I think some of the facts get muddled.
But most replies you are getting are they felt he was better NOT gettig coached in another year of junior. He couldn't experience the faster speed, so keeping him in junior would be giving him a year w/o a pro style training and weight regime for one, and no matter if he improved both sides of his game against junior adversaries, he would get a false sence of what was coming.

Korchinski was so good on his pins and with his stick, I don't think he lacked offensive abilities, just played with in the system, w/o gambling much (like this last year's draftee,Carter Yakemchuk). And his dee play was good in junior due to his abilty to close gaps...
I wouldn't worry about toughness and hitting that comes withbthe offensive oriened rearguards.

Staying another year junior last season would have him in a different development stage, but right now he knows what needs to get better, from experiencing the toughest league in the world.
- wiz1901

Really good to see you back posting, Wiz! ........ Interesting to me the folks so dug in on their side of the KK issue. Just think, we'll have 10-15 more prospects to scrub like we are with KK!!

This is fun times IMO. KD picks are hitting RKF just this yr with many to follow for the next 3-4 yrs. ......... Been over a yr since KK played hockey and thought offense. Been over a yr he didn't play just to survive. Last time I saw him that free he was bumped down to the 3rd pairing in the WJC and lost the #1 PP spot to an undrafted 20 yr old in Seattle in the playoffs. I promise you those demotions his last yr as a jr are not muddled facts. Watched em myself.

Yea man, he didn't belong in the NHL last yr but the kid survived physically and more importantly between the ears. I mean good God, remember Boqvist up in the Bigs 2-3 yrs too early? KD and the organIzation got lucky IMO with KK ..... First time Wiz, first time in over a yr he steps on the ice thinking offense and not just surviving a shift when he suits up for Da Hogs with the benefit of having played 70+NHL games to draw on.

Make those AHL touches count kid cuz there's a load of guys coming to take those touches and NHL spots.

You mean it might have been a misjudgment by an inexperienced GM? Who would think ?
- LAHawk

I think it was more what's he really going to learn in junior more than anything else. They tried him at the pro level and were impressed he could hang with the big boys so why not keep him in Chicago where you can be hands on training him. Now that he could go to the Rock, less games more practices, the org can stay hands on and he can keep developing. I believe he was the youngest defenseman in the NHL last year. I've been impressed with Vlasic spending an extra year at the Rock, when Kaiser came back last time he looked good so i think they have a clue on how to develop these kids.

I think some of the facts get muddled.
But most replies you are getting are they felt he was better NOT gettig coached in another year of junior. He couldn't experience the faster speed, so keeping him in junior would be giving him a year w/o a pro style training and weight regime for one, and no matter if he improved both sides of his game against junior adversaries, he would get a false sence of what was coming.

Korchinski was so good on his pins and with his stick, I don't think he lacked offensive abilities, just played with in the system, w/o gambling much (like this last year's draftee,Carter Yakemchuk). And his dee play was good in junior due to his abilty to close gaps...
I wouldn't worry about toughness and hitting that comes withbthe offensive oriened rearguards.

Staying another year junior last season would have him in a different development stage, but right now he knows what needs to get better, from experiencing the toughest league in the world.
- wiz1901

If he was better not getting coached by a Junior's coach last season, why did the Hawks hire a Junior's coach in Rockford to coach him this season? Beef up the Rockford Staff now.

If he was better not getting coached by a Junior's coach last season, why did the Hawks hire a Junior's coach in Rockford to coach him this season? Beef up the Rockford Staff now.
- stevefrmglencoe

Isn't harder to coach someone who's one of the best defenseman in their respected league as opposed to one who struggled at a higher level? Isn't this why baseball teams would bring up talented players and let them fail and then bring them back down so they can work on the things they struggled with. KK did improve as the season went on but one thing he really needs to work on is 50 50 pucks just to name one.

I’m not arguing that. My point is KD can’t let this happen again. He has to be 100% sure anyone he brings up, especially as an 18 or 19 year old is ready to play in the NHL. Korchinski wasn’t ready and apparently still isn’t. He would have been better off learning to play defense in junior not in the NHL.
- paulr

How do you know if a 18/19/20 year old is ready to play in the NHL? They saw in the preseason that his skating was up to par and that he had enough feel for the game to be somewhat effective. He was on a poor team last year and they told him to concentrate on not getting beat which hindered his offense, but he did get a full year of experience.

I believe I get your point (that if a player isn't ready for the NHL they shouldn't be thrust into it), but is there any guarantee that he would learn to play defense better in junior than in his time in the NHL? Another year there may have simply reinforced habits that are counter to what he needs to improve upon. Right now he knows exactly what his deficiencies are for the NHL game. The coaches in the NHL and AHL at least all are on the same page in terms of teaching the game and tactics (at least from what we've seen with Kaiser and Vlasic).

I mean technically, you could say the exact same about Bedard. As Rico has hammered home, he had some terrible habits to start the season, and while those seemed to improve toward the end of the year, he still is pretty brutal in his own end and at times through the neutral zone. He's a year younger and smaller than KK so that's not it. I think the main difference between the two is that Bedard's offense is so much better than anyone else on the team. I don't think this will hurt KK's development at all.

If he was better not getting coached by a Junior's coach last season, why did the Hawks hire a Junior's coach in Rockford to coach him this season? Beef up the Rockford Staff now.
- stevefrmglencoe

It's not necessarily who is coaching him. You can have good coaches at all levels. I'd say it's more about the level of competition and coordination with the NHL club. Jon Cooper played one year of club hockey at Hofstra. Doesn't mean he doesn't know how to coach.

GMing ain't easy..... I hope Lindstrom stays heatly. He has a chance to be a difference maker and give fans 10ish yrs of seeing a monster with speed play.

And if he can't those fans might be beating the we coulda had Demidov drum for 15 yrs.
- Mr Ricochet

I was reading they were playing it safer with him over the summer and then sending him back to Medicine Hat once his rehab is complete. So I don't think it is a new injury they're just being very cautious with the existing problem. (my father in law is a fan so I try to keep track of some of their comings and goings)

Look out. Calgary put Tinordi on waivers yesterday. Florida likewise with Megna. They're available if KD wants to send down the rest of the young D to marinate in Rockford.

They can look at all of last year and figure out what KK needs to work on this year at Rockford. At Rockford, if he has some growing pains with the learning it won't be under the magnifying glass like it would be with the big club. This is what should have been done with Dach years ago.

The big club looks like those mediocre bubble teams full of vets that we all dread our team to be, like the early 2000's teams, if it wasn't for the potential pipeline coming up.
- wizardofi

yes I said in the other blog its lots of 06-07 vibes.

Really good to see you back posting, Wiz! ........ Interesting to me the folks so dug in on their side of the KK issue. Just think, we'll have 10-15 more prospects to scrub like we are with KK!!

This is fun times IMO. KD picks are hitting RKF just this yr with many to follow for the next 3-4 yrs. ......... Been over a yr since KK played hockey and thought offense. Been over a yr he didn't play just to survive. Last time I saw him that free he was bumped down to the 3rd pairing in the WJC and lost the #1 PP spot to an undrafted 20 yr old in Seattle in the playoffs. I promise you those demotions his last yr as a jr are not muddled facts. Watched em myself.

Yea man, he didn't belong in the NHL last yr but the kid survived physically and more importantly between the ears. I mean good God, remember Boqvist up in the Bigs 2-3 yrs too early? KD and the organIzation got lucky IMO with KK ..... First time Wiz, first time in over a yr he steps on the ice thinking offense and not just surviving a shift when he suits up for Da Hogs with the benefit of having played 70+NHL games to draw on.

Make those AHL touches count kid cuz there's a load of guys coming to take those touches and NHL spots.
- Mr Ricochet

Boqvist got his bell rung numerous times before getting to the NHL. He also never played a full season at any level. The biggest detriment to him has been his ability to stay healthy and also that his straight line speed is not especially impressive. He's also not very good at defending.

Handling the puck, passing, moving laterally - all very good.

Hopefully he can stay healthy in Florida and realize some of his potential.

But HEALTH not necessarily readiness has been the main retarder in the NHL and a problem his whole career.

Theoretically he should be able to replace a lot of what OEL did if he can stay healthy.

Damn. Spellacy gets sent down on Wednesday and registers a Gordie Howe hat trick on Thursday. It'll be fun to watch that kid grow.

He scores the first goal and assists the third.

https://chl.ca/ohl-spitfi...o/highlights-soo-0-wsr-5/

Welcome back! Hope all is well in your slice of the world.
- bjphawkfan

My wife and I are very fortunate people. We were in Italy during the hurricane. Our neighbors inspected our house and it was dry. The garage got about 1 1/2 inches of water, which damaged the sensors for the door opener. Temporarily, I have to open it manually until the Precision garage door guys are out Tuesday (while I am in Los Angeles for my oldest grandkid, Nolan River, the actor) . Our power was out for a very short time, but Spectrum was down, so there was no internet, t.v., or cable phone for over 5 days. Yesterday was my Fantasy Hockey draft, so I went through some changes and arranged with our neighbor who uses WOW to let him use space in his house to work on the draft. Spectrum restored our service this morning. Most of our neighbors who live closer to the water were not so lucky. There are dumpsters full of wallboard and wood and furniture all over the place. There are tree service people and cleaning service companies working everywhere. Piles of tree debris are everywhere. The neighbor who inspected our house had to empty his pool, scrape the mud out of it, rinse and repeat. That poor family had to pull up the baseboards and the floorboards. At least, they are in their 40s and Nate is a big, strong man. Our flight from Milan was cancelled , so Delta put us in a luxury hotel for two days, where we basically rested after eight days of walking on cobblestones in Rome, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Verona and Milan. This morning Delta sent us each a $600 voucher.
Apparently there were eight foot storm surge at home - rocky road became sludge road Dave and kt got mud in garage and part of the house- Nate & Jessica across from us got mud and their pool was mud- behind us, they just put in astroturfing on the other side of our fence and it is loads of water on top the turf that he meticulously dug out. Our pool is clean and the house has no mud ..the garage had 1.5 inches of water line. We are a higher elevation than all three!

The "Rectum" internet turned on the morning of my fantasy draft, and I did no prep (usually a week of waffling) on it, just winged it.

No I have 4 starting goalies to trade for a a centre or wing

If he was better not getting coached by a Junior's coach last season, why did the Hawks hire a Junior's coach in Rockford to coach him this season? Beef up the Rockford Staff now.
- stevefrmglencoe

The speed differential and coaching -two separate issues...

Rememeber when we were out on Christma day in chinatown and your cousin Mark asked us "If this hawk team was good enough to win the Cup in 2009-10... and we both resoundly said "Yes they can!" ?

Isn't harder to coach someone who's one of the best defenseman in their respected league as opposed to one who struggled at a higher level? Isn't this why baseball teams would bring up talented players and let them fail and then bring them back down so they can work on the things they struggled with. KK did improve as the season went on but one thing he really needs to work on is 50 50 pucks just to name one.
- BetweenTheDots

With the way he skates and his size, he should turn into a decent defenseman eventually. Would it break the Wirtz bank to have either a former NHL coach or a former NHL defenseman coaching the prospects in Rockford?

It's not necessarily who is coaching him. You can have good coaches at all levels. I'd say it's more about the level of competition and coordination with the NHL club. Jon Cooper played one year of club hockey at Hofstra. Doesn't mean he doesn't know how to coach.
- Chunk

No debate about this. The next 4 or 5 years will show if the level of coordination and development throughout the Hawks system is Stanley Cup level.

With the way he skates and his size, he should turn into a decent defenseman eventually. Would it break the Wirtz bank to have either a former NHL coach or a former NHL defenseman coaching the prospects in Rockford?
- stevefrmglencoe

Would you be happy if they hired David Rundblad? He's a former NHL defenseman. Most former NHL coaches are still in the NHL in some capacity, no?

The AHL coaches have already helped produce Vlasic. Kaiser looks like he's now where he needs to be. Allan and Del Mastro are progressing nicely. Heck, they got 7th round Crevier to be mildly reasonable.

My wife and I are very fortunate people. We were in Italy during the hurricane. Our neighbors inspected our house and it was dry. The garage got about 1 1/2 inches of water, which damaged the sensors for the door opener. Temporarily, I have to open it manually until the Precision garage door guys are out Tuesday (while I am in Los Angeles for my oldest grandkid, Nolan River, the actor) . Our power was out for a very short time, but Spectrum was down, so there was no internet, t.v., or cable phone for over 5 days. Yesterday was my Fantasy Hockey draft, so I went through some changes and arranged with our neighbor who uses WOW to let him use space in his house to work on the draft. Spectrum restored our service this morning. Most of our neighbors who live closer to the water were not so lucky. There are dumpsters full of wallboard and wood and furniture all over the place. There are tree service people and cleaning service companies working everywhere. Piles of tree debris are everywhere. The neighbor who inspected our house had to empty his pool, scrape the mud out of it, rinse and repeat. That poor family had to pull up the baseboards and the floorboards. At least, they are in their 40s and Nate is a big, strong man. Our flight from Milan was cancelled , so Delta put us in a luxury hotel for two days, where we basically rested after eight days of walking on cobblestones in Rome, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Verona and Milan. This morning Delta sent us each a $600 voucher.
Apparently there were eight foot storm surge at home - rocky road became sludge road Dave and kt got mud in garage and part of the house- Nate & Jessica across from us got mud and their pool was mud- behind us, they just put in astroturfing on the other side of our fence and it is loads of water on top the turf that he meticulously dug out. Our pool is clean and the house has no mud ..the garage had 1.5 inches of water line. We are a higher elevation than all three!

The "Rectum" internet turned on the morning of my fantasy draft, and I did no prep (usually a week of waffling) on it, just winged it.

No I have 4 starting goalies to trade for a a centre or wing
- wiz1901

Nice, I'm glad you incurred minimal damage, Italy is beautiful my wife and i went in September. We got a piece of the heat wave, and the really nice cold front that came through.

The speed differential and coaching -two separate issues...

Rememeber when we were out on Christma day in chinatown and your cousin Mark asked us "If this hawk team was good enough to win the Cup in 2009-10... and we both resoundly said "Yes they can!" ?
- wiz1901

I think KK will be fine eventually despite the unfathomable decision to rush him to the NHL last season. Thankfully the GM has learned and is not going to repeat that blunder again.

As for Chinatown, yes.

I saw the team turning at the Prospect Camps in Bensenville for years. When Duncan Keith and Buff showed up there was a noticeable change. I called Mark from the 2004 Camp and told him they were going to win the Cup soon. That was a great Camp. Yawney ran it almost by himself.

I still can't understand the decision to turn the Prospect Camp into a cooking lesson.

No debate about this. The next 4 or 5 years will show if the level of coordination and development throughout the Hawks system is Stanley Cup level.
- stevefrmglencoe

Obviously that's the goal, but being honest, I'm not going to hold my breath. Lots of things have to go right in order to win the Cup (including a lot of luck).

Lots of sunshine and rainbows about many of the Hawks prospects right now, but they are still very young and need to still matriculate up and prove themselves. Nothing guaranteed there. I like LR, but this will be the first year that he has a semi-decent roster. If there isn't much progress, then questions need to be asked. I'm less concerned about the AHL situation as it appears they are well planned out and seem to be on the same page with the big club on getting this guy ready to play.

More to your point, I think the next 4-5 years will show if their plan yields something that can at least compete in the playoffs as opposed to being a team like the Islanders who can occasionally make the playoffs, but not really do anything.

Would you be happy if they hired David Rundblad? He's a former NHL defenseman. Most former NHL coaches are still in the NHL in some capacity, no?

The AHL coaches have already helped produce Vlasic. Kaiser looks like he's now where he needs to be. Allan and Del Mastro are progressing nicely. Heck, they got 7th round Crevier to be mildly reasonable.
- Chunk

I'd prefer Yawney to Runblad. Not convinced the year Vlasic was running the PP in Rockford is going to transfer to his NHL game. Not as confident about Allan and or Del Mastro having impacts at the NHL level. Hope I am wrong.

Obviously that's the goal, but being honest, I'm not going to hold my breath. Lots of things have to go right in order to win the Cup (including a lot of luck).

Lots of sunshine and rainbows about many of the Hawks prospects right now, but they are still very young and need to still matriculate up and prove themselves. Nothing guaranteed there. I like LR, but this will be the first year that he has a semi-decent roster. If there isn't much progress, then questions need to be asked. I'm less concerned about the AHL situation as it appears they are well planned out and seem to be on the same page with the big club on getting this guy ready to play.

More to your point, I think the next 4-5 years will show if their plan yields something that can at least compete in the playoffs as opposed to being a team like the Islanders who can occasionally make the playoffs, but not really do anything.
- Chunk

I completely agree, but when you look at it another way, for example you have an 18, 20, 20, 21, 21, 22, 23, and a 23 year olds in the system all fighting for a spot on the roster be it this year the next or the following it's a great place to be. Vlasic is one of the 23 year olds. 4 others that have been drafted in the 1st round, Arty, KK, Rinzel and Allan, has me very optimistic.

Obviously that's the goal, but being honest, I'm not going to hold my breath. Lots of things have to go right in order to win the Cup (including a lot of luck).

Lots of sunshine and rainbows about many of the Hawks prospects right now, but they are still very young and need to still matriculate up and prove themselves. Nothing guaranteed there. I like LR, but this will be the first year that he has a semi-decent roster. If there isn't much progress, then questions need to be asked. I'm less concerned about the AHL situation as it appears they are well planned out and seem to be on the same page with the big club on getting this guy ready to play.

More to your point, I think the next 4-5 years will show if their plan yields something that can at least compete in the playoffs as opposed to being a team like the Islanders who can occasionally make the playoffs, but not really do anything.
- Chunk

LR is very fortunate that there are no expectations for this team to do anything, the media is soft on him, the owner's are drunken bloats, and the GM sent almost all the prospects to Rockford so he has a veteran roster and has little development to be held accountable for.

I love your passion and optimism. I respectfully disagree about Rockford being well planned out. AHL is a tough league. The teams that win there are typically a bit older. So many young prospects I fear them getting kicked around on the ice and in the standings. Not sure that is the ideal development situation. Hope I am wrong.

LR is very fortunate that there are no expectations for this team to do anything, the media is soft on him, the owner's are drunken bloats, and the GM sent almost all the prospects to Rockford so he has a veteran roster and has little development to be held accountable for.

I love your passion and optimism. I respectfully disagree about Rockford being well planned out. AHL is a tough league. The teams that win there are typically a bit older. So many young prospects I fear them getting kicked around on the ice and in the standings. Not sure that is the ideal development situation. Hope I am wrong.
- stevefrmglencoe

I think it was LR who said we sent Reichel back to Rockford to get his confidence back up?

I will be curious to see if they continue to have Vlasic on the 2nd team PP into the season opener.

I thought Kaiser looked better at the end of the season when he came back up for the Blackhawks.

Time will tell, again i think there is no one path to developing NHL players.

I hope this new antenna i purchased works.

Ben Pope
@BenPopeCST
Blackhawks lines in morning skate vs Wild, with Martinez missing a second consecutive day:

Bertuzzi-Bedard-Teravainen
Hall-Kurashev-Mikheyev
Foligno-Richardinson-Anderson
Maroon-Donato-Smith

Brodie-Jones
Vlasic-Murphy
Allan-Phillips

Mrazek in starter’s crease