Ep. 158: An inside look at the Blackhawks Hockey Ops department with Senior VP Al MacIsaac

On the latest Blackhawks Talk Podcast, Pat Boyle catches up with Senior VP of Hockey Operations, Al MacIsaac. They discuss the process the Blackhawks took in transforming the roster this off-season. MacIsaac is entering his 20th year with the Blackhawks and talks about the organizational changes over the last two decades. He also weighs in on the role analytics plays in evaluating current or potential Blackhawks and he explains why the team made a commitment to make its new practice facility the “gold standard” of the NHL. 0:45 – MacIsaac on changes within the Blackhawks organization in the last 20 years 4:00 – How the Blackhawks have added great depth this summer 5:25 – A good problem to have with two good goaltenders 6:23 – How the hockey ops meeting went at the end of last season 8:45 – How much the Blackhawks use and rely on analytics 10:27 – The importance of the Blackhawks strength and conditioning programs 12:24 – The planning behind Fifth Third Arena’s development 14:40 – The dynamic between hockey ops and business ops 16:37 – Agreements and disagreements within the hockey ops group 18:32 – MacIsaac’s longtime relationship with Mark Bernard 20:27 – Looking ahead to training camp and the regular season 22:42 – Tough decisions will need to be made when the season starts