BLOG: Colliton excited to build from beginning in first full offseason

VANCOUVER - He's not a first-year head coach anymore, but Jeremy Colliton is still going through some of his firsts.
As the Blackhawks get set to being the 2019 NHL Draft, it'll be the first the 2003 58th overall selection goes through at the helm of an NHL club.
"It's just exciting," he told reporters ahead of the first round. "We're going to add a really good player and then tomorrow we're going to add a few more. There's that anticipation. We can begin to look ahead and get excited about hopefully helping these guys develop into contributors for our team."

With a full offseason to prepare and plan, Colliton is excited to experience the whole process of building his team after taking over on Nov. 6, 2018.
"It's nice for sure," he said. "The opportunity to have time together as a staff to really work through things and certainly we'll have a plan from the beginning of training camp. We're going to make use of the time we have - the practice time - we want to start off on the right foot."

When Stan Bowman turns in the draft card for the third overall pick in just a few hours time, Colliton is confident that the newest Blackhawk, and the others who follow soon after, will fit into the culture he's looking to build in Chicago.
"We want competitiveness first and foremost. You've got to love the battle and compete," he said. "You really noticed this year the teams that had success in the playoffs, very hard working, very team-oriented, love to battle, love to compete. I think we have some of that, but we want more of it in our team."