DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY

Tag: frank nazar

  • Blackhawks vs Hurricanes game preview

    Blackhawks vs Hurricanes game preview

    Tonight is game one of a seven game home stand for the Blackhawks, and it starts with the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.

    Despite the fact that the Hawks have got better as the season’s gone on, they are still 1-4-0 entering tonight.

    “the last two games have been a huge step in the right direction, last game i thought we did tons of good stuff, i thought we played the way we need to play to be effective.” Jeff Blashill (via CHGO Blackhawks)

    Not only are the Hawks really feeling the absence of Connor Bedard, but now they have to go without Frank Nazar for two games while he serves his suspension.

    Blackhawks projected lines:

    Lardis – Greene – Kane

    Bertuzzi – Frondell – Kantserov

    Donato – Toninato – Teravainen

    Smith – Moore – Greenway

    Byram – Levshunov

    Vlasic – Cole

    Kaiser – RInzel

    Spencer Knight will start tonight.

    Ryan Greene moved up to the first line center spot. I’ve said multiple times lately that Ryan Greene could be the stability that the top six needs, and now he gets his shot. “he’s not chaotic…he can help settle any line down” Jeff Blashill after morning skate (Via CHGO Blackhawks)

    Nick Lardis might be the most underwhelming forward so far this season. He’s mostly played bottom six minutes but was moved up to the top line last game. It looks as though Lardis will start tonight with the top line.

    Jeff Blashill talked about depth scoring being an issue, if Lardis can find his game that will be a big boost for the Hawks. Lardis scored at a 20-goal pace last season.

    Roman Kantserov has an underwhelming zero points in his first five games this season, leaving fans wanting more. Kantserov was expected to be a top six contributor upon arrival this season.

    Jeff Blashill came to the young Russian’s defense this morning “I don’t believe in small sample sizes, if he keeps doing what he is doing he is going to have plenty of points in this league.” (Via CHGO Blackhawks)

    Kantserov has done the little things right, and at times has been very noticeable with his speed and physicality. The change from the KHL to the NHL is a big one and it may take time for Kantserov to find his best game.

    It has been stated many times, but the key to success tonight for the Blackhawks is simple, smart hockey. Make the safe play, gets pucks on net, and play as a unit. Often these are cliches, but if the Hawks want to beat the Hurricanes they need to play that way.

    What I’ll be watching for:

    • Special teams: the Hawks powerplay has been a non factor this season, only converting on an embarrassing 8.3% of opportunities. I may sound like a broken record, but clean zone entries are key. If they can get in, they already move the puck well. Maybe shoot more? The penalty kill hasn’t been much better, only clicking at a 64.3% success rate.
    • Bowen Byram: through four games, Byram is a -6 with zero points. I don’t think anyone expected a start like this, especially after how dominant he was in preseason. Byram is a huge part of this team, if things are going to turn around, he needs to lead the charge.
    • Spencer Knight: Having a goalie like Knight gives your team a chance to win every night. The Hawks haven’t given Knight enough help offensively this season, and they need to tonight. Knight has the ability to win them this game, but the offense needs to do it’s part and pot more than 1-2 goals.

    Hurricanes projected lines:

    Carrier -Aho – Svechnikov

    Hall – Stankoven – Blake

    Ehlers – Staal – Martinook

    Robinson – Jankowski – Kotkaniemi

    Slavin – Chatfield

    Miller – Walker

    Gostisbehere – Reilly

    Bussi/Kochetkov

  • Frank Nazar suspended two games for hit on Bo Horvat

    Frank Nazar suspended two games for hit on Bo Horvat

    The NHL has suspended Frank Nazar for two games today for the hit delivered on New York Islander’s captain Bo Horvat.

    The hit took place late in the third period after Horvat shot the puck down the ice towards the Blackhawks’ empty net.

    When the hit was delivered, Horvat was bent over from the follow through of the shot. Nazar made contact with Horvat’s head, which immediately led to Nazar being jumped by surrounding Islanders. Nazar was assessed a five minute major and a 10 minute misconduct.

    It was no doubt a hit to the head, and deserving of discipline. In my opinion, two games seems a little extreme for a player with no history and no clear intent to injure.

    Nazar will miss the next two games against Carolina on Saturday, and Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

    This is a huge blow for the Blackhawks who are already missing their number one center in Connor Bedard. Now the Blackhawks have to go two games without their their second best center.

    Anton Frondell will likely be the next man up in Nazar’s absence.

  • Blackhawks vs Islanders game preview

    Blackhawks vs Islanders game preview

    Tonight the Chicago Blackhawks look to turn one win into a winning streak as they visit Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders (1-2-0) in New York.

    After settling into forward lines that seemed to work well, Teuvo Teravainen went down with an injury, forcing Jeff Blashill to play line juggler once again. There was no morning skate today, here are the lines and pairings from yesterday’s practice:

    Moore – Nazar – Kane

    Bertuzzi – Frondell – Kantserov

    Smith – Greene – Greenway

    Donato – Tonintao – Lardis

    Byram – Levshunov

    Vlasic – Cole

    Kaiser – Rinzel

    Spencer Knight is expected to start.

    Oliver Moore is back on the top line with Nazar and Kane, he played there in game one vs Vegas. Roman Kantserov gets bumped back down to the second line with Anton Frondell and Tyler Bertuzzi in place of Teravainen.

    Kantserov has struggled to get much going offensively in the first four games of the season, although you can see the chemistry developing between him and Kane. Hopefully slotting him in with a red hot Frondell can help spark some offense.

    Kantserov is someone who has high expectations and is expected to be a top six contributor upon arrival, getting him going would be a big boost for the Hawks.

    Frondell has four points in his last two games (G, 3A) and leads the rookie scoring race as of the morning of October 8. Second place is a seven way tie with two points, including the New York Islanders own Victor Eklund. Eklund is also a good friend of Frondell.

    The fourth line seems to now be the third line, just going off of ice time allocation lately. The usual third line of Ryan Donato, Oliver Moore, and Nick Lardis have been the Hawks most disappointing trio over the first four games. A big part of that is Nick Lardis can’t seem to generate any offense, and to make matters worse, he isn’t making wise choices defensively either.

    Defensive pairings stay the same, it worked well last game so why change it?

    A couples keys to success for the Hawks tonight is building on their shot frequency, as well as continuing to tighten their structure. The Hawks broke the 20-shot threshold for only the second time this season last game against St. Louis. It’s hard to win hockey games when being outshot almost 2:1 every night. They also need to play within their structure. too many times guys get out of place trying to do too much.

    Jeff Blashill preaches “the process”. focusing on the process over the results, and the results will follow.

    “There were large parts of the game tonight that our process was the best it’s been…especially in the sense of being on top of people. Our D gaps, ending plays early. Our forward reloads. That’s much more how we want to play.” Jeff Blashill after beating the Blues. (via Ben Pope on X)

    Islanders projected lines:

    Heineman – Horvat – Palmieri

    Schenn – Ritchie – Eklund

    Holmstrom – Pageau – Duclair

    Palat – Cizikas – Maccelli

    Stanley – Schaefer

    Pelech – Pulock

    DeAngelo – Mayfield

    Sorokin

    The Islanders had a nice run last season as a result of Matthew Schafer’s incredible rookie season. However, this team is not by any means “great”. you could argue that on paper they are the Hawks’ worst opponent so far this season.

    No reason why the Hawks can’t head back to Chicago for their seven game home stand with two more points.

  • Blackhawks vs Mammoth game preview

    Blackhawks vs Mammoth game preview

    After a forgetful game one in Vegas on Tuesday, the Blackhawks are in Utah and look to get back on track. It felt like a rivalry in the making last season. Every time these two teams played it was chippy and emotional on both sides.

    It’s only the second game of the season and we have already seen three different forward lineups. Andrew Mangiapane will not play on the rest of the road trip after getting hurt in the second period vs Vegas, Teuvo Teravainen will slot in as a replacement.

    Projected Blackhawks lines:

    Bertuzzi – Frondell – Kane

    Teravainen – Kantserov – Lardis

    Donato – Nazar – Moore

    Smith – Greene – Greenway

    Vlasic – Byram

    Kaiser – Levshunov

    Cole – Rinzel

    Korchinski – Del Mastro*

    Knight

    *Korchinski and Del Mastro took reps in practice, it is unknown whether they play tonight or not.

    These lines do make more sense than what Jeff Blashill put out in Vegas. Frondell gets his chance at first line center, where he will play with a distributor in Patrick Kane, and a puck retriever in Tyler Bertuzzi.

    Teravainen goes from healthy scratch to the second line, giving the Blackhawks more playmaking options. Teravainen is playing with two shooters in Kantserov and Lardis. A defensively reliable second line with speed and two players who can score.

    The third line is all speed with Ryan Donato, Frank Nazar, and Oliver Moore. Bumping Donato out of the top six is probably the right decision as he is best used as a depth scoring option.

    The fourth line stays intact, as it was easily their best trio on Tuesday.

    Watch for Bowen Byram to have a bounce back game. Byram looked great in the preseason, but the nerves of game one got to him. “I just think we weren’t necessarily dialed in on what we had to do, and it showed in the first…30, 45 minutes of the game” (via Ben Pope on X)

    The key for Chicago is simple hockey. They tried to be way too fancy in Vegas, firing blind passes up the middle. If the Blackhawks can make the short, simple plays tonight, they will see more success.

    Utah is a team with a lot of speed who will be looking to attack off the rush, something the Blackhawks struggled to defend against Vegas on Tuesday.

    “You either have to be right down on the puck down the walls or you have to be inside the dots. If you’re in between at all, which we were a couple of times, they fly out of the zone and it’s going to be a 2-on-1 instantaneously.” Jeff Blashill on defending the rush (Via Ben Pope on X).

    Projected Mammoth lines:

    Keller – Schmaltz – Trocheck

    Lee – Cooley – Guenther

    Crouse – Hayton – McBain

    O’Brien – Stenlund – But

    Sergachev – Weeger

    Schmidt – Marino

    Simashev – Peeke

    Vejmelka

  • Blackhawks throw lines into blender ahead of season opener

    Blackhawks throw lines into blender ahead of season opener

    Throughout the majority of the pre-season and training camp, head coach Jeff Blashill has been relatively consistent with his forward lines. With players being in and out of the lineup due to preseason game limits for veterans, there have been natural changes. Today, however, the lines in practice left fans pondering.

    The first official regular season practice was today and these were the forward lines:

    Moore – Kantserov – Kane

    Donato – Nazar – Lardis

    Bertuzzi – Frondell – Mangiapane

    Smith – Greene – Greenway

    Extra: Teravainen

    Other than the pairing of Patrick Kane, Roman Kantserov, and the fourth line entirely, the forward group has a whole new look.

    Kantserov played one preseason game at center and he clearly impressed Jeff Blashill “Got to see Roman at center; feel confident he can play center in the NHL” Blashill said after practice.

    Adding Oliver Moore to the top line is interesting, as Moore has historically looked better down the middle. However, his speed and tenacity on the puck may gel very well with Kane’s slower paced style of playmaking, and Kantserov’s goal scoring, net driving ability.

    The now third line, which was the second line the other day, stays intact. Anton Frondell looked his best in preseason playing with Tyler Bertuzzi and Andrew Mangiapane, so it makes sense to keep them together.

    Nick Lardis and Anton Frondell were a second-line pair through most of camp, which I believe hindered both of them, as are both elite shots and would benefit as the lone shooter on a line, ideally with a playmaker.

    Ryan Donato also gets the bump back into the top-six. “I think Frankie [Nazar] can carry his own line” Jeff Blashill’s reasoning for putting Nazar between a inexperienced Nick Lardis, and sub-par top-six scorer in Donato. Watch for Nick Lardis to have a major impact early.

    These will likely be the lines to open up the regular season tomorrow in Vegas. Connor Bedard is set to travel with the team, however, he is not practicing with them yet.