Blackhawks Postgame Chatter: ‘You’re Stunned a Little Bit’

Yes the Chicago Blackhawks, won its game against the Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Tuesday night. But there obviously had been a lot that went on prior to that–for nearly a week. Forward Nick Foligno talked about how the players were “stunned” as to all that happened with Corey Perry, but they had to still carry on with their jobs as the news broke the same day they had a game.

“It’s difficult on the human aspect of it,” Foligno said. “But the organization handled it the way they felt. We honestly don’t know and have all the details so it’s hard for me to comment any more on that. But it’s something they’re going to stand for on their beliefs and what the culture needs to be here, on and off the ice, our job is to make sure we’re doing whatever we can in the room and on the ice.”

Head coach Luke Richardson didn’t address the team but was only there to listen as general manager Kyle Davidson let the team know of the organization’s decision to put Perry on unconditional waivers.

“Kyle addressed the team this morning before we left the arena, and I was just part of the group that he addressed,” Richardson said.  “There was really nothing else for me to say. It was just said then, plain and simple. We have a job to do, and that’s what we focused on the rest of the day.”

Workmanship On a Challenging Day for the Blackhawks

With all the news surrounding Perry, the day turned out to be one that certainly wasn’t what anyone saw coming.

“It’s not a normal day and it’s not easy on any of us,” Foligno said. “It’s a hard day. But I’m really proud of the guys for channeling–you can’t control some things, right? That’s what we had to understand. A lot of that is out of our control–we don’t even know what’s going on–we don’t have all the details. We came here to work and get a job done. It shows growth and shows maturity.”

Growth and maturity has certainly been something the Blackhawks have been aiming for, but they likely weren’t expecting it in this fashion–especially since Perry was supposed to be one of those players in the leadership group.

Instead, it was the younger team with Foligno having to push through in what was understandably tough news to digest.

“It’s a hard day and nobody wants to hear that news,” Foligno said. ” We all care about Corey. But we understand that there’s a standard that we’re going to be held to, and we all have to understand that and push forward. And so it’s a really hard day for all of us. And, like I said, it’s hard when you don’t have all the details to comment fully, but you care about the person and we care about this organization, and they’re going to do what’s best for all of us.

And we have to know that and understand that there’s a standard we have to get to.”