NEWSLETTER
Good Sunday morning to you all. Hope you have all recovered after Mitch Trubisky made the Bears look like FOOLS for not keeping him around yesterday.
I joke.
We all know what the future holds for the Bears, even if they are going to be stubborn about it…
Would you listen to this crowd!? #FieldsTime pic.twitter.com/VAUs8AiMwA
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) August 21, 2021
•  What do you think will get the bigger ovation: Fields’ first time he starts/gets in a regular season game at Solider Field or Jonathan Toews’ first introduction back at the United Center?
•  You know what, how about a tie? Why can’t we all just be happy in the Chicago sports world, right?
•  Speaking of just wanting to be happy, it appears Dylan Strome had enough of his dog Wrigley wanting to just play fetch when he is trying to get ready for the upcoming season…
https://twitter.com/BN_Blackhawks/status/1429248124275539972?s=20
•  That face! What a good boy.
•  Strome is one of those players this season with the Blackhawks that has something to prove. When Jeremy Colliton joined the Blackhawks Talk Podcast recently, he spoke about the amount of competition there will be for ice-time during training camp leading up to the beginning of the season and even during the regular season. Chicago added a lot of players who can play in middle-six roles as forwards and Strome is not necessarily in a position to feel like his spot in the roster is locked-in. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times took a crack at creating the opening night lineup for the Blackhawks, which you can find here…
Lots of players, not many spots.
After a number of additions this offseason, how will the Blackhawks’ depth chart and lines look come Opening Night?
New story:https://t.co/EYD8mPvBEh
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) August 21, 2021
•  You can compare Ben’s opening night lineup to the one I put together earlier this month. We’re on similar tracks.
•  I know I’ve said it a few times over the past few weeks, but looking at Ben’s roster projection, as well as a ton of other roster combinations and projections over the last few weeks, the Blackhawks are in a good position to be competitive this season and could actually be not just a watchable team, but a Stanley Cup Playoffs contender. Of course, all of this is currently “on paper.” There have been no Stanley Cups handed out for teams that looked competitive on paper, at least not yet.
•  A Happy 27th Birthday to former defenseman Olli Määttä today!
Happy 27th Birthday to one-time #Blackhawks defenseman Olli Määttä! pic.twitter.com/Rxy9oVgBbo
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) August 22, 2021
•  Earlier this week we saw Henrik Lundqvist retire after 15 NHL seasons. He has a sure-fire Hall of Fame resume and the New York Rangers are set to retire his No. 30 some time this upcoming season. Rightfully so. Another NHL legend and a Hockey Hall of Famer, Chris Pronger, is going to get his No. 44 retired by the St. Louis Blues this season as well.
SAVE THE DATE! No. 44 will be raised to the rafters on Jan. 17, 2022. https://t.co/RpusaohT7R
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) August 20, 2021
•  Can we talk about how much Pronger looks like a younger Kelsey Grammer in this picture though? Full-on Frasier Crane vibes.
•  With the upcoming release of NHL22 from EA Sports, Steven Ellis of The Hockey News took a crack at making the Top 10 soundtracks from EA’s NHL franchise over the years. There have been some incredible soundtracks to the games in my lifetime, and I believe that NHL 2002’s soundtrack is an all-timer. Partly because that was the first NHL game that I played when I really started to get into hockey, and partly because Sum 41’s “Fat Lip” was, and still is, one of my absolute JAMS. You can see the Top 10 here…
From Green Day to Papa Roach and Megadeth to Avenged Sevenfold, EA Sports' NHL video game series has been loaded with fantastic soundtracks throughout the years.
Here's a look at 10 of the best.https://t.co/NfxPehafZ5
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) August 21, 2021
•  One surprise here: NHL21. After thinking about it, the past few years of the NHL franchise, I feel myself not even paying attention to the soundtrack. But the last installment, when I think about it and go back an play the game, I actually realize that the soundtrack is not that bad, good even.
•  Philadelphia loves their Gritty art…
Back home in Philly for a hot second and I’ve stumbled across the greatest work of public art in human history
cc @GrittyNHL pic.twitter.com/VOyEZ7YRIx— Tom Kretchmar (@tkretchmar) August 21, 2021
•  10/10.
•  Yesterday completed the first round of games for every team in the IIHF Women’s World Championships. After each team has one game in the books the USA, Canada, and R.O.C. (Russia) lead Group A. While the Czech Republic, Germany, and Japan all lead Group B.
After 2 days of competition, each team has played at least one game, and the standings have shuffled. #WomensWorlds pic.twitter.com/xUOfMCFyFa
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 22, 2021
•  The U.S. are back in action tonight, taking on Finland for their second game of the preliminary round. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and the game can be found on the NHL Network.
•  That’ll do it for today. Enjoy your Sunday!
•  We are 53 days away from the 2021-22 season opener for the Blackhawks against the Colorado Avalanche…
