Blackhawks Locker Room Talk
Blackhawks Practice: Walking Wounded, Time to Build for Kurashev

The Chicago Blackhawks spent their snowy Wednesday morning practicing at the Fifth Third Arena. They are amid a stretch of eight straight games against playoff teams. They have three points in the first two games, beating the Vegas Golden Knights and losing in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Tampa Bay Lightning is next on the schedule, as they are coming to the United Center on Friday night.
Smaller Squad Leads to Fast Pace
The group was smaller than usual today. With two days before the next game, some of the veterans used the extra time to heal up. Teuvo Teravainen and Alec Martinez took maintenance days. Jason Dickinson stayed at home with an illness. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen confirmed his absence had nothing to do with taking a shot off the arm late in Monday’s loss to Carolina. Pat Maroon and Craig Smith were both missing due to their bad backs.
This left only 10 forwards and six defensemen on the ice today, so there were no line rushes. Sorensen used the time to work on keeping up a high pace.
“It was slim pickings today for practice,” Sorensen joked. “Hopefully, we can get a couple of guys back tomorrow. The pace was the biggest thing, getting up and down the ice and executing at pace.”
Defenseman Connor Murphy continues to work his way back from a groin injury that has kept him out since Dec. 31. He spent a few minutes skating on his own before practice and taking shots with goaltenders Petr Mrazek and Arvid Soderblom. The next step will be fully participating with his teammates in practice.
Philipp Kurashev Needs to Stack Another Good Outing
Philipp Kurashev was back in the lineup against the Hurricanes after being a healthy scratch in 12 of the last 16 games, including the Winter Classic. He responded with a goal and an assist, playing on the fourth line with Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato.
Sorensen has been all about “stacking” things lately. Stacking shifts. Stacking periods. Stacking wins. It’s all part of the plan to get this team playing to its full potential every time they step onto the ice. Friday’s game against Tampa Bay will be another chance for Kurashev to build momentum and try to salvage what he can from his disappointing season.
“He was really good,” Sorensen said today. “He’s taken the situation personally. He showed a lot of compete in his game, and he scored a goal from the areas we’ve talked about. So, I was really happy with him. It was one game, so do it again. He had a good practice today, so carry it over here.”