Analyzing Blackhawks’ defensive system changes under Anders Sorensen

ELMONT, N.Y. — When the puck squirted out of a battle in the corner of the Blackhawks‘ defensive zone, nobody was there to grab it.

This instance was back on Dec. 1 against the Blue Jackets — one of Luke Richardson’s final games as Hawks coach — and the problem was that everyone was correctly playing their positions. While Alex Vlasic and Taylor Hall battled in the corner, Alec Martinez hung by the goal post, Philipp Kurashev covered the upper slot and Connor Bedard covered the lane to the point along the boards.

Martinez got to the loose puck first, but it took him a couple strides to get there. By then, the Jackets had converged. Martinez’s attempted pass to Kurashev to start a breakout went awry, and the Hawks conceded another high-danger scoring chance seconds later.

Now that Anders Sorensen has taken over as Hawks interim coach, he has implemented changes to the system that should make the team better-suited to handle situations like that Dec. 1 example moving forward.

Sorensen’s biggest objective is to open up the Hawks’ offense, and his two most-publicized system adjustments — switching to a 2-1-2 forecheck and encouraging defensemen to jump up in the rush or pinch in from the blue line more aggressively — are designed to accomplish that objective.

Quietly, however, he has also tweaked things in the defensive zone. The main idea is Sorensen wants the Hawks more compact around their net and the lower portion of the zone, protecting the most dangerous areas.

Most notably, he wants the winger who previously covered the passing lane to the point — Bedard in the example — to instead help cover the slot. There are times when all five Hawks are within 30 or 40 feet of the goal in this arrangement.

“[We’re] protecting the ‘good ice’ — the dangerous areas — first and foremost,” Sorensen said Wednesday. “We can handle point play. If they want to shoot from the point, we’re good with that. We want to make sure we protect the slot and have good numbers there.”

At first glance, it sounds like a more conservative defensive system, but it’s actually not. Due to the extra coverage support in the slot, either the weak-side defenseman or the center has a green light to jump into the battle, changing it from a two-on-two stalemate to a three-on-two in the Hawks favor.

That converts the extra coverage support in the slot into extra support in the battle, and “it allows you to trust your battle when you feel bodies closer to you,” defenseman Connor Murphy said.

Sorensen places more decision-making responsibilities on the defensemen in every regard, and that includes in the defensive zone. The defenseman not tied up in the battle — Martinez in the example — doesn’t have one specific assignment but rather has freedom to determine how he can help most.

“He can push into the pile if he wants, he can stay low [or] he can be an option at the net,” forward Jason Dickinson said. “He’s got the options to see the ice and see what’s needed. It’s not as black-and-white as, ‘You have to be here.’ [He should] see where their third guy is, see where their second guy is and push the pile in a certain direction to really dictate for the rest of us.”

And then, if the puck squirts out, the Hawks should have the time and numbers to transition to offense quicker. One of the two defensemen therefore might be more involved in the rush from the start, allowing him to easily provide a trailing option in the neutral and offensive zones.

“There’s a flow to it that makes sense: ‘We do this, because it’ll open up this, and then we can do this,'” Dickinson added. “It’s all flowing in a nice chain that progresses up the ice.”

Psychological effects

The Hawks’ defensive coverage has gotten more and more compact in recent years.

Murphy mentioned how the scheme used by ex-coach Jeremy Colliton — now a Devils assistant whom the Hawks will face Saturday — led to all five Hawks getting alarmingly spread out at times. Richardson’s system was more compact than Colliton’s, and now Sorensen’s system is more compact than Richardson’s.

“When Colliton was here and we had more man-on-man, some guys were getting on islands defending, where you would be up against a top forward in a corner and your guys aren’t even within 20 feet,” Murphy said. “Every system has its advantages and disadvantages, but this one is nice [because you] know you have support.”

Some of this immediate affinity for and success with Sorensen’s systems is purely psychological, though. It’s the reason why “new coach bumps” are so common around the NHL. Simply having so much to learn forces the Hawks to dial in.

“When you get to a point where your coach is let go, it’s not because of systems; it’s because of performance, energy and commitment,” Murphy said. “Sometimes a little tweak in the system can get guys out of their heads and into just playing. [It can] divert your focus away from being in a slump to getting into productive days and trying to get better.”

Dickinson had the same thought.

“[Sorensen is] bringing all of the minor details that sometimes get overlooked over time because it’s just been so natural,” Dickinson said. “He’s breaking it right down to the very basics, like, ‘This is what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and how we’re going to work.’ Whereas sometimes, when you start doing things over and over again, you forget the ‘why’ or the ‘how.’

“But you always had the same message. It’s just a matter of the details coming in so fresh and so hot right now.”