Blackhawks Postgame Chatter: ‘I Really Liked His Game Tonight’

CHICAGO – There was a lot for Frank Nazar to weigh when he made the decision to sign the entry-level deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. But in the end, the positives were just too much to pass up.

“It was a really hard decision,” Nazar said. “Me and my family had to put things together, pros and cons, and just look at what we needed to look at and it just all came down to what was best. I know I made the right choice.”

Everyone from his teammates, the staff and Blackhawks fans would certainly agree. Nazar had one of the two Blackhawks goals in the 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Sunday night. Obviously, one game doesn’t dictate a career nor is representative of what may very well be.

But there’s no doubt that Nazar looked like he fit in while also impressing his coach in the process.

“Frank was really good,” head coach Luke Richardson said.  “I really liked his game tonight. Really happy for him. He had a nice chance on the power play actually before that, but they made a good stick play on him. It was a really nice play by Vlasic in our zone to get that opportunity to Seth to make the play. It was really nice. Unfortunately we didn’t get the win but definitely some bright spots there.”

Not only bright spots in the game, but for the Blackhawks future, too.

Young Core Forming for Blackhawks

A quick tally of the number of young players on the roster for the Blackhawks final home game of the season dwarfed the early season totals. Sunday counted Connor Bedard, Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, Lukas Reichel, Ethan Del Mastro, and Nazar. Philipp Kurashev could be snuck into that category, too, but he had a little more experience than the rest heading into the season.

With a pair of games left, the Blackhawks are clearly focused on the present but it’s the future that brims with hope. Nazar’s first game certainly adds to that but the aforementioned play into that, too. It doesn’t even mention the collection of talent waiting to find its way to Chicago.

But those future hopes can be misleading. Nazar alluded to this when he made it clear that once the season started at Michigan, he didn’t pay much attention to anything but that.

“I definitely watched them a lot more in the beginning of the season and then once Michigan’s season started to get going, I kind of blocked everything Blackhawks-related out,” Nazar said.  “I keep up if they’re winning, how guys are doing, but I just wanted to focus on where I was at and do my best to help that team.”

It’s the same mentality from Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel, when asked about things coming together more for next season.

“I don’t want to think about next season now,” Reichel said. “I think we gotta look at the last two games and finish the season strong.”

Indeed. But in the meantime, things sure seem to be taking shape for a team ready to move beyond a rebuild.

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