Upset with his last-place team's lack of hunger and focus in 4-2 loss to Vancouver, former rugged NHL D-man reverts to battle drills in practice instead of day off on Wednesday.
In 21 seasons as a rugged NHL defenseman, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson "dropped the hammer" on opposing players more than a few times.
Richardson (center), then with Philadelphia, separates a New Jersey player from the puck in January 2001.That might have been with a big hit. It might also have been after he dropped his gloves. According to hockeyfights.com, Richardson duked it out at least 127 times as a pro.
On Wednesday, Richardson dropped the hammer on his entire team. Instead of giving Chicago players a day off, he and his staff ran them through a demanding practice complete with battle drills.
Only players in green "no contact" jerseys, including injured rookie Connor Bedard, were exempted. Those sidelined skaters could only watch Chicago's disjointed, disengaged effort in a 4-2 loss to the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
The Blackhawks were often on their backsides against Vancouver. USA Today NetworkRichardson was clearly upset with his team's seventh straight defeat. The high-speed, highly-skilled Canucks dominated, getting to and holding the puck for extended spurts while the Blackhawks hesitated.
The score would have been lopsided if not for another solid effort by Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek.
"Last night's unacceptable," Richardson reiterated on Wednesday. "We just didn't have that desire last night, for whatever reason. And it was everybody, except for Petr, I thought.
"I thought we were all pretty much at the same level last night and it was not at the NHL level." See the following video.
Scoring Struggles Without Bedard
Depleted Chicago has been competitive most nights after Bedard suffered his broken jaw on Jan. 5 at New Jersey — even if its record is 3-11-1 with the 18-year-old center shelved.
The Blackhawks still lost to Pittsburgh and Sidney Crosby, 4-1, in Bedard's surprise return on Thursday. See story in link below.
But without Bedard, former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall and other proven producers, the Blackhawks have struggled to score. Not only are their 31 points fewest in the NHL, their 111 goals are the second lowest.
Counting the the 4-2 loss to Devils, when Bedard exited in the first period after Brendan Smith's open ice hit, Chicago has scored just 22 goals in its last 15 games and has been shut out four times.
The Blackhawks were wretched, especially in the first period, against NHL-best Vancouver. They didn't manage a shot on goal until Seth Jones put a soft one on Thatcher Demko with 30 seconds left in the first period, prompting a derisive cheer from the United Center crowd of 16,425.
"Unfortunately, the last game, that just brings everybody down and I think that's the time to drop the hammer and get their attention," Richardson said. "We were almost thinking of having the day off today. That wasn't me taking that away from them. That was our effort as a team that took that away." See following video.
The Blackhawks will try to channel energy from Wednesday's drills into Thursday night's game against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bedard will miss a second matchup against Crosby, one his childhood idols, after making his NHL debut at Pittsburgh in Chicago season-opening 4-2 win.
But Bedard might be cleared to resume contact in practice, then return to games, as early as next week.
BTW: Among the NHLers Richardson fought: Current Canucks coach Rick Tocchet when Tocchet was a Philadelphia Flyers forward and Richardson played for the team that drafted him in the first round in 1987, the Toronto Maple Leafs.