Blackhawks notes: Luke Richardson tells Lukas Reichel to 'find that desire internally' in Rockford

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A few days ago, Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson mentioned how players tend to view demotions to the AHL as reflections of failure, even when they're simply meant to help the player succeed long-term.

When talking this weekend to enigmatic young forward Lukas Reichel about sending him to the AHL, however, Richardson didn't even let the conversation cross the threshold into that kind of negativity.

"I wanted to stay totally positive with him," Richardson said Monday. "I said, 'You're a great young man. You're a pleasure to work with. Now you've got to find that desire internally. We know that you want it, but you've got to get over feeling sorry for yourself and just be excited to play and go after it.'

"We just said, 'We believe in you. We believe you can do it. It's just a matter of time. You have to find a way to find it.' He said, 'Thanks,' and appreciated that. He's going down with a good attitude."

Reichel's history of domination in the minor leagues, combined with his months-long struggles this winter (in what was supposed to be his first full NHL season), make a Rockford assignment a logical last-ditch effort to revive him before summer arrives.

If he wasn't going to be in the Hawks' lineup — and he hadn't been the last two games and likely wouldn't have been again Monday against the Hurricanes — it should behoove his development to at least be playing hockey somewhere. Richardson and general manager Kyle Davidson hope Reichel will be able to apply in Rockford some of the lessons he learned in recent Hawks practices.

"We worked for a few days on battling through on the walls and [in] some tough areas, and driving and shooting pucks," Richardson said. "I just thought at this point in time — and Kyle made the call — it's a good time to go play some games down there. We can only do so much battle drills in practice, and it's not going to translate 100% into the games. We need him to get into games to try what we're working on in practice.

"It worked really well for him last year, and we just think [it's helpful] for him to go down and get some confidence and a high volume of reps in offensive situations and power-play situations. That's going to help him. Hopefully he can find his game and get his confidence, and then [we'll] get him back up just like last year."

This story will be updated.