For some Blackhawks, pregame soccer — called ‘two-touch’ — the best warmup of all

Dylan Sikura scored his first NHL goal Sunday. His locker is in the corner in every arena the Blackhawks visit. On the ice, he’s still trying to find his permanent place with the Hawks.

But when it comes to the Hawks’ pregame soccer warmup — typically called “two-touch” or “sewer ball,” a staple throughout the NHL, AHL and all other levels of hockey — he feels more than confident enough to trade lighthearted barbs with Alex DeBrincat.

So, hey, Dylan, Alex said you’re one of the worst players on the team. Do you agree?

“Oh, my god,” he laughed Sunday. “I used to be one of the worst, and then I went down to Rockford and improved my game a lot, so I think I’m one of the better ones.

“It’s called two-touch, but [Alex] just hits it once because he’s not good enough to hit it twice. So he’s the one-touch master. Always complaining, throwing a fit. We usually go at each other pretty good.”

The rules are simple. A circle of Hawks, usually a group of eight or nine regulars, passes around a soccer ball, trying to keep it from touching the ground. Each participant is allowed two touches when they receive the ball to pass it off to a teammate.

Walls, ceilings and other obstacles — including passing reporters — are fair game, but the first guy who causes the ball to hit the ground is out. The game gets whittled to a one-on-one showdown, then a winner.

DeBrincat and Erik Gustafsson are the stalwarts, but several others — Sikura, Robin Lehner, Alex Nylander, Dennis Gilbert, Dominik Kubalik and Drake Caggiula, among others — join them before each game.

And they all provide the same testimonials about how the agility skills, foot-eye coordination and competitive spirit that two-touch brings out are helpful while preparing for a game.

“I’ve done it since I can remember,” Gustafsson said. “It’s fun. It’s something that gets the guys going a little bit, too.”

“Just gets you warmed up, gets you loose,” DeBrincat added. “A little bit of a competition, so that’s always fun. I’d rather be playing soccer than just sitting in the dressing room. So for me, it’s just get moving, get a little sweat, then I can do my regular warmup.”

But when professional athletes play any game, regardless of how different it is from their pro sport and how unregulated it is, it’s always more than about getting loose.

Winning, as always, matters.

“All I know is that DeBrincat’s the worst, and Gus is probably the best,” Gilbert said recently, jokingly sucking up to his locker neighbor.

“You kicked me out on that one,” Gustafsson responded. “You’re not my friend anymore!”

Gustafsson moments later agreed with his friend, though: He is the best.

DeBrincat, meanwhile, had another definition of that.

“[Lehner is] pretty good because he can ‘sewer’ people pretty easily, and no one argues with him,” he joked. “He’s too big to argue with. He kind of bullies his way around the game.”

It’s all forgotten as soon as actual warmups start and the Hawks hit the ice, but the next game day, the same side hallway in the United Center’s underbelly again becomes the two-touch chamber.

And for guys such as Sikura, that routine and camaraderie matter.

“A couple of years ago, I was pretty nervous to play,” he said. “But it’s fun. It’s, like, your own little clique — you’re definitely closer with those guys that you can play sewer ball with. It’s a time to yell, scream, have some fun, get out of your shell.”