ST. LOUIS — Pat Maroon was a verbal lighthouse on the Blackhawks‘ bench last season.
The veteran forward regularly sent thunderous words of encouragement or correction down the bench, thunderous criticism toward the referees or thunderous trash talk toward the opponents.
With Maroon retired, the Hawks no longer have such a loud personality. Some may consider that a missing piece. They, however, believe their relatively subdued communication style on the bench works well for them.
“Sometimes you have a quieter team,” defenseman Wyatt Kaiser said. “There’s guys hanging out and talking in their groups, [but] you don’t have guys yelling down the bench all the time. … Yeah, [things must be said] if something happens or if someone needs to keep someone accountable, but it’s not yelling. A guy just goes and talks to them.
“I don’t think it’s a weakness at all. We’re calm. Because during the game, the momentum swings are crazy, so if you’re yelling at everything…”
Defenseman Connor Murphy, who always offers valuable perspectives as the Hawks’ longest-tenured player, agrees with Kaiser.
“It’s about time and place,” Murphy said. “It doesn’t need to be someone yelling on the bench. It’s about being upbeat and communicative with linemates and with each other about things, and getting up for [big] moments. … This year on the bench, I feel good energy.”
Team captain Nick Foligno, an assertive leader with an extroverted personality, is more than happy to get loud when necessary, although the Hawks will miss that during his brief leave of absence.
Alternate captains Murphy and Jason Dickinson are willing to speak up, too. So are fellow veterans like Tyler Bertuzzi and Sam Lafferty, and young centers Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar are also gradually finding their voices.
“You’re starting to see the maturation,” Foligno said. “I like the vibe in our room. From where it was a few years ago to where it is now, you have some guys that are really taking hold of this. It’s fun for me as a guy who can maybe sit back and not have to talk as much.”
With the communication duties so widely distributed, the Hawks believe even their introverted players will feel confident being vocal when they feel compelled.
“Something cool about our team that I’ve learned is everyone feels comfortable speaking up,” Alex Vlasic said. “We have a lot of different age groups throughout the team, but it doesn’t really feel like that. It feels like everybody is all in one together, and there’s not any levels to it or anything like that. Teams are at their best when no one’s scared to speak up.
“It’s [only a few] games in, so we’ll see if somebody blows a fuse. But it’s nice to have consistency throughout the locker room when things might not be going your way in a certain period. You don’t want to get too out of sorts in between [periods] or on the bench. You want to stay level-headed and just keep going to work.”
The Hawks’ calmer dynamic might actually be a product of generational differences. Older teams around the NHL right now still employ plenty of Millennials, whereas their ultra-young roster is stacked with Gen Z kids who are less likely to be boisterous.
Dickinson, for one, has experienced that evolution since breaking into the league in the mid-2010s with the Stars, whose bench environment was “definitely more aggressive and tumultuous” than the Hawks’.
“You’ve got to adapt with the times,” Dickinson added. “But it’s also [about], ‘Who do you have on your bench, and how do they respond? What is going to get the most out of a guy, and how do you push them?’
“Some guys need to get yelled at. Some guys need to be pushed. Those are the guys we still can lean on; we can get in their face.”