Ovechkin Passes Mikita, College Tournaments Heat Up, a Coach Ejection, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Mar 05, 2023

Earlier this season we were fortunate(?) to watch Alexander Ovechkin score his 800th goal at the United Center against the Blackhawks. I know not everyone was thrilled that he reached the incredible milestone at the expense of the Hawks, but it was still a cool moment to witness history. Last night, Ovechkin made more history and it related to the Blackhawks once again. He passed Stan Mikita on the NHL’s all-time points list. Congrats Ovi! And let this serve as a reminder: Stosh was incredible (and is still the greatest Blackhawk in history in my humble opinion).

The #Gr8 has passed Stan Mikita on the all-time points leaders list!#ALLCAPS | @LeidosInc pic.twitter.com/IHLUmhAaUT
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 5, 2023

Here are your updated Bad for Bedard Sweepstakes standings for Sunday morning. The same four teams are still hanging out under .400 and Arizona might inch closer to joining them tonight (they host New Jersey).

Good morning #Blackhawks fans. Here's your Sunday morning reminder that you've gotta be in it to win it and the Hawks are all the way in the Bad for Bedard Sweepstakes. Here are your updated standings pic.twitter.com/PDxvO9qVt0— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 5, 2023

A good update on the Blackhawks leadership situation. After Saturday night’s game head coach Luke Richardson told the media that Jonathan Toews has been working out and around the team lately. With all of the roster turnover it’s good to hear that 19 is back in the building and feeling good enough to work out.

Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times continues to do the work of a true hero, tracking the Blackhawks’ attendance in this rough season. They were reportedly a birthday party short of 19k at the game last night, which is impressive when maybe 35 people in the stands could name every player (and that isn’t all of the team’s employees).

Blackhawks attendance: 18,942

Solid crowd for the first post-deadline game, although it being Saturday night helped. I'm curious what Monday will look like.

Pic and chart: pic.twitter.com/oRer2kao6D— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 5, 2023

The Seattle Thunderbirds are the US division champions of the WHL! First, I might need this shirt. Second, for everything that we’ve discussed that the Blackhawks’ front office wants their top prospects playing important, meaningful, postseason hockey in Rockford (and elsewhere) this season, the fabulous Thunderbirds are an absolute wagon right now. Kevin Korchinski is having a ridiculous season (63 points and PLUS-44!! in 45 games). Nolan Allan has been really good since joining Seattle and Colton Dach has six points in five games with the team.

At the ready 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ImN0v9kha3
— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) March 5, 2023

The Big Ten conference playoffs will see the first round conclude today! One of the three quarterfinal series ended yesterday when Michigan finished off a two-game sweep of Wisconsin. Adam Fantilli had another hat trick to lead the Wolverines into the next round. He’s a beast and I wouldn’t be upset at all if the Blackhawks drafted him. And, if the Blackhawks stay in the second spot in the draft lottery, they might have a great shot of landing Fantilli.

Highlights from Michigan's 7-4 win over Wisconsin to advance to the B1G Semifinals#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/ryWi2ObAHq
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 5, 2023

Ohio State (Jake Wise) hosts Penn State and Notre Dame (Landon Slaggert) hosts Michigan State in the third and deciding games of those series tonight. If Notre Dame’s season ends, I’ll be watching to see if/when the Blackhawks sign Slaggert.

Hockey East’s conference playoff bracket is now set. The Blackhawks have prospects at No. 1 seed Boston University (Drew Commesso, Ryan Greene), No. 2 Merrimack (Slava Demin), and No. 7 Providence (Taige Harding, Connor Kelley). Commesso pitched a shutout last night to celebrate the top seed.

SHUTOUT HUGS FOR ‘MESSO! pic.twitter.com/0IcWQ0oeZp
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) March 5, 2023

San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn — once the head coach at Boston U. — went full Boudreau last night… at the expense of the officials. Can you count the F-bombs? He was ejected from the game for this “conversation.” All he wanted was an explanation as to why Timo Meier isn’t there any more!

Sharks coach David Quinn was ejected after some choice words for the refs 🤬 pic.twitter.com/QRQBuRalY7
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 5, 2023

Things went sideways in a hurry for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon, and their best players were having a terrible afternoon. So their head coach sent a strong message, benching his three leading scorers for the entire third period. Ah, to have that level of comfort about playoff positioning.

0 shifts in third period for Kucherov, Point & Stamkos https://t.co/a4AcbXeqRD
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 4, 2023

I know it’s been bad luck when I wish a favorite Chicago player happy birthday, but I feel a little more confident that Justin Fields is going to be able to celebrate as a Chicago player.

HBD to QB1 pic.twitter.com/gHpxfeSNVC
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) March 5, 2023

Finally, back in the draft and develop mindset, the Cubs appear to have arms for days. Like, lots of guys throwing gas and nastiness in Arizona right now and it’s becoming a daily thing to watch them embarrass people.

Spring Training Miscellany: Cubs Win Because Their Pitching is on Fire and I Really Wish This Countedhttps://t.co/U8fpRV3Kg6 pic.twitter.com/YoLKOfcLF6— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 4, 2023

written by

Tab Bamford

Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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