{"id":10233,"date":"2025-01-12T15:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T15:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10233"},"modified":"2025-01-12T15:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T15:49:15","slug":"breaking-anders-sorensen-focused-on-present-not-on-possible-future-as-blackhawks-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=10233","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Anders Sorensen focused on present, not on possible future as Blackhawks coach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

CHICAGO \u2014 The Chicago Blackhawks may not have a more difficult three-game stretch this season.<\/p>\n

\"Anders<\/p>\n

There was the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. The Avalanche were 8-2-0 coming into the United Center last week. The Blackhawks won that game at home, 3-1.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Blackhawks were on the road at the Detroit Red Wings. Since Todd Mclellan took over as coach, the Red Wings had been 5-1-0 heading into the Blackhawks\u2019 game. They did to the Blackhawks what they\u2019ve been doing to a lot of teams. Detroit rolled and won 5-3.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the Blackhawks were back home against the Edmonton Oilers, who entered the game 7-3-0 in the last 10 games. The Blackhawks led 2-0, but the Oilers fought back, especially with a dominant second period, and won 4-3.<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks faced three of the hottest teams in the NHL and went 1-2-0. Not great, but not completely awful either. And with how Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen has his team focusing on five-game segments, the way they\u2019re looking at is there are still two games to go.<\/p>\n

\"Anders<\/p>\n

\u201cOur segment only just started three games ago, so right now we\u2019re down one, so two more games in the segment,\u201d Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson said. \u201cWe win the next two \u2014 pretty decent segment. Good start to what we want to create here. So in those segments, there\u2019s also small segments per game that if we can do certain things per each game, we can be happy with what we did, not satisfied with the result. So tonight, I don\u2019t know what the small segment looked like for tonight. I haven\u2019t gotten a chance to see results. But there was a lot of good, not enough good, obviously, because they get that power play role to put us down one, and we could just never respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

This approach makes a ton of sense for the Blackhawks. There\u2019s no point for them to be living and dying with every result. This season is now about making progress in any way. Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez had a good perspective on that after Saturday\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to take steps as a group,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cThings like tonight, we had a really good start, get out to a 2-0 lead, and this group has to take steps and we\u2019ve got to learn you\u2019ve got to put together a full 60 minutes and that\u2019s about details and habits. That\u2019s lacking in our game or what\u2019s not consistent in our game. Obviously, when you\u2019re not doing that, you\u2019re allowing teams opportunities to get back in, and the longer you play with bad habits, the more opportunities you give up. It puts stress on us. You end up playing more in the D-zone. It\u2019s a snowball effect. And you get the result that we got tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results will matter to an extent as Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson evaluates whether Sorensen is the right person to continue coaching the Blackhawks after this season. But Davidson also has to realize this team\u2019s ceiling and what\u2019s realistic under any coach. What Davidson will want to see is as much about the development of the younger players and how Sorensen communicates on and off the ice.<\/p>\n

Sorensen was asked before Saturday\u2019s game whether he was thinking about how his job performance was being measured and whether he\u2019d be the next Blackhawks\u2019 full-time coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, it\u2019s just day by day, trying to improve the group \u2014 what we have right now \u2014 and not trying to look too far down the road,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cThat\u2019s just my mindset as a person. You take it day by day and try to improve every day and go from there. I try not to look too far ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chicago<\/p>\n

Positives from the youngsters<\/h2>\n

A line of young players seemed like a fun possibility before the game, but it didn\u2019t go as the Blackhawks hoped. The line of Colton Dach, Frank Nazar and Lukas Reichel was on the ice for zero shot attempts for and 13 against in 7:13 of five-on-five ice time.<\/p>\n

Despite the numbers, Sorensen saw some positives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some good moments,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cThere was some moments where we got to improve on. Just understanding who you\u2019re playing against and things like that, the importance of winning lines and managing pucks against those guys. But I liked some of the things that they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

An advantage against Connor McDavid<\/h2>\n

Dickinson was on the ice against Connor McDavid for 12:25 of five-on-five ice time. The Oilers had a 16-10 advantage in shot attempts and 9-5 in shots on goal during that time, but the Blackhawks had a 2-0 lead in goals.<\/p>\n

Dickinson\u2019s line also included Nick Foligno and Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen. Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen scored the game\u2019s first goal off a pass from Dickinson, and Foligno scored the second goal on a primary assist from Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were good,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cThey scored some goals, too, made some plays. I thought they did a good job of what we talked about. They hung onto pucks offensively and made them defend, especially in the first period, and that\u2019s probably the key against those guys, make them stop in their D-zone and not take off so quickly. That\u2019s one area that line did really well. Second period I thought we were all kind of on our heels a little bit. But overall, yeah, they were good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scouts noticing Ryan Donato<\/h2>\n

If there was a power ranking among Blackhawks\u2019 players to be traded at the deadline, Ryan Donato would likely be leading it right now. NHL scouts have been taking notice of his play more than anyone as of late. How he forechecked to create a turnover, found space in the slot and then fired a shot into the net Saturday is the type of play that could draw him more suitors at the deadline. He could be an ideal bottom-six fit for someone.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, it sounds like Taylor Hall\u2019s stock is dropping as his production has fallen off and he looks less impactful from shift to shift.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s missing in Philipp Kurashev\u2019s game<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s hard to see Sorensen giving Philipp Kurashev another chance anytime soon. After playing on Friday, Kurashev was back to being a healthy scratch on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same areas we\u2019ve talked about \u2014 just responsible game, compete,\u201d Sorensen said of what\u2019s been missing in Kurashev\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Quick hits<\/h2>\n

\u2022 Connor Bedard\u2019s points streak came to an end at nine games on Saturday. He ended up with four goals and eight assists during the streak.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Connor Murphy is expected to be out for some time with his injury. He\u2019s already been out for all of January, and Sorensen classified him more as week to week now.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wyatt Kaiser was the defenseman who was made a healthy scratch with Martinez back in the lineup. With Kaiser, the Blackhawks would like him to be more under control when he has the puck.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Corey Perry, who had his contract terminated by the Blackhawks last season, was booed throughout the United Center when the public address announced his score in the second period.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Oilers general manager and former Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman was in attendance for the game. It is believed to be his first time back at the United Center since he departed the Blackhawks after the Jenner & Block report was released in Oct. 2021 about how Bowman and others handled sexual assault accusations made against former video coach Brad Aldrich.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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