EDMONTON, Alberta — Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic has a new addiction: the NHL’s shot-speed data.
After working on his shooting all summer, he now checks the miles-per-hour readings on every shot he takes while watching his shifts the day after each game.
“Sometimes I’m surprised that some are higher than others when I felt like the other ones were,” a grinning Vlasic said Saturday. “But it’s interesting.”
His hardest shot Friday against the Jets, for example, was clocked at 89.05 mph, not far off his hardest shot from last season (90.52 mph).
The fact he’s already that close to his previous best less than a week into this season is a good sign, but he’s aiming even higher — in the mid-90s, ideally. He thinks he was getting there during his summer practices — unless Hawks skills coach Brian Keane’s radar gun was lying, that is.
Vlasic’s increase in shooting velocity can be attributed to several technical adjustments he made to his slap-shot motion, which included bringing his right hand lower behind his left leg at the peak of his windup and finishing his follow-through at chest level rather than head level.
Just as important, however, is his increase in shooting quantity, which stems from adopting more of a shoot-first mindset. That’s something coach Luke Richardson has been encouraging all the Hawks to do for two years now, but it’s something only a few guys have taken to heart.
“I’ve noticed definitely a big improvement on his shooting, [not only] structurally but also in [terms of] confidence,” Richardson said. “That’s what we’re asking from all our team, especially the defensemen: Get it low to high and get that shot off quick.”
Said Vlasic: “A lot of it comes with confidence and trusting that one-timer ability. I feel like you can freeze up in games — or at least I used to. Now, with the practice I had over the summer, I feel comfortable and confident with it.”
He received an instant reward for his efforts in the third period of the season opener Tuesday against Utah when he blasted a one-timer off a pass from Connor Bedard that Nick Foligno tipped to score the Hawks’ second goal.
Vlasic nearly earned another assist by shooting aggressively later in the period, when he semi-blindly sent a puck toward Utah goalie Connor Ingram and teammate Joey Anderson almost scored on a wraparound off the rebound. That play showed off Vlasic’s improved ability to fire one-timers off passes that aren’t flatly on his tape because Jason Dickinson’s low-to-high pass was bouncing.
“I got comfortable over the summer at adapting to the pass itself and just shooting it whatever — if it was rolling, if it was a hard pass, just being ready for anything thrown at me,” Vlasic said. “Sometimes you can overthink it, and you’ve got to simplify it and bear down.”
On Friday against the Jets, Vlasic appeared to be impersonating the Penguins’ Erik Karlsson when he fired three shots — two of which were on goal — in a three-minute span during the second period.
If Vlasic can continue this pattern over a larger sample size and translate it into goals and assists, it would represent another way in which he has diversified his skills and raised his ceiling beyond what formerly was expected of him as a prospect.
He was extremely reliable and effective in the defensive zone last season, but that wasn’t entirely surprising, given that he always had been billed as a future shutdown defenseman. More surprising was his puck-moving ability, which greatly exceeded expectations, particularly when it came to making long-distance stretch passes.
If he turns into a defensively dominant player who also can move the puck and be a threat from the offensive blue line, the Hawks might have a world-class defenseman on their hands.