Welcome to the December edition of Blackhawks Bytes, a series featuring quotes and comments from players, coaches, management, journalists and fans alike concerning everything Chicago Blackhawks. The purpose of this ongoing column is to capture a slice of the existing outlook, attitudes and culture surrounding the team. Please join me as we have some fun with the everyday, albeit fascinating aspect of human nature; the power of words.
November has come and gone, and boy, has it been an eventful month for the Blackhawks. Top forward Taylor Hall is out for the season due to an ACL injury, Corey Perry has been released from the team because of workplace misconduct, and speedy forward Andreas Athanasiou has been absent with a lower body injury since Nov. 9.
On the ice, the Blackhawks have struggled mightily, only winning four of 12 games this past month, and enduring a five-game losing streak. As of the weekend games on Dec. 2nd and 3rd, the Hawks are coming off losing three straight road games. Their 7-16-0 record is currently 31th in the league, just in front of the lowly San Jose Sharks.
It ain’t pretty in Chicago right now. But the show must go on, and the Blackhawks will look to regroup and improve as December rolls along. With that in mind, let’s get to the Bytes from this past month.
Latest News & Highlight
Vlasic Praised By Assistant Coach Dean
It was no surprise when 22-year-old defenseman Alex Vlasic made the team out of training camp. He had two strong stints with the Blackhawks at the end of their 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns, and was arguably the best all-around defenseman for the Rockford IceHogs in their 2022-23 season.
Vlasic was expected to take the next step this season, but he’s taken that to another level by absolutely excelling so far through his first 20 games. He’s spent most of his time on the top defensive pairing alongside Seth Jones, and he’s fit it seamlessly. Blackhawks’ assistant coach Kevin Dean, who oversees the defense, had some very positive things to say about Vlasic.
[He’s] a really good skater, he’s really smart and he’s got an excellent stick. [I told him], ‘Coming off the offensive blue line, think about your gaps, because I think you’ll kill a lot of plays in the neutral zone and we’ll be going the other way.’ That’s what you’ve seen. That has morphed into a really good…
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