The Blackhawks roster is split into three teams for the opening days of camp. They’ll play each other through Monday’s practice, culminating in a 60-minute game on Tuesday between the top two teams.
One team will play two games each day while the other two only have to play once. On Saturday, it was the Red Team, led by Jonathan Toews, that played twice—and it won them both.
Toews scored three times which prompted Joel Quenneville to simply say, “Tazer looked good.”
The Hawks captain responded to a Patrick Sharp challenge.
“Yeah, at first everyone is out here for themselves showing what they have, but then Patrick Sharp comes out and tells Eddie Olczyk he wants [Team Red] in the consolation game. And they might be the first one to get bounced, so it’s fun and gets competitive out there.”
Besides Toews and prospect Igor Makarov (two goals, one assist), Jeremy Morin, acquired from Atlanta, also made his presence felt. He turned up his speed and split the defense before being taken down, resulting in a penalty shot. Later, he made a nifty move with the puck at center ice, eventually going behind his back to Brandon Pirri near the goal for an easy empty-netter. “Playing with the big guys out there, it’s a different experience and you just try to get used to it,” Morin said.
Fernando Pisani is happy to join the Hawks after seven seasons in Edmonton.
“When you stay in one place for too long you get a little stagnant… It was time for me to move on.”
Brent Seabrook on what young players made a quick impression: “There was a bunch of kids that played great today. I can’t remember their names. Ask me the same question in two days and hopefully I’ll have some names for you.”
Seabrook said his goal for camp and the season is to contribute more on the offensive end.