Chicago Blackhawks welcome back head coach Anders Sorensen: This time in a new role
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The Chicago Blackhawks organization welcomes back former interim head coach Anders Sorensen to the team in a new role.
Jeff Blashill had all summer to prepare for his first official training camp as the Chicago Blackhawks head coach. After he was hired towards the end of May, he built an entirely new coaching team that will try to lead the young core to the next step of its development.
In an interview posted a few days ago by the Chicago Sun-Times, Blashill opened up on a few topics, notably revealing many interesting details on his coaching staff, made up of Michael Peca, Mike Vellucci, and Anders Sorensen.
Although Peca, Vellucci, Blashill, and Sorensen haven't worked as a team before, they held multiple Zoom meetings during the summer to set a plan.
Blashill Confirms Coaching Assignations For 2025-26 Season
They confirmed that Peca and Vellucci will oversee the forwards, while Sorensen will work with the defensemen, a role he had with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL. Peca will also coach the penalty kill, and Vellucci the power play.
Blashill provided comments on the state of his unit:
"I've got a group of coaches that really see things similarly - from a hockey standpoint, from a habits standpoint [and] from an importance-of-discipline standpoint. They're guys I know will be able to challenge me, as well. You want both those things."
Working with young defensemen trying to hit their stride is something Sorensen did many times in the past.
He'll need to use that experience as the group lacks depth, especially after trading away Seth Jones, who's been playing a key role on the Hawks' blue line over the past years.
With Connor Murphy being the only member of the defensive unit over 24 years old, it'll be interesting to see if Kyle Davidson makes a move to address the issue. If not, the team could quickly find that defensive gaps will be costly in the standings.
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