The Blackhawks Complete Surprise Move Ahead of Dallas Stars Game tonight
The Chicago Blackhawks have shifted the defensive core, ahead of the game tonight against the Dallas Stars.
In a puzzling move, Head Coach Anders Sorensen has left us with a real head-scratcher.
Today, he has moved left-shot defenseman T.J. Brodie into the 1st pair of the Blackhawks defensive pairs.
This is suspect, as Alex Vlasic has been thrust down into the lineup. Vlasic has been a mainstay on the top pairing and has grown as a defenseman, with Jones on his right.
But now, this is a move.. that reeks of desperation by Anders Sorensen.
This is the first time Brodie has been paired with Seth Jones, and his best partner this season has been Wyatt Kaiser, who has been recently called up.
That would seem a better pair, as they two together have a 52.1% in XG in 21 games played together. Yet tonight, he has shuffled lines, and potentially harmed chemistry in the lineup.
While there's a mandate for all NHL coaches to build a winning lineup, he's contradicting his practice with the forward lines, who were just as guilty in the loss against the Buffalo Sabres.
Interim Coach only?
So, what's the reasoning here?
He's not been at the reins of the Hawks lineup for long and is putting the lines in a blender.
The team is still 12-22-2 and 8th in the Central Division. Was this how he built winning rosters in the AHL, by harming chemistry within the lineup?
Either way, this could spell disaster if he continuously shuffles the lines, without rhyme or reason.
