The Blackhawks trying to use longer practices and small break to their advantage

The Chicago Blackhawks have five days off from their last game against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 17 to their next game against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 23.

Therefore, the Blackhawks have had two practice days on Monday (Oct. 19) and Tuesday (Oct. 20) before having a day off on Wednesday (Oct. 21).

They have had two significant practices. So, here is the scoop from today's practice (Oct. 20).

Sights from the ice

Defenseman Bowen Byram has missed practice since Oct. 15 with an upper-body injury. Unfortunately, he was still not on the ice for practice today.

However, it was a competitive practice with power-play work. Artyom Levshunov slotted in on the power play. This will be interesting to watch because Levshunov has not gotten much power-play time this season, but with Byram out, they might be willing to switch it up. They have had Sam Rinzel and Teuvo Teräväinen playing the point.

They also did what looked like more close battle drills. For example, three-on-three with both goaltenders positioned close together near the middle of the ice instead of at either end of the ice. Jordan Greenway seemed to be having a time, as he had a couple of goals during the drills.

Notes from the coach

With Byram, head coach Jeff Blashill was asked about Byram's status. He said nothing has changed and that he is still day-to-day. When asked if Byram was in concussion protocol, he replied, "Nope. Upper body."

Furthermore, Blashill was also asked if he feels they are accomplishing what they set out to do with the long practices: "I think so. We're trying to pick some areas we want to make sure we get better at, and one of those big areas is moving the puck out of our zone, and so we've had a couple days of that, and not just those areas, but that's part of it. And we worked a little bit within that on both days. Some d-zone, some tracks, some compete, (liked) a little bit of changes. So we're just trying to hit some of the things that we feel are most important, and so hopefully, it's been real productive for us."

Player quote(s) of the day

After the Blackhawks lost 4-0 to the Stars, captain Connor Bedard was asked how he felt after playing three games in five days:

"Good. You know, I think, obviously, would have liked to have better tonight. I think we all would say the same thing. So we got five days [off]; kind of weird, but we can practice, work on stuff, and get better."

I spoke with Teräväinen today (more on him later). But because they have these few days off between games, I asked him about the pros and cons of the layover.

"I feel like going in the break after a loss is not fun because it's in your head. Sometimes it's nice to play the next game, get a win, and get the feeling of winning again. But now, it's just working hard. We try to get to our game. Simple little stuff. Work on breakouts and stuff, and at the same time we get a little bit of a break to get healthy, get fresher. So there's some good and bad."

Even with the break, the Blackhawks have been looking to use this time to their advantage in practice. And with Teräväinen mentioning being able to get fresher in the meantime, that can be a plus.

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