NEWSLETTER
Good morning from “Babymoon” vacation. My wife and I took a small getaway weekend before our daughter gets here in a few weeks(!!!) and you know how when you’re on vacation you’re supposed to relax? Well, for whatever reason I was able to sleep for about three hours combined. So forgive me if today’s bullets are a tad sub-par, I’m running on fumes here.
• In case you missed it yesterday, concerning our 2021 Chicago Blackhawks Prospect Pyramid, we revealed the 49 players that will make up the pool of talent that will be included in the pyramid system.
Who’s In, Who’s Out: Chicago Blackhawks 2021 Prospect Pyramid (Part II) https://t.co/bPpmYtJdlK
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) August 27, 2021
• I hope you all enjoy this ranking system. It’s something I’m putting a lot of time and thought into and may even have a bit of production put into it too. We’ll see. But look for the rankings to begin to roll out this upcoming week!
• While the lawsuits and allegations against the Blackhawks cast a wide, dark shadow over the organization, there are things that the club is doing within the Chicago community to make positive impacts. You can learn more about their One West Side project and what those involved in the program have been doing to impact the west side of Chicago.
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Swipe to see the impact our inaugural One West Side grantees have made in just one year since the #Blackhawks Foundation and @_abetterchicago launched the partnership!@United | #OneWestSide
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 27, 2021
• You love to see things like this where a team actually does something to invest in their direct community.
• But like seemingly everything concerning the Chicago Blackhawks these days, when there’s good news, there’s also bad news…
Steve Montador suffered at least 11 documented concussions in the NHL, including 4 in 12 weeks in 2012, his family has said.
Dr. Charles Tator told a Canadian govt hearing he examined Montador’s medical records & found Steve actually had 19 documented concussions.— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) August 27, 2021
• Steve Montador played parts of 10 NHL seasons with the Flames, Panthers, Ducks, Bruins, Sabres, and Blackhawks. He also played with the Rockford IceHogs during the 2012-13 season. And it is in that timeframe in 2012 with the Blackhawks organization where Monatdor’s history with concussions has been the focus since his tragic passing in 2015. Previously, the NHL had taken no responsibility in any way in the death of Montador, going so far as to deny any connection between the game of hockey, concussions, and CTE.
• Montador’s passing was another in a long line of former NHL players, mainly ones who were revered for their toughness on the ice, who passed away due to various causes at very young ages. All had long histories of concussions during their playing careers and were found to have suffered from CTE. Montador’s passing hit the Blackhawks community hard, and former Blackhawks teammate Dan Carcillo led a public charge to shine a light on the concussion issues in the NHL and the issues with CTE and now, hopefully, Montador’s family can get proper justice and closure to his story.
• Also hoping to find closure in Buffalo is Jack Eichel. While still looking to be traded from the organization who drafted him and made him the Captain, Eichel has decided to change agents and hire hockey super-agent, Pat Brisson.
With his future in Buffalo uncertain, Sabres captain Jack Eichel is changing agents, choosing to be represented by Pat Brisson of CAA: https://t.co/DQx38AA0as#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/Jc54KYaCsH
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 27, 2021
• You’ll know Brisson’s name from his illustrious lineup of clients that includes John Tavares, Sidney Crosby, Anze Kopitar, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane.
This gives Brisson five guys making $10 million or more, plus Sidney Crosby, who isn’t one of them. https://t.co/yO5Qkqzb5p
— Steve “Dangle” Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) August 27, 2021
• In fact, Brisson has his most clients in the NHL with the Blackhawks. He represents Kane, Toews, Seth Jones, Caleb Jones, Nicolas Beaudin, and Andrew Shaw. In total, Brisson’s NHL clients’ current contract value combined is just about $1.045B, according to PuckPedia. Billion, with a B.
• In International Women’s Hockey today, the IIHF World Championships quarterfinals get underway with four games on the schedule. Team USA, after finishing second in Group A, takes on Japan in their quarterfinal matchup today with a 2:30 P.m. CT puck drop. The game can be found on NHL Network.
Knockout round loading… 🥊
For today's full slate of games, check out the graphic below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MRfjBhgBCw
— The Ice Garden (@TheIceGarden) August 28, 2021
• After rolling through Russia (R.O.C.), Finland, and Switzerland in their preliminary round, the U.S. fell hard to Canada in the final game of the group stage. They’ll have a tough challenge ahead of them to try to continue their current streak of five-straight Gold Medals at the IIHF World Championships.
• A player who has led the way for Team USA over the years made history in the preliminary round, breaking Cammi Granato’s goals record in tournament history. Hilary Knight has been a main-stay for U.S. Women’s Hockey for nearly 14 years and is one of the most decorated and recognizable players in the women’s game. But as Ryan Kennedy and Matt Larkin discuss, is she the greatest women’s hockey player ever?
Hilary Knight set the all-time goals record at the World Championship earlier this week.
Where does she rank among the greatest women's hockey players ever?https://t.co/YmEPqiZFdV
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) August 27, 2021
• If Knight wants to continue her legacy within the game, it’ll have to continue today with a win over Japan. Team USA topped Japan in the 2019 World Championships quarterfinal round the last time around, so…no…nope, not going to do it. Not going to jinx it. Not again.
• Finally to end the day on some amazing work out of the ECHL, the Norfolk Admirals (formerly the AHL affiliate of the Blackhawks) made a creative announcement of their new NHL affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes…
🚨 BREAKING WEATHER REPORT 🚨
It's 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍. 😏 pic.twitter.com/D8MmD1Arqm
— x – Norfolk Admirals (@NorfolkAdmirals) August 27, 2021
• Along with the affiliation with the Hurricanes, comes an AHL affiliation with the Chicago Wolves. Not a bad trio of places to play if you ask me.
LRT: Pretty nice set-up for Carolina prospects. If you're not in the AHL, you go to Norfolk and live on the beach.
— PATRICK WILLIAMS (@pwilliamsAHL) August 27, 2021
• That will do it for today. Hope you all have a great Saturday!
• I’m going back to sleep.
• Don’t forget, send your Blackhawks questions to me on Twitter for our Monday Mailbag post to begin the week off right! Use the hashtag #BNHawksMailbag or email them to me using Mario.tirabassi at bleachernation dot com and I will get them answered.
