks called an unexpected audible Thursday by holding off-ice workouts instead of practicing.
What made it a bit strange was coach Jeremy Colliton said he was unhappy with how players and coaches prepared themselves for Wednesday's game.
With the trade deadline Monday, the change prompted speculation that a player, or players, may be heading out the door.
Colliton, however, quickly squashed that line of thinking.
"That's not the reason," Colliton said. "It was just discussions we had last night after the game, thinking about how to best prepare our team for tomorrow.
"We felt the video and the meeting and discussion was more important. If we're tired, we're mentally tired. And we have to find a way to prepare ourselves mentally to play every situation with urgency that's required to win. So that's the focus of today."
As for the playoff picture? It's become a blurry mess for the Hawks, who are 26-26-8 and would likely need to play .750 hockey the rest of the way to earn a spot.
That's an uphill battle with the next five games against Nashville, Dallas, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Florida. Friday's game against the Preds is the lone home game.
It should come as no surprise the mood of this normally lively, exuberant bunch is starting to take a hit.
"Right now this just sucks - the feeling in the locker room and losing," forward Ryan Carpenter said. "No one's happy in here, including myself, and we've got to find a way to figure it out.
"(Friday) will be a good chance against a good team in Nashville. ... We'll see how we respond."
With the Hawks 8 points out of a wild-card spot and also needing to jump over three other teams, speculation is running rampant about who might be moved.
What would a high-quality goalie like Robin Lehner or Corey Crawford fetch? Might the injury-ravaged Avalanche put together an enticing package to upgrade perhaps their biggest position of need?
Or what about the offensive-minded Erik Gustafsson, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season?
Or what about Brandon Saad, Drake Caggiula, Dylan Strome, Connor Murphy or (gasp!) perhaps even Duncan Keith if the veteran D-man would be willing to waive his no-trade clause?
With the Hawks seemingly in "sell mode," it's easy to see why tensions might be running a bit high.
"I kind of try not to look at the phone or hear anything on the TV or radio ... but it's hard," said Gustafsson, who poured in 17 goals last season and has 6 goals in 59 games this season. "(The TV is) on here every time too. ...
"If this happens, it's happening. It's something I can't control. ... I want to stay in Chicago. I like it here."
The last player to address the media Thursday was the 36-year-old Keith.
The future Hall of Famer missed the playoffs in each of his first three seasons in the league, then was part of a renaissance that saw the city go gaga over immensely talented teams that asserted their will upon opponent after opponent.
The script has been flipped since 2017-18, though, and now the Hawks are in serious danger of missing the postseason for a third straight year.
The losing is really starting to get to Keith, but he's not about to throw in the towel.
"Nobody's said we haven't made playoffs yet," he said. "We're in a tough spot right now, but we're just focused on one game at a time here. You start looking too far ahead (and) that ends up (being) a problem. ...
"We've got Nashville tomorrow and ... anything beyond that isn't something we should be focused on."
Scouting report
Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators, 7:30 p.m. at United Center
TV: NBCSCH
Radio: WGN 720-AM
The skinny: Nashville has picked things up of late, going 13-7-0 over the last 20 contests. The first game of that stretch was a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks at the United Center in which the Predators jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead. … Nashville has a whopping 10 players with double-digit goals. Filip Forsberg (18), Nick Bonino (17) and Craig Smith (17) lead the way. Defenseman Roman Josi is tied for sixth in the NHL with 16 power-play assists. Erik Gustafsson leads the Blackhawks with 6. … Preds goalie Pekka Rinne is 5-8-0 with a .902 save percentage since Dec. 27. Meanwhile, Juuse Saros is 6-3-0 with a .923 save percentage since Jan. 12. … Blackhawks F Alex DeBrincat has 2 goals and 2 assists in the last 12 games. … Dylan Strome has no goals and 1 assist in his last nine games. … Duncan Keith has not scored a goal in 37 straight games despite taking 60 shots on goal.
Next: Dallas Stars, 2 p.m. Sunday at American Airlines Center
- John Dietz