At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks filed out of their locker room and skated onto the ice. One by one, players made their rounds on the Fifth Third Arena rink to warm up.
Drills started not even a couple of minutes later. Coach Jeff Blashill’s voice could be heard a mile away, and it didn’t take long for the first f-bomb of camp to be hurled after a sloppy start.
The locker room afterward was full of deep breaths, sweat and water bottles. The second team, which featured Frank Nazar and Artyom Levshunov, then took the rink and did the same, with a similar scene afterward.
The practice was fast-paced, as Blashill is hammering down on his view of the Hawks being a speedy team. It was no surprise to the players — it was actually welcome.
“He warned us a little bit (that) we were