Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill gets blasted by a two-time Stanley Cup Champion
Photo credit: NHL
The Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill was widely criticized for the massive changes he made to the Tampa Bay Lightning's system that hurt the team.
Mikhail Sergachev's 2023-24 season was a rough one. After some massive changes in the team's system, the player missed the second half of the season due to an injury and was eventually traded by the Lightning to the Utah Mammoth.
In a recent podcast interview, the two-time Stanley Cup champion opened up on that season, and how the changes applied to the system by Jeff Blashill, the new Chicago Blackhawks head coach, had a negative impact on the team:
"And then we changed our system - the coach from Detroit came in. I mean, we had gone to three finals, and this guy comes in and says: 'We're not playing like that anymore. Now we're playing like f*cking Vegas.' And we're all like, 'Why?' He goes, 'They have a better system. It'll work for us.' Well, it didn't work for me. Didn't work for anyone. Everyone ended up with a negative plus-minus, we were all getting outscored and playing like crap."
Applying important changes to a team that has had success using the same method for years can be a risky move, and it obviously didn't pay off in Tampa.
Sergachev had the best season of his career in 2022-23, when he scored 64 points, including 10 goals, in 79 games, with a +13 goal differential. During the 2023-24 season, he scored 19 points, with two goals, in spite of being limited to 34 games. His plus/minus took a hit and was at -16 when he was placed on the LTIR in February.
People learn from their mistakes, and Blashill surely took time to analyze what went wrong in his past jobs. By bringing him on board, Kyle Davidson hopes to see a more experienced coach able to take the team to the next level.
Previously on Hawks Insider
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JUILLET 11 | 515 ANSWERS Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill gets blasted by a two-time Stanley Cup Champion Do you think Jeff Blashill will lead the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup playoffs in the next five years? | ||
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