Ryan Greene Making Most of Opportunity With Blackhawks

Greene is fifth-best on the team at the dot, with a faceoff percentage (FO%) of 43.2%. Considering he is only 21 years old and has played in fewer than 10 NHL games, that number is very respectable. Head coach Jeff Blashill recently talked about the team’s faceoff process, and he mentioned Michael Peca. The Blackhawks’ assistant coach was known throughout his NHL career for his faceoff prowess. Yet, he started at “40-some percent for a couple of years until he kind of figured it out…”

Point being, Greene is on the right track, and the numbers can only improve. It’s something he takes pride in. When I asked about his faceoffs, he said, “I’ve been a center pretty much my whole life, so just, you know, repetition. I’ve been taking a lot of draws over time. I feel like it’s something that I’ve really focused on, like throughout my college career. It’s something that I think I’ve been continuously getting better at. So, I’m just trying to stay strong in the faceoff dot.”

When looking at Greene’s college faceoff stats, according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, he jumped from a 46.3 FO% his freshman year to a 52.8 FO% as a junior. Besides the dot, there has been growth in his overall game, too. During the Blackhawks’ 8-3 over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 15, Greene had one of his more effective nights at the dot, winning 46% of his draws. Moreover, he also recorded his first NHL point (which was a goal) and was a plus-1.

As a defensive, bottom-six forward, that is what he and the coaching staff expect to see. Blashill said postgame, “I thought Greener has had good nights, and he got rewarded with the goal. So, good for him.”

Greene Continues to Earn Opportunity With Blackhawks

Furthermore, Greene’s performance also ties in to how he has conducted himself.

During training camp, Blashill said he discussed with Greene about “skating into battles,” and since then, he has been impressed by what he has seen.

“I’ve been happy with Greener. You know, I think he’s made a lot of strides since the first couple of games of rookie camp. You know, I would have told you then that he needed to change certain things if he wanted to be a guy who could play on this team this year. He has. I say, he’s done a way better job of winning puck battles. He’s done a way better job of playing from the right side of the puck.”

Blashill continued, “There’s things that he has to learn to get better, yes. But that’s part of what we’re here for. That’s part of the situation we’re in, is all these guys are going to make mistakes, and they just have to continue to grow. And what I’ve seen for him is when he has made mistakes and we’ve corrected [them], he’s grown from that. That, to me, is the number one thing. So I’ve been real happy with him.”

Greene has made the most of his NHL opportunity so far. He is not a flashy player, but he is showing potential as a solid option for their lineup and on special teams.

It is unknown how long Greene will be with the Blackhawks, but he has earned the looks he has been given, and he is not going to let it go to waste. “Obviously, I was really happy that I got the opportunity, and then I have been here since, which is a good thing. So, just trying to do everything I can to stay.”