Anders Sorensen has not been hesitant to interrupt poorly executed practice drills and yell at the Blackhawks for sloppiness during his tenure as interim coach.
During practice Tuesday, however, the only yelling was words of encouragement coming from captain Nick Foligno. It was, at a random time, one of the Hawks’ sharpest sessions in months; they strung together lots of pretty plays.
With just 11 games left in another long-since-lost season, Foligno is trying to ensure the Hawks’ energy levels don’t drop off — as they easily could — before the April 15 season finale.
“It’s my job,” Foligno said. “I knew what I signed up here to do: try to move this forward. Whether it’s in increments or big jumps, we’ve still got to try to push this thing forward.
“That’s where you separate yourself as a guy who really cares or a guy that’s just [motivated] when it’s convenient, right? We’re weeding out some of those things in here. We need guys who want to be a part of this. It’s not easy. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s hard. It’s an emotional roller coaster a lot of days. But we’re hoping we can start to solidify ourselves.”
Foligno has made several not-so-vague references like that to former Hawks alternate captain Seth Jones’ trade request in the weeks since he left, although Jones might not be the only veteran mentally checking out.
It has become clear that Jones’ realization he could no longer tolerate this lengthy rebuild not only created some interpersonal tensions but also opened eyes to the overall importance of having a locker room full of players genuinely invested in and devoted to the cause, not just collecting paychecks and going through the motions.
Foligno, who has one year remaining on his current contract, added he has been “encouraged” by some things he has seen around the team and alarmed by other things. He didn’t want to discuss those latter things Tuesday, but he certainly intends to in exit interviews and during this coming summer.
A year ago, Foligno’s impassioned comments at season’s end about the Hawks needing to “make some changes” seemingly did influence general manager Kyle Davidson’s sense of urgency, but Davidson’s quantity-over-quality offseason additions didn’t have the desired effect.
Davidson will try to land a bigger fish this summer, but the Hawks will also work on improving their internal culture, with Foligno being more involved in the latter task.
“I know fans and everybody wants a quick answer…but this is the hard part of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Foligno said. “You’re doing it on the fly. You’re not doing it while everyone else is sitting idle. You’re doing it while other teams are getting better, while teams are ramping up. It’s a competitive league, and that’s why…you don’t want to get left behind.
“It’s [about] making sure every guy, to a man — whoever is going to be a part of this — understands the job that’s going to be needed down the stretch, into the summer and going into next season.”
In the meantime, Foligno has talked to the guys about trying to give their fans some highs to enjoy during the rest of this five-game home stand, which continues Wednesday against the Devils.
The Hawks’ 14-17-4 home record isn’t nearly as bad as their 7-24-5 road record, but 14 home wins is still the second-fewest in the NHL.