Coach Luke Richardson went to California, Arvid Soderblom went to Mexico, Alex Vlasic went to Florida — almost every Blackhawks coach and player dispersed to somewhere sunny and warm over the last week.
On Monday, they returned to practice in Chicago — after the eight-day bye week and All-Star break — feeling rejuvenated.
“It was awesome to see some family I haven’t seen in a while and then get a little bit of Vitamin D,” forward Colin Blackwell said. “I only played those 20 games [before the break], but it was in a short amount of time, so it was good [to get] a mental and physical reset.”
Added Vlasic: “It was nice to not -really think about hockey for a little bit. But toward the end, I was getting antsy to do something and come back. I was getting bored, feeling like a slob.”
The Hawks will practice again Tuesday before hosting the Wild on Wednesday, starting a stretch in which they’ll play 10 of the next 11 games at the United Center. They have 32 games left.
Given that they’re 10-11-1 at home compared to 4-23-1 on the road, this home-heavy February will be appreciated.
“It’ll be nice to sleep in your own bed every night,” Vlasic said. “You can know your routine will be the same for the next [four] weeks.”
Monday brought with it a multitude of injury updates because many of the sidelined Hawks have progressed significantly since mid-January (the last time they held a practice at Fifth Third Arena).
Rookie star Connor Bedard, fresh off his All-Star cameo appearance, has progressed to taking slap shots within his individual work and could join the team for non-contact drills in the next few days.
Bedard told Sportsnet on Saturday that he would be playing already if it was up to him. Richardson emphasized, however, that Bedard’s actual timeline hasn’t changed. He remains several weeks away.
“The timeline for bones to heal is still not good enough for a game,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t matter if you wear a bubble [mask] or not. The bubble can actually hit [the jaw], and it could probably do more damage in more situations than without it.
“He’ll have to get clearance from the doctors for when he can start exerting hard. He’s starting to ramp up his conditioning, so that means he’s probably able to work harder and clench a little bit more. But I don’t know if he’s eating handfuls of nuts or stuff like that yet.”
Connor Bedard working on his shooting: pic.twitter.com/S9zwf1v8oc
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) February 5, 2024
The good news was more definitive regarding forward Tyler Johnson, who was a full practice participant and is slated to return Wednesday after missing all of January with a foot injury.
Considering the severity of the Hawks’ recent offensive woes — scoring only 18 goals in their last 15 games, including only two goals in their last four games — every reinforcement up front will help. Johnson has a respectable 21 goals in 91 games since the start of last season.
“Everybody is going to be a little bit rusty this time of year, just kicking off the rust for the first few games, so it’s a good time for [Johnson to ease back in],” Richardson said.
Meanwhile, forward Anthony Beauvillier also skated before practice with Bedard. But he still has a brace on his left wrist that prevents him from shooting pucks, meaning he’s “probably a couple of weeks away,” Richardson said.
Defenseman Connor Murphy (lower body) skated briefly on his own; fellow defenseman Nikita Zaitsev (knee) was absent. Forward Andreas Athanasiou (groin) is expected to start skating soon, Richardson said, but that supposedly has been the case with him for months.
