![\"Anders](\"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/0c95c73\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6473x4315+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe6%2F67%2F852b89894b778cfcb372e9c4c049%2Fsorensen-5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen has emphasized practice time.Ashlee Rezin\/Sun-Times<\/em><\/p>\n The Blackhawks are taking advantage of a rare break in their schedule this week to hold consecutive practices \u2014 on Wednesday and Thursday \u2014 for just the second time since interim coach Anders Sorensen arrived.<\/p>\n The former AHL boss has been surprised and annoyed by the relative scarcity of available practice time within the Hawks\u2019 itinerary, too, because he places a heavy emphasis on it.<\/p>\n Most of Sorensen\u2019s practices aren\u2019t long \u2014 only 30 to 40 minutes \u2014 but they\u2019re up-tempo and focused on game-like situations rather than full-rink drills with abundant skating but little contact.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to put [players] in an environment where we\u2019re battling and working on our structure at the same time,\u201d Sorensen said recently. \u201cBut just getting into each other is important.\u201d<\/p>\n Said forward Ryan Donato: \u201cWe\u2019re not in a position where we can take many days off. We have to continue to get better…and that comes with practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Sorensen has conversely de-emphasized morning skates \u2014 a trend in recent years around the NHL that hadn\u2019t reached Chicago until now. Most morning skates have been either nonexistent or optional, in which basically only the youngest players and goalies participate.<\/p>\n Sorensen has also brought a different approach to the video-review sessions that precede practices and the whiteboard teaching sessions within practice. There\u2019s a closer connection between the video topics and the drills he runs the team through on the ice. Forward Jason Dickinson described the approach as \u201cextremely detailed, down to the finest point.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe shows us the clips \u2014 bad and good clips \u2014 and then shows us the practice drill he wants us to do to feel how to do it [correctly],\u201d Dickinson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he\u2019s explaining the drill, he gives you options. It\u2019s not cut-and-dry that, \u2018You have to do this.\u2019 But it\u2019s, \u2018You do this so our defensemen can do this, so that the defensemen can drive the middle and kick a play.\u2019 … It\u2019s talked through why <\/i>we\u2019re doing this because it translates into our game.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hawks are an unimpressive 7-12-2 under Sorensen so far, although their current three-game point streak has at least pulled them out of last place; they\u2019re ahead of the Sharks now. His system changes have seemed logical in most cases, however, if not yet difference-making. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said Monday he sees \u201ca lot more structure\u201d in the Hawks now.<\/p>\n On a human level, Sorensen \u2014 who will coach his 22nd NHL game Friday against the Lightning \u2014 said he has learned by now what makes each of his players tick. After practice Wednesday, he chatted with struggling veteran defenseman T.J. Brodie, who\u2019s a quiet type.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has done a really good job of pulling different guys daily to talk to them about what they\u2019re seeing, what they\u2019re feeling, how they\u2019re doing, what he wants out of them and so on and so forth,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that he\u2019s talking to only the leaders; he\u2019s talking to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Said Sorensen: \u201cI like one-on-one meetings with the guys. If it\u2019s good or bad or both, I think that\u2019s an important part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Sorensen eagerly initiates conversations, his way of speaking in them radically differs from ex-coach Luke Richardson\u2019s.<\/p>\n Richardson was extroverted, loquacious and at times rambling; Sorensen is introverted and succinct. He does say substantive things, but in as few words as necessary.<\/p>\n That has placed more responsibility on the Hawks\u2019 player-leaders, especially captain Nick Foligno, to frequently repeat and rehash Sorensen\u2019s comments to keep them at the forefront of everyone\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving kids, [I know] sometimes you have to repeat yourself over and over until it gets hammered home,\u201d Foligno said. “[The message] comes from the top and works its way down. We can build a guy up through something he said, or we can get on a guy for something he says.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Hawks’ interim coach has emphasized competitive drills in practice and brought an approach as “extremely detailed, down to the finest point.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks","category-nfl","category-san-francisco-49ers"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/12\/11183926\/GettyImages-2188771907-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n