Saturday morning, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville pulled his team off the ice during their morning skate, saying he thought they weren’t practicing with enough energy and he wanted them to save some for the game.
According to Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago, Coach Q’s motivation seems to have worked:
Toews said the Blackhawks did have a spark entering this one.
"That motivation should be coming from within our locker room. We’re mature, professional hockey players and we should know when it’s time to light that fire. It was a wakeup call."
Although, Coach Q disagreed:
Quenneville said the response from the Blackhawks’ leadership had nothing to do with the abrupt end to morning skate.
"We just want to get some predictability in our game," he said. "(That top line) did what they needed to be successful."
Other Blackhawks notes: Jeremy Morin, who was making his NHL debut last night, got hit in the back of the right knee with a shot during the third period and had to leave the ice with assistance after writhing around scarily for a while. He tried to return to the game but couldn’t.
"It was a tie game and he was committed to doing what he can do to win," said Quenneville of Morin, who played just under 10 minutes. "We’ll see how it goes (with his injury)."
The Thrashers are “Blackhawks South” with four members of last year’s Stanley Cup team. A number of the current Hawks went out to dinner Friday night to reminisce with their ex-mates, including Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Brent Sopel. Who got stuck with the check?
"That would be me," said Byfuglien to laughs. "I had a choice, but I thought I’d be the nice guy. (That’s the) last time."