{"id":4623,"date":"2024-11-27T23:54:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T23:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=4623"},"modified":"2024-11-27T23:54:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T23:54:16","slug":"breaking-how-do-blackhawks-players-stay-engaged-on-the-bench-between-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=4623","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: How do Blackhawks players stay engaged on the bench between shifts?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Blackhawks depth defenseman Isaak Phillips is no stranger to the bench. In 56 NHL appearances over the last four years, Phillips has averaged exactly 16 minutes of ice time, meaning he has spent roughly three-quarters of each game sitting down.<\/p>\n

But the 23-year-old Canadian has developed a unique strategy to stay engaged even when he has to wait a while between shifts: He plays the game in his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to envision myself [doing] what our other defensemen are doing out there,\u201d Phillips said. “[I\u2019m] watching the \u2018D\u2019 as they\u2019re moving up and back [on] the ice, and then you hop over the boards and you\u2019re<\/i> doing it. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re playing the whole game, but you\u2019re visualizing yourself the whole game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips\u2019 interesting revelation raised another interesting question: How do other Hawks stay engaged on the bench between shifts?<\/p>\n

Does everyone on the team \u2014 does everyone in the NHL, really \u2014 put so much thought and innovation into that skill? After all, hockey players do play by far the smallest percentage of the game compared to professional athletes in any other sport.<\/p>\n

It turns out the answer varies by person.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to watch and be engaged in the game,\u201d forward Joey Anderson said. \u201cHonestly, I like to talk a lot, so it\u2019s a lot of hooting and hollering at the guys on the ice. But my mindset always comes back to, \u2018What\u2019s my assignment and role? How can we improve that? What are we doing well?\u2019 I try not to over-analyze, but [I analyze] little things here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said defenseman Alex Vlasic: \u201cIt\u2019s good to stay in tune of what\u2019s going on in the game and the ebbs and flows, and also not dwell on anything you did in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said forward Philipp Kurashev: \u201cI definitely look and see what\u2019s open when the other guys are on the ice, but I mostly talk with my linemates and see what we can do. Maybe we\u2019ll try on the next shift something we saw the shift before. [Mostly] I\u2019m catching my breath and being ready for the next shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips can relate to that last comment. There are occasional instances where his visualization strategy is trumped by fatigue if he\u2019s coming off an extended shift swamped in the defensive zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re super-tired as you get back to the bench, sometimes you\u2019re just trying to get water,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, ‘[Expletive], I\u2019m going back out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Depth forward Craig Smith, who has years of experience in bottom-six roles, mentioned that the most valuable opportunities to stay engaged between infrequent shifts can be commercial breaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cUse the TV timeouts to get your heart rate going again,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAs soon as your heart rate dips, it might take a shift or two to get it back, which is costly. You\u2019ve got to try to stay engaged and<\/i> keep the blood flowing on the bench. It\u2019s tough sometimes, but it\u2019s what you get paid to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson, meanwhile, is not only one of the loudest guys on the bench \u2014 along with Nick Foligno and Pat Maroon, unsurprisingly \u2014 but also one of the most frequent iPad users. The tablets, which the NHL first introduced on benches in 2016-17, provide on-demand replays of just about anything.<\/p>\n

Back in winter 2023, Tyler Johnson was considered the Hawks\u2019 most frequent iPad user, followed by Patrick Kane, Andreas Athanasiou and MacKenzie Entwistle. Today, none of those players are even on the team \u2014 another reminder of just how much turnover this roster has undergone.<\/p>\n

Anderson and fellow forwards Jason Dickinson, Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato \u2014 \u201cDons is No. 1,\u201d Kurashev quipped \u2014 have since taken over that iPad mantle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and [Jason Dickinson] are always talking to each other about what we\u2019re seeing and what plays might be there,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s goofy like, \u2018What the heck was that?\u2019 Sometimes we\u2019ll watch on the iPad just to get a look at it from a different angle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Hawks, like defenseman Connor Murphy, prefer an introspective approach where they simply review their last shift in their head.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usually a feeling,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cYou can tell, when you get back to the bench, [that] you feel frustrated, but you forget what happened in your shift and why you are. Then, as you\u2019re sitting on the bench, you replay the shift in your mind quickly and think over what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s something you think was an issue with you and your partner or your teammates, you can make a quick comment to them and ask them what they saw or what they think you could\u2019ve done differently. The guys that are the best at it have a short-term memory and move on, [taking] each shift at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reverse scenario \u2014 returning to the bench feeling happy <\/i>but not remembering why \u2014 is much less common.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually things you did well are easy to remember,\u201d Murphy responded, smiling. \u201cBecause a lot of times when you come back with a good feeling, usually a play you made earlier in the shift could lead to the whole shift going well. It all snowballs on itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Isaak Phillips, Joey Anderson, Craig Smith, Alex Vlasic, Connor Murphy and Philipp Kurashev describe their individual methods to pass the time between on-ice action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago-blackhawks"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: How do Blackhawks players stay engaged on the bench between shifts? - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=4623\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: How do Blackhawks players stay engaged on the bench between shifts? 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