Blackhawks showing composure to start season, eager to accelerate rebuild

Hockey Hall of Famer and Blackhawks ambassador Denis Savard likes how their younger players are progressing.

"This year, in my opinion, there's a lot of pressure on our team," Savard said before Chicago's 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the home opener Oct. 11. "I'm not saying we're going to be a (Stanley Cup) Playoff team, but I'd like us [with] 10 games to go to be in that race, to give them experience.

"Let's call a spade a spade: We're young. We're very young. Even in 2-2 games, we still have to clean up some of our game, but at the end of the day they're going to be fine."

Savard would know, considering he was Blackhawks coach when a group of prospects was starting to find their way in Chicago from 2007-09. That young nucleus included forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Keith will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 10.

That core eventually helped the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Whether this latest crop of prospects does the same remains to be seen, but they're starting to jell and are playing much better hockey.

A big part of that is the youth adjusting to new coach Jeff Blashill's systems. He wants his players to be more aggressive and quicker.

The Blackhawks have the players to do that.

"Obviously, there's always going to be a learning curve of how much information you take in; you're going to go out and you're going to make mistakes," Nazar said. "It's just how you make up for those mistakes and learn from them and I think that's just a big part of changing up a lot of our systems and what we're used to doing.

"I think we've been doing a great job of getting used to it and doing a lot better job executing out there on the ice of what our plan is and what our intentions are. That just comes with playing more hockey."

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz said it's evident the young group is bonding, whether it's with off-ice activities or road accommodations. Bedard and Nazar, for example, room together during road trips.

It all looks very familiar to Wirtz.

"Off the ice, clearly you have a group of young men who around the same age, that are sharing an experience of becoming NHL players," Wirtz said. "We saw that in our last Cup runs of those players who kind of emerged around the same time. It creates a tremendous bond, so to see kind of some levity and fun within this group, there's a youthful energy and vibrancy that comes from our younger players and that's been really exciting to see this season."

The Blackhawks are seeing progress in their rebuild, but are they ready to end a five-season playoff drought? There's still plenty of work ahead, but the improved performance spearheaded by this young group is promising.

"Our talent up front, we have special players I believe and a lot of good kids on defense," Savard said. "We're in a healthy situation. I think we are."