{"id":135453,"date":"2025-08-10T22:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T22:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/135453\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T22:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T22:45:08","slug":"snapshots-blackhawks-mittelstadt-chelios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/135453\/","title":{"rendered":"Snapshots: Blackhawks, Mittelstadt, Chelios"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill spoke at length to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times<\/a>\u00a0about his philosophy to steer the team out of its rebuild in an interview published Sunday.<\/p>\n

That will revolve around making Chicago\u2019s young forward group more backcheck-oriented. \u201cThe reason for that is, one, it\u2019s a work-ethic indicator,\u201d Blashill said, \u201c\u2026it\u2019s one of the best ways to create transition offensive opportunities \u2014 by being smothering in your effort to come back as forwards. That allows your [defensemen] to gap up, create turnovers and go the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Blashill states, that style of play should better suit one of the league\u2019s youngest defense groups that\u2019s heavily stocked with offensive-minded players. Doing so should help accentuate the strengths of names like 2022 No. 7 overall pick\u00a0Kevin Korchinski<\/a><\/strong>, looking to get back on his feet after spending most of his sophomore professional season with AHL Rockford.<\/p>\n

Blashill also clarified the responsibilities of his assistants. Anders Sorensen, staying on as an assistant after ending last season as their interim head coach, will manage the team\u2019s defensemen. Incoming assistants\u00a0Michael Peca<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and Mike Vellucci<\/a> will both work with the forward group, while Peca oversees the penalty kill and Vellucci oversees the power play.<\/p>\n

More from around the league this Sunday evening:<\/p>\n