NEWSLETTER
It’s a new day month, yes it is!
The calendar has flipped from September to October, and after you’ve made your Green Day jokes, we enter the best month in all of sports. NFL and NCAA football, MLB Postseason, NBA and NHL games get underway as well. The leaves change, the temperature drops, the hoodies come out. It’s great.
• Oh, and it’s Friday and the Blackhawks play the St. Louis Blues for the first time since March 8, 2020. It’s preseason gameday!
#ItIsOctober and it is #Blackhawks Gameday! pic.twitter.com/y974lYsyiQ
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 1, 2021
• Here’s who will be in the lineup tonight for the Blackhawks:
Tonight's lineup against the Blues: pic.twitter.com/NJGWKsQvdv
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 1, 2021
• For the second preseason game in-a-row, Jonathan Toews will be on the ice for the Blackhawks. It’s great to see Toews continue to be a full participant in training camp and now suit-up for the first two games of the preseason. Tonight will also be the second game of the preseason for rookie Lukas Reichel. The game will also serve as the preseason debut for new Blackhawks Nolan Allan, Seth Jones, Jake McCabe, Tyler Johnson, and Marc-André Fleury in net.
• Speaking of Fleury, his NHL22 ratings were revealed yesterday as part of EA Sports’ roll-out of the top players in the game at each position.
Looking good 👍🏻
(📸@EASPORTSNHL)#Blackhawks #NHL22 pic.twitter.com/iCQ51ktU5Y— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) September 30, 2021
• Not too shabby. Fleury’s 90 overall rating puts him in a three-way tie for the third-highest rated goaltender in the game with Tuukka Rask and Carey Price. Here’s the top ten in the game:
Kicking off our ratings reveal of the very best at their positions with the Top 10 Goalies in #NHL22 🥅 🎮
Agree or disagree with these OVRs? 🤔
See more details 👇https://t.co/962M15Duhh pic.twitter.com/XtaikhtENa— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) September 30, 2021
• Wonder what his strength rating is after these pushups from yesterday’s practice.
Hagel feeds Toews. Toews puts it past Fleury. Fleury punishes himself with push-ups. Toews celebrates.#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pFdzPyELPs
— Joe Brand (@Joe_Brand1) September 30, 2021
• Some more good news from yesterday’s training camp session as Colton Dach returned to the ice after missing the past few days due to an injury.
Colton Dach is on the ice for practice after suffering a shoulder injury a few days ago. Good news. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pYt32mJOMz
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) September 30, 2021
• It has been a very eventful training camp for the 2021 second-round pick. After being traded from Saskatoon to Kelowna in the WHL, Dach signed his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks this morning.
Blackhawks Sign Colton Dach To Entry-Level Contracthttps://t.co/K23vfrRIRW
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 1, 2021
• Other Canadian Junior news from the Blackhawks camp came yesterday as Jalen Luypen (Edmonton, WHL) and Ethan Del Mastro (Mississauga, OHL) were sent back to their respective clubs in the CHL.
Blackhawks Roster Moves: Jalen Luypen and Ethan Del Mastro Assigned to Juniorshttps://t.co/Bc0ouXFxYe
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 30, 2021
• Oh baby a triple Blackhawks birthday today!
A TRIPLE #Blackhawks Birthday today for Cliff Koroll (75), Alexei Zhamnov (51), and Johnny Oduya (40)! pic.twitter.com/tfJBqxsB3o
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 1, 2021
• New developments late last night in regards to the sexual assault lawsuits against the Blackhawks and former video coach Brad Aldrich from TSN’s Rick Westhead:
Psychologist Dr. Julie Medlin, an expert witness for the plaintiff, wrote in an affidavit that the former Blackhawk player told her that "the team had an ‘old boys’ club culture that discourages anything that could hurt the team’s reputation." pic.twitter.com/MyMlR4OWX1
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 1, 2021
• After the internal investigation done by the University of Miami (Ohio) regarding their hiring of Aldrich turned up with no physical employment reference from the Blackhawks, this seems like a technical “yes, but” situation. While the plaintiffs are technically not wrong in what they are saying, I’m not sure how it will end up holding in court. But I’m no lawyer. We’ll keep up with this story as it continues to develop.
• Good news for the Canadiens as they will become the 31st NHL team to operate with full fan capacity this season.
Quebec health authorities are lifting capacity restrictions on venues with assigned seating starting Oct. 8.
That includes allowing Montreal’s Bell Centre to be at full capacity for the Canadiens’ first home game on Oct. 16 vs. the Rangers: https://t.co/bMf7daewoB#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/KUUaRIONoY
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) September 30, 2021
• This leaves just the Vancouver Canucks without the ability to have full fan capacity to begin this season.
• Speaking of COVID measures this season, today is the deadline for players to opt-out of the 2021-22 NHL season.
Today is the deadline for players to opt-out of the 2021-22 season.
Players who decide to opt out must notify their club, along with the NHL CR and NHLPA, in writing no later than 5:00pm ET.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) October 1, 2021
• I would be surprised to see any opt-outs, but never say never.
• Last night we saw history in the OHL as Kirsten Welsh became the first female referee to work a game in the league’s history.
First game in the books, and #OHL history made!
Congrats Kirsten Welsh, who worked alongside referees Stephen Hiff and Jason Faist along with line partner Justin Herrington in her big debut 👍 pic.twitter.com/0oT6z16JDD
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) October 1, 2021
• Welsh in the OHL joins Alex Clarke in the WHL to be the first female referees in the leagues histories this season. Recently on TSN’s Insider Trading, Darren Dreger reported that the NHL is pushing to get female referees into the league soon, and that the AHL will likely have female referees in the league this season. Which is awesome to see.
• Speaking of history, we saw some MLB history made in the Cubs game last night:
Rafael Ortega’s Big Night Marked a First in Baseball History – https://t.co/7snHhw1jB2 pic.twitter.com/CpRS5Vn0U3
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 1, 2021
• Ortega was the first player in the Modern Era to lead off a game with a homer, steal third, and steal home. No one has done that before.
• That’s incredible.
• That will do it for today. Hope you all have a great TGIF Friday, and we’ll see you tonight for Blackhawks and Blues!
