The Blackhawks iced much of their veteran core for the first time in the preseason on Wednesday.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford all played as the Blackhawks won 2-1 at home against the Red Wings.
The vets had little to prove — it was more of a dress rehearsal than an audition, unlike how these preseason contests are for the organization’s depth spot competitors — put did come through with a goal, when Kane found Keith on a fast rush in the second period. Crawford was solid in net, making 23 saves on 24 shots.
“There’s just a few situations during a game that you just don’t get during practice that are good to see,” Crawford said. “Power play, obviously, we practice it but it’s a little bit different in a game — guys aren’t hammering it in practice they would during the game, [because] we’ve got our own guys standing in front.”
A key objective of camp is to find linemates for the pre-established duos of Kane-Toews and Alex DeBrincat-Dylan Strome. Alex Nylander played with Kane and Toews on Wednesday and picked up an assist — upping his preseason points total to three in two games — while looking confident and effective.
DeBrincat and Strome, meanwhile, were dominant with Andrew Shaw on Tuesday in Detroit. They didn’t play Wednesday, but Jeremy Colliton indicated he’ll likely try that trio together again.
“[Shaw is] an element that I think will be good with those two, as far just getting after the opposing defensemen and finding a way to win some loose pucks, and then those other two make some good plays,” the coach said. “They played well enough to get another look, for sure.”
Colliton said he also liked Dominik Kubalik’s game again Wednesday on a line with David Kampf and Brandon Saad.
Injury updates on Quenneville, de Haan, Dach
The most promising injury news for the Hawks recently comes on the Calvin de Haan front, as the newly acquired defenseman has returned to full participation in practice the past two days.
Considering that, he seems on track to be ready for the start of the regular season, which was initially considered unlikely after he underwent shoulder surgery following Carolina’s spring playoff run. De Haan said recently that a groin issue he picked up while rehabbing over the summer had lately been bothering him more than his shoulder.
It’s bad news, conversely, for John Quenneville, who was originally supposed to play Wednesday but was scratched after the morning practice, with Tyler Sikura taking his place. The depth forward and cousin of Joel Quenneville already had his work cut out to make the Hawks’ ultra-competitive forward roster.
Colliton said he had no update on Kirby Dach, who remains in concussion protocol after a hit sustained in the Traverse City prospects tournament.
New scoreboard now has fewer ads
Fans on social media were up in arms during Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage when the new United Center scoreboard displayed a disproportionally large amount of advertisements.
Thankfully, that proved to be only a short-term filler.
The wraparound panels above and below the main screens, which were laden with ads and ads only Sunday, found far more useful purposes Wednesday: displaying the players currently on the ice for both teams, and an array of team stats, like shots, hits and faceoffs won.
