Richardson and his staff gave the players Monday off from practice with the hope the team could regroup for Tuesday's practice with a clearer mind.
"Obviously you could tell in today's practice [that] we want to compete against each other," said Patrick Kane. "I think that's the biggest thing: competing and making sure we're ready to play when the puck drops."
Anyone on the Blackhawks will tell you improving as a team - especially a team looking to break a losing streak - starts on an individual level.
"There's a difference in making mistakes and getting outworked," said Connor Murphy. "Earlier in the losing streak where we felt like we were a game away from winning, we'd make a mistake at the end of the game. We can live with little mistakes but if our overall peaks there, we're not going to be in any games."
That culture of accountability comes in part from Richardson's straightforward coaching methods.
"I just tell them the truth," said Richardson. "When it's not good, it's just not good. But you don't beat them down on it. Just you have to point it out and show to correct [the errors]. Then just be [repetitious] 'till we get that corrected."
Filip Roos finds the direct communication effective. The first-year defenseman signed with the Blackhawks in May after spending three years in Sweden's professional league.
"You can't go complain about [losing] too much," said Roos. "I mean, we're professional hockey players. We got to do our best every game, so if we're not doing that it's probably gonna be hard to play out there."
