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My 4th Star Blackhawks vs. Sharks

Obviously the big talk of the game has been the Toews fight and if you want to discuss that, Randy has a great post talking all about it. But I wanted to focus on someone else who so far this season has changed the way he handles his game and hasn’t been getting a lot of credit so far.

Coach Q. Quenneville has shown some maturity and hasn’t scrambled his lines at first sign of hardship like some times last year. Now there hasn’t been any real hardships yet (knock on wood) but even in the game against Calgary or last night for most of the first period when the Hawks seemed a little flat. Q stood by his guys and trusted that they would work it out.

He has done a good job in my opinion of recognizing talent this year and trusting guys with their assignments. He has put a lot of trust in Kruger, Frolik and young guys like Leddy and Saad and so far its been paying of for him, probably even better than he imagined.

He even has rewarded Bickell with some powerplay minutes. I know there is this thought that coaches messages get toned out by players after a while but it seems that Quenneville has figured out how to motivate this group of young talented players and experienced veterans and he is squeezing just about everything you could ask for out of them.

Making Bolland 2C has probably been the best thing for the Hawks this year in my opinion because it has really evened up the lines. There’s no more turmoil on the top lines and hopefully Bolland will improve a little more on the offensive side but he gets my runner up for last night with a goal and going 57% at the face off dot.

Let’s keep it going tomorrow against the Kings.

Talking Points