Blackhawks
“He has that presence,” Toews said. “You know, he came in the locker room after a not-so-great first period in Anaheim the other day and he didn’t scream and yell and get emotional. He just was stern but demanded more of us, and we all went out there and played better and we responded.
“He’s just a solid coach and a great leader that we all are responding to really well right now.”
The Hawks are 4-2-3 in one-goal games, but a couple of pucks bounce another way and you have a different record.
Translation: There’s no patting themselves on the back for comebacks like the one in Anaheim.
After the game, Richardson asked the players: “Can we recognize that we got away with this one tonight? How can we learn from that so it doesn’t happen again or it doesn’t happen very often this season?”
Players have said it makes a difference that Richardson is a former player with a 21-year NHL career.
“He just treats us like men and professionals,” Johnson said. “And again, we all knew it, he knew that we knew it.”
As a veteran of six teams in his 17th season, Johnson has seen a lot of coaches at work. It’s what they say and how they say it.
“The message can be lost in how you deliver it,” Johnson said. “So you need a combination of the two, from my experience over the years, to get it through to the group and for them to really take it to heart.
“Everyone has a tremendous amount of respect for Luke and what he’s done as a player and a coach. He really understands where we’re at. … He’s been in our shoes for so long, and he understands what we need and when we need it.
“It’s really effective.”