Sources: Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald, NBC Sports Chicago, The Athletic Chicago
Here's a summary of newsworthy notes from Day 2 of Blackhawks training camp:
* Kevin Lankinen and Mike Hardman both entered COVID protocol.
* Collin Delia left the ice in discomfort after a sprinting drill but whatever he hurt is reportedly not serious.
* Jalen Luypen returned to practice after being helped off the ice on Day 1 with a leg injury.
* Dylan Strome played center yesterday after starting at left wing the day before.
* Colton Dach has requested a trade from the Saskatoon Blades expressing "a change of scenery in the WHL."
* Groups B and C scrimmaged with players "fighting for a chance to kind of move up" according to head coach Jeremy Colliton.
* Forward lines, D pairs, and goalies for Group A:
DeBrincat - Johnson - Kane
Kubalik - Toews - Hagel
Reichel - Dach - Kurashev
Connolly - Strome/Carpenter - Khaira
McCabe - S Jones
Stillman - Murphy
de Haan - Kalynuk
C Jones - Beaudin
Fleury
Delia
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3rd String Goalie
With Lankinen now in COVID protocol and Delia leaving practice after a leg tweak, this situation exposes the need for the team to ensure a reliable 3rd string goalie -- not to mention 4th and 5th strings -- is in the system, healthy, and ready to go at the drop of a hat.
Malcolm Subban and Delia are expected to be duking it out for the 3rd string to sit behind Marc-Andre Fleury and Lankinen. After what happened yesterday, though, the 4th string goalie became necessary as Lankinen and Delia were rendered unavailable due to different ailments.
Arvid Soderblom is the only other goalie eligible for recall given his NHL contract. The other system goalies Cale Morris and Tom Aubrun are on AHL deals and thus are ineligible for recall. Hopefully the Hawks don't need to go that deep into the minors for a backstop.
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Lesson of the Day
Strome as well as Tyler Johnson, Henrik Borgstrom, and Adam Gaudette lined up at center in yesterday's drills. Unless Strome shifted over to wing in the posted clip above, he not only stationed himself passively far from wherever the play was but also exerted lackluster effort.
But in comparison, Johnson, Borgstrom, and Gaudette exemplified the lesson of engaging with the puck whether hunting it down, digging it out, and making a productive play with it or getting in position close enough to teammates putting in that dirty work to gain possession.
Centers generally are involved in the play in all zones rather than standing off to the side. While they don't necessarily need to be the one to get the puck and make direct plays with it, they at least need to be a key cog in dictating the pace. So can Strome be a pace dictator?
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See you on the boards!
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