Cold Brew (blackhawks)

Just like in his initial cup of coffee, Reichel's second cup was rather lukewarm where he was neither a factor nor a liability. He was -- for all intents and purposes -- just kind of there. Despite a few flashes of his world-class skill, there was nothing memorable on the whole.

With that said, it would be best that Reichel finish the season with the IceHogs and continue developing in the minor leagues to round out his inaugural pro year in North America. He can thrive as the Hogs best player and 1st line center who produces at a PPG pace.

There's no point in having him shave the first year off of his ELC in what has become more and more a lost campaign for the Blackhawks. Let him ratchet up his comfort and confidence to the nth degree in the AHL then use that as a springboard for a true NHL rookie season in 2022-23.

Reichel is at his best when he gets puck touches and is involved in the action even when the opposition has possession. The puck was minimally on his stick in all of his NHL games this season. He needs to get those chances in order to hone his craft. The AHL is the place to do it.

To put it another way, Reichel isn't going to move the needle much for the Hawks and time with the Hawks isn't going to move the needle much for his growth either. Baby steps maybe but not huge strides. Allowance to fully bake in the minors will aid his eventual explosion in the NHL.

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Blackhawks Game Summary

Starting Lineup

Kurashev - Reichel - Kane DeBrincat - Strome - Kubalik Hagel - Dach - Lafferty Borgstrom - Carpenter - Entwistle

de Haan - S Jones McCabe - Murphy C Jones - Regula

Fleury Soderblom

Scratches: Connolly, Slavin, Gustafsson

Abridged Boxscore

1st Goal (0-1): Ekblad (Reinhart, Marchment) 2nd Goal (1-1): Kane (McCabe) 3rd Goal (1-2): Montour (Barkov, Huberdeau) 4th Goal (1-3): Weegar (Verhaeghe, Barkov) 5th Goal (2-3): C Jones (DeBrincat, Kane) 6th Goal (2-4): Barkov (Forsling, Huberdeau) EN 7th Goal (2-5): Lundell (Acciari, Ekblad) EN

SOG For/Against: 24/25 PP: 0-for-4 PK: 1-for-1 Faceoffs Won: 44%

Game Notes

* The Blackhawks defense kept the Panthers to 3 shots on goal in the opening period and single digits through almost 9 minutes into the middle frame.

* Even though he's one of the team's strongest players, Connor Murphy can have some of the weakest clearing attempts that rarely make it out of the zone.

* Seth Jones sure gets beat quite a bit on 1-on-1 defensive plays in addition to not gaining inside positioning when down low which aren't good for a large rearguard with a long wingspan.

* While the interference call on Calvin de Haan hitting Mason Marchment up high was warranted, Sam Reinhart should have received an instigator penalty for starting the fight with de Haan.

* When Kirby Dach is attentive to tracking play development, he contributes reliably on defense but he's often not in the play because he's too fixated on the puck rather than monitoring around him.

Highlights

IceHogs Game Summaries

Saturday Boxscore

1st Goal (0-1): Murphy (Veleno, Berggren) 2nd Goal (1-1): Kalynuk (unassisted) 3rd Goal (1-2): Martin (Spezia, Witkowski) 4th Goal (2-2): Morrison (Barratt, Gicewicz) 5th Goal (2-3): Witkowski (McIsaac, Murphy) 6th Goal (2-4): Shine (Criscuolo, Hirose) 7th Goal (2-5): Hirose (unassisted) EN

SOG For/Against: 31/33 PP: 0-for-2 PK: 1-for-1

Sunday Boxscore

1st Goal (1-0): Connolly (McLaughlin) 2nd Goal (2-0): Hardman (I Mitchell, Teply) PP 3rd Goal (2-1): McIsaac (Veleno, Hirose) PP 4th Goal (2-2): Spezia (Yan, Pearson) 5th Goal (2-3): Berggren (Spezia) 6th Goal (2-4): Veleno (Elson) 7th Goal (2-5): Elson (unassisted) EN

SOG For/Against: 33/38 PP: 1-for-3 PK: 4-for-5

Weekend Notes

* Wyatt Kalynuk stood out in Saturday's game especially as he keeps ramping up his skating ability as a weapon on defense and offense including an end-to-end rush to notch his 5th goal of the season.

* Michal Teply was knocked out of Wednesday's game with a hard hit at center ice and didn't return but fortunately is fine and played in both weekend games for the Hogs on the top line with Andrei Altybarmakian.

* After Collin Delia started on Saturday, Cale Morris got the nod on Sunday and struggled for his second straight game giving up 4 goals and sporting a sub .900 save percentage again.

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Random News

Kirby Dach

"If he decides to continue to be a better person, better player, on and off the ice, and work on everything he needs to work on, and do the right things, and be patient with the process, he could be a top player. He's in a rush. He wants it now. Sometimes it takes a little while. That's our job to keep him focused and keep him on the right path. We will. He'll get there."

Sure, the 21-year-old Dach does need to grow up but so do all young adults in that age bracket. Dach seems to have a good head on his shoulders and has high expectations of himself so doesn't seem like the type to be entitled or any less mature than the average 20-something.

Where Dach needs to focus on most in these formative years is his play on the ice. What role does he play? Can he play up to his potential and be an impact player in all zones and in all situations? And are his point production and faceoff ability able to be improved upon?

Jamie Benn

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See you on the boards!

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