What Collin Delia hopes to build on after season debut originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
When the Blackhawks parted ways with two-time Stanley Cup champion Corey Crawford, the door opened for three goaltenders in the organizational pipeline: Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Malcolm Subban.
The three of them had a combined 76 NHL starts going into the 2020-21 season, which is a fewer number than Crawford had postseason starts alone (94). But the Blackhawks wanted to see what they have in each of them, and they're all going to get their fair share of opportunities.
On Wednesday, Subban got the first crack and gave up five goals on 33 shots for a save percentage of .848 in a 5-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. He struggled at times, but also made a few nice stops, including an early Save of the Year candidate.
On Friday, Delia made his first NHL start since Feb. 22, 2019 and stopped all 10 shots he faced in the first period. But in the second period, he gave up three goals in a span of 5:46, the first of which was a puck-handling miscue that led to a wide-open tally for the Lightning.
"It was definitely frustrating," Delia said following a 5-2 loss. "It was just chalked up to miscommunication on my part. I think that comes with not playing for a while. Gotta go through those paces and get those reps in in game action. That's the only way you're gonna get better. It was definitely frustrating, but can’t let that phase me. I had to look forward to the next shot."
Delia bounced back nicely, turning aside the next 14 shots he saw before giving up two goals in the third period that put the game out of reach. He finished with 32 saves on 37 shots for a save percentage of .865, but, like Subban's performance, there were some mistakes and also positives to build on.
"He made some big saves," head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "You could see his athleticism and he’s never out of it. That was good. He made some big ones to keep us in it. Hopefully he can build some confidence from that."
Delia isn't going to put too much stock into one start, though. It's a compressed 56-game schedule, but he knows it's a marathon and eventually will get more comfortable as he strings together starts and gets into a rhythm.
Now, it's onto the next one.
"Obviously, the end result isn’t what I wanted personally and it’s not what we want as a team, but it’s something to build on," Delia said. "First start in a long time, so take it with a grain of salt. I did some good things but there are some things that I definitely need to improve on; I think that was quite evident. Moving forward, be ready next game."
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