Ben Pope

Chicago Blackhawks beat reporter for the @Suntimes. Northwestern alum. Raleigh native. @ThePHWA member. Email: [email protected]

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

I asked Kyle Davidson if he's considered bringing any new voices into the front office:

"I sort of did that a little with Chris O'Hearn [two years ago]. I'm also a big believer in keeping these things fairly tight, as well. There’s value in having strong opinions and opinions that will challenge yourself, which we certainly do. This is not a Yes Man scenario that we have within our group. If I wasn't getting the proper feedback or different opinions, or there wasn’t good constructive discussion in the room, then I would probably agree that some other look is good. But I don't feel like we've stagnated."

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

@KaKaysKreations I will have a full story up ASAP and I'm sure others will too

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Davidson: "I've made it clear around the league that we're intent on improving the playing roster."

"This is a precarious time where you don't want to do something to do something and make a mistake you'll regret later."

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Davidson says Mark Eaton will "embed with the coaching staff full-time for the foreseeable future" starting Monday to add more defensive coaching.

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Davidson: "Simply put, we've not been good enough. This isn't what we told our fans to expect, and I take responsibility for this."

"We're not defending well enough." Mentions giving up too many odd-man rushes and high-danger chances.

"I still believe in these young players, however we may be asking too much of them."

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

@marktzv5 Astute

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Patrick Kane and Bowen Byram are joining the Blackhawks for practice today.

Kane is wearing a black non-contact jersey. Byram is wearing a gray one. I’m not sure what the difference is!

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

@Grifeweizen Not sure but probably not

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

@JMisercolaDBSF 11

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

To Spencer Knight, it "just isn't right" that Arvid Soderblom is the only player facing consequences for the Blackhawks' awful start.

"If Sody is the only thing we do, I’d rather them...blame me or something. I’ve played most of the games."

New story: https://t.co/J9ZCI1VICU

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Keen observation by Charlie here. The 2-3 neutral zone should theoretically force opponents to dump pucks in more:

[Charlie Roumeliotis @CRoumeliotis]

#Blackhawks are still running a 2-1-2 forecheck but their set neutral zone is now a 2-3 and not a 1-1-3 anymore. So a little tweak to the system.

Chicago head coach Jeff Blashill explains: “Basically, we want to be more on our toes in any kind live [action] where the puck is in play. When we can get any kind of pressure, we want to pressure. But when we can’t, especially coming off the bench, we were working on our set breakout and what I would call more of a set forecheck and that’s the 2-3.”

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

@JMisercolaDBSF Practicing tomorrow

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

More practice for the Blackhawks. Kane and Byram skated before but aren’t participating again.

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

“Strike when you can in the D-zone, but get to your post.”

Breaking down Blackhawks’ system points of emphasis in practice this week:
https://t.co/sLdO99llXG

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

The Blackhawks know they're giving up too many 2-on-1s.

Today, they worked on better tracking and decision-making by their F3s and strong-side defensemen within the 2-1-2 forecheck.

They also worked on D-zone coverage.

New story breaking it all down: https://t.co/sLdO99llXG

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Here's the story: https://t.co/sLdO99llXG

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Blackhawks didn't exactly tweaks to their system today, but they did hammer down on a number of points of emphasis. I'll have a full story up later analyzing those.

Blashill: "If you make full-scale changes to what you do, you could walk on the ice Thursday and our guys be super hesitant and not know what they're doing, and that's the worst possible situation."

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

And he has now been assigned to Rockford

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Arvid Soderblom clears waivers

[Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC]

DAL claims Poirier, Soderblom clears

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

@Blackhawks_buzz I think Friedman originally misspoke; he clarified it later

[Ben Pope @BenPopeCST]

Jeff Blashill on Bowen Byram, who skated non-contact before practice: "He spent time with the specialist last week, and I think progress was definitely made. I don't want to get into it because I don't know enough about it. What that means, we'll see."

Byram's agent, Darren Ferris, declined comment.