A lesson learned for Artyom Levshunov

The Chicago Blackhawks will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, as they look for the season sweep of their old Original 6 rivals. They will be hitting the ice without two of their top young talents. Leading scorer Connor Bedard will miss his second straight game with his upper-body injury, which he confirmed was his shoulder earlier today. They will also be without defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who will be scratched for disciplinary reasons.

Some Lessons Must Be Learned the Hard Way

Early into Monday’s practice, head coach Jeff Blashill blew the whistle and laid into his team, with some of his anger directed at Levshunov.

“There are moments where, listen, I don’t fake it,” he said. Emotions are what they are. I come to practice not frustrated, I think frustration’s a wasted of human emotion, I’ve said that lots. But sometimes we need heightened awareness. My job is to make sure that we’re not letting that urgency slip at all.”

Part of the reason he was upset with Levshunov was that he arrived late for yesterday's practice. Because of that, he will sit out tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs.

“He was late coming to the rink yesterday,” Blashill said. “We have a standard of times guys have to be there. He didn’t mean to do it, but nonetheless, our standard is not going to slip, so he’s out tonight. He knows what the consequences are ahead of time.

“He’s a good kid. One of the things that, as a young player, you have to do is learn how important preparation is. We’ve had conversations about what he needs to do to make sure he prepares himself to get ready for practice and get ready for games. It’s just a learning process for him.”

This is the second healthy scratch this season for the second-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He sat out the home opener against the Montreal Canadiens for performance issues. He got back on track following that move and has played good hockey of late.

Blashill has talked a lot about building a culture and having accountability. If he has to make an example out of Levshunov to accomplish his goals, so be it. Team rules apply to everyone, and if they aren’t followed, consequences follow. Hopefully, this scratch has the same effect on him as the one from October, and he returns a better player in Montreal on Thursday.