In the last blog, I elaborated on an Achilles’ heel of the Blackhawks which is getting incessantly hemmed in their zone prolonging shifts which renders the players tired and sloppy.
As a result, the Hawks can’t defend with conviction let alone mount an offensive attack.
For this blog, I want to focus on another Achilles’ heel of the Hawks: passing.
Before we begin, I want to add a disclaimer that I didn’t review advanced statistics on team and individual passing. Instead, analysis is based on the eye test and the visceral reaction it produces.
Also, this blog is inspired by an article titled
"Puck Acquisition: Strategies to Receive the Puck Better" by the Hockey’s Arsenal, a site run by coach Greg Revak who I referenced in the last blog.
This article stands alone as a great resource to review the fundamentals of receiving a pass. For added interest, the article includes three clips featuring the Blackhawks.
Specifically for this blog, I want to zoom out and take a look at passing from start to finish.
First let’s break down the passing recipe: making the pass, getting open, and receiving the pass.
Then we’ll take a look at a few types of passes that could amplify success for the Hawks if they can complete them like a well-oiled machine.
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Making the Pass
The objective is to clear the zone quickly but smartly. This is ideally done with a single pass from the defensive zone to the neutral zone for instant safety.
However, two passes are also acceptable, i.e. from D to D in the zone then D to an F who is building momentum in the neutral zone and can start the drive.
What I see instead is the Blackhawks taking too long to exit the zone once they have possession. The D partners play catch -- which is fine if the forwards are changing -- but otherwise the puck needs to move out via one strong accurate pass or skated out.
The first option is only successful if the other two steps (getting open and receiving the pass) are done well. More on this below.
As for the second option, this should vastly improve as the D corps gets younger, i.e. newer sets of wheels with minimal wear and tear. This should be the base of a more mobile attack.
Consider a future blueline that has as many as six of any of the following quick and agile skaters: Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell, Nicolas Beaudin, Lucas Carlsson, Chad Krys, Wyatt Kalynuk, Alec Regula, Alex Vlasic, Jakub Galvas, or Slava Demin.
And don’t forget the rearguards in the 2020 draft class: Wyatt Kaiser, Michael Krutil, Isaak Phillips, and Louis Crevier. Each of them is a strong skater including Crevier -- all 6’8” of him.
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Getting Open
Quite simply, the forwards need to stop standing still and instead buzz around to get the other team guessing and open up passing lanes.
It’s all about being a strategically moving target that is an advantage for your teammates and an erratically moving target that is a disadvantage for the opposition.
Do the Hawks have the personnel, though, to get open for passes?
This goes back to head coach Jeremy Colliton’s maxims of work ethic and competitiveness. Skaters who are stationary or don’t exert the extra energy to get open aren’t working and competing hard enough.
Being a fluid skater who also thinks creatively to vary routes also keeps the opponent on their heels as well as getting open, revving up the engine, and bursting through seams to drive hard with the puck.
Forwards like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik, Alex DeBrincat, Matthew Highmore, and Andrew Shaw should theoretically be adept at getting open as they have the will to want the puck and diligence to do something productive with it.
The same could be said about newcomers Mattias Janmark, Lucas Wallmark, and Pius Suter.
Dylan Strome, Alex Nylander, David Kampf, Ryan Carpenter, and Zack Smith may have difficulty, however, due to deficiencies in skating, hockey IQ, and/or effort.
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Receiving the Pass
Again, the aforementioned article about receiving the pass is a great resource that elaborates on this last part of passing.
Once the puck is received, the entire passing play may not necessarily lead to a favorable result if the puck carrier doesn’t know what to do next or do something constructive with it.
This is where vision and hockey sense are critical to quickly process options for advancing the puck and setting up plays that result in high-percentage scoring chances.
There is nothing more frustrating when a passing play is done well but ends up in a quick stymie by the opponent because the Hawks didn’t know what to do next to keep momentum going.
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Short vs Long Passes
A common drill that you see teams of all levels do are break-out drills where multiple players perform a series of successive short passes to move the puck up ice.
What isn’t as common is seeing the Hawks rattle off short passing sequences in actual games. Maybe once or twice but not regularly.
Employing this strategy like clockwork would be a potent weapon to generate offense at a more fast and furious pace so the Hawks can do what other teams do to them: attack in waves.
If the puck is swiftly shuffled around, it hastens the pace and gets the opponent running around. Make this a habit and the opposition gets frustrated and can be taken off their game. Sounds familiar.
Also, the Hawks need to be careful so they don’t bunch up where the puck is which overloads one area making it easy for the other team to intercept or break up passes.
Stretch passes should be used sparingly particularly if a teammate has speed built up, is clearly open, and has a seam to exploit for a breakaway.
Long passes to stationary players are also easy to pick off. Even if the pass connects, the other team has enough time to swarm and smother the puck carrier.
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Passes for One-Timers
Kane, DeBrincat, Kubalik, and Boqvist have lethal one-timers. Yet, this shot type is ineffective if passes aren’t accurate and/or the shooter isn’t as open as possible.
Nailing each part of a passing play from passing the puck to getting open to receiving it -- or shooting it in this case -- could pile up more goals for the Hawks.
Even if the puck isn’t quite in the shooter's wheelhouse, unleashing a wicked shot can still be an outcome like Kubalik has shown time and time again.
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Goalie Passes
Finally, passes by the goalie -- not handoffs but actual passes -- are fun to watch especially if they are precise and start a solid rush up ice.
But if a goalie tries to be cute and can’t thread the needle, then their passes become nightmares with the puck immediately turned over.
Corey Crawford did make some excellent passes while also being an adventure at times, too.
The hope is that whoever replaces him and whoever emerges as the backup are wise about when and how they make passes. Otherwise, a garden variety handoff is just dandy then get back to your crease.
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Readers Q&A Mailbag
Calling all readers! If you have any questions you want to ask about the Blackhawks or IceHogs, please send me a private message or email me at
[email protected].
All questions will be answered and featured in an upcoming end-of-year mailbag blog to close out a whirlwind 2020. Thank you to those who have submitted questions already!
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See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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