#chicago blackhawks dev camp

[absolute-filth-factory]

I was already excited for the 23-24 season for the hawks and all of the new prospects coming up through the system, but the new every shift episode just made me more excited. I was originally kind of skeptical about the whole "taking dev camp off-ice" thing, but now I'm really glad they did it, for a lot of reasons.

Management actually gives a shit about the players!! I know that's like, basic human curtesy, but knowing a huge reason that Kyle Beach went through what he did was because management did not give a single shit about the players and only cared about the cup, it's a huge relief to see Davidson and Richardson being really supportive of the players and making decisions based on what's best for them, not just the hawks overall.

A big purpose of this camp was to allow the prospects to develop off-ice and get to see the city that they're (probably) going to be playing in within a couple years. I mean, they went to a Cubs game, took a boat tour on the Chicago river, took a cooking class, played floor hockey with a local boys and girls club, went to Second City (comedy club), and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Management isn't hanging them out to dry in that respect, and I am very glad for that.

Player interactions!! The episode was great in that it showed off so much personality, and it didn't just focus on the first-round draft picks, although of course they did get a bit more attention. We got to see a ton of different players doing things and interacting with one another, and it seems like the goal of team bonding was achieved. As Nazar said in the episode, you've got guys from America, Canada, overseas, and it's good that they're able to talk to each other and develop the kind of relationships and camaraderie that's necessary for a winning team (and also just really fun to watch). Sure, some of the players might have been up against each other in their league or in a tournament or maybe have been on the same team, but that's not really conducive to building team chemistry anyways.

Another two big reasons why they took the camp off-ice this year was to avoid causing or exacerbating injuries and to remove the stress of trying to perform well in a short period of time in front of management. I mean, these guys have already been playing hockey for a really long time, and scouts have already been watching and evaluating them, so why have them play high-stress, mostly meaningless hockey and put them at risk of somehow getting injured or making something worse. Yeah, you probably don't run into that many new injuries at dev camp (except for that kid up in Toronto who got a concussion the other day), but if players are trying to prove something to management, they're gonna be a lot more likely to play through something they should probably be leaving alone. It just seems like a better solution to me, and they're still going to be getting ice time in training camp in September.

Even though the camp was off-ice, the players were still doing a ton of conditioning. They boxed, did regular weight room stuff, probably some other things, and they took a class with Oduya on breathing techniques that can be used in a number of different ways. Richardson was directly involved in the boxing, too, which is great for a number of reasons, especially to help player-coach interactions.

Davidson seems to have a huge focus on culture and character, both in determining who he picks and how the players are expected to conduct themselves. There was a session on inclusion, from what I remember, and at the end of the episode, Davidson specifically brings up Moore talking about how the way Bedard carries himself has already affected him and the way he does things. That kind of thing is huge on any team, but I think it really shows that the hawks under Davidson are trying to create a good environment to play hockey and just be a team in, and it makes me really excited for the future of this team.

[nhlsite]

Chicago Blackhawks: Dev Camp, but make it moody ...

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