Why Jeff Blashill has emerged as the perfect coach for the Chicago Blackhawks long-term plan

We knew that he could win, but it was at the AHL level. The only thing Hawks fans had to judge Blashill on was his time with the Detroit Red Wings, which went seven seasons with only one playoff appearance-needless to say, a run that fell on its face. He just didn't fit the mold. Then, he went to the Tampa Bay Lightning under Jon Cooper, but Cooper is one of the best coaches in the NHL, so how much could you really credit Blashill?

Blashill wasn't the first option, either. The main guy was David Carle, the head coach at the University of Denver.

The coaching search after the firing of Luke Richardson was relatively quiet, but when whispers came out, Carle's name was at the top of every one. Kyle Davidson pursued him heavily, but Carle ultimately decided to stay in Denver. Chicago then made Blashill the 42nd head coach in franchise history.

As Blashill started to ace the press conferences, a little light started to shine. He came in with a plan. The plan was to straight up just be more aggressive and wipe out all the soft mentalities-to play like the Florida Panthers. He's also flipped the culture from last year on its head. Blashill has succeeded at all of that and then some.

Unfortunately, the Blackhawks had to play the Panthers in their first game trying to be more aggressive. They obviously failed at beating them at their own game, but only came up one goal short, and the new strategies didn't look terrible.

Chicago then fell to the Boston Bruins in overtime and then had their heart broken by the Montreal Canadiens, starting out 0-2-1 but losing by only a goal each game. Their play didn't reflect their record. They finally got their well-deserved first win against the Utah Mammoth.

The best game of the season happened two nights after when the Blackhawks made a visit to St. Louis.

Chicago beat the Blues 8-3, and vibes were the best they've been since the rebuild started.

But, after the game in the press conference, Blashill stepped in and reminded us of the expectations. He said that the Blues didn't play to their full potential, but a step forward was taken, and at the end of the day, that's the main goal. The Hawks then lost to the Canucks in overtime 3-2.

However, the matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday was the best win of the season so far. A goal didn't come until halfway through the third period when Frank Nazar netted a scrappy goal after the Hawks were shut down many times.

With 1:47 left to go, Wyatt Kaiser misjudged the puck and threw it over the glass for a delay of game penalty, which was a real shame because he was having a really good performance.

The Ducks then scored to make it tied at one, and the game went into overtime for the second straight game.

Towards the end of OT, the Blackhawks had a three-on-one. Ryan Donato crossed it to Connor Bedard, and Bedard was robbed by Lukas Dostal.

Bedard stuck with it and grabbed the puck from behind the net, centered it to Donato, and Donato scored the game-winning goal.

Last year, the Blackhawks lost that game. Sure, scoring eight goals is cool. But they had the mental toughness to fight through a silly late-game mistake and to win in OT.

They've been flying throughout the whole 60 minutes of every game so far this season, and Blashill can be credited for some of that. Training came, and the practices during preseason were brutal for this reason. They never give up.

Blashill said before the season started that he was excited to get a second stab at coaching a hockey team, and he's done a great job, as the boys have been battling and have earned the 3-2-2 record they have right now. He's really jumpstarted this whole road to competing endeavor.

Everyone should be hysterical for the future, and who knows, maybe Blashill will keep impressing and even be a part of it in the future.