NEWSLETTER
It’s has not been a great month for hockey. With the COVID outbreak in the NHL postponing so many games and the IIHF making the decision to cancel the World Junior Championships juts days after starting it, there has been little room for great news recently.
• Following there forfeited games and handful of positive COVID cases, the IIHF pulled the plug on the tournament yesterday.
Report: IIHF Cancels Rest of 2022 World Junior Championship Tournamenthttps://t.co/YW4BPALf8H
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 29, 2021
• The news came as a surprise to some. For all those involved, coaches, players, staff and everyone that puts together the broadcasts and production of the games, it’s a missed opportunity that sometimes only comes once in their lives.
German players taking pics on the ice before they leave the tourney that never was. pic.twitter.com/EeqLT39Ea9
— James Duthie (@tsnjamesduthie) December 29, 2021
• While the tournament being canceled is a major disappointment, it’s not off the table that the IIHF can reschedule it for a later date in 2022.
Luc Tardif says they will not give up and hope to work over the next month to try and have a 2022 World Junior championship at a later date
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 29, 2021
•. That should also apply to the other tournaments in January that the IIHF decided to cancel earlier this month, including the U18 Women’s World Championships.
Luc Tardif mentioned the potential of having the six cancelled January tournaments (including the U-18 women's world championship) later in June.
"We're working on it.'
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) December 30, 2021
• With the NHL pulling players from the Olympics, and the IIHF having to cancel (or hopefully reschedule) multiple tournaments, we might see a movement in hockey to have major international tournaments move to the summers, COVID or not.
Luc Tardif says for Women's U18 Worlds they will need another month to re-evaluate the decision. They are working on it and hope to find a way for that tournament and all six tournaments that were cancelled for Jan. He hopes for June or July as a possibility, but cannot promise.
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 30, 2021
• Team USA, which housed three Blackhawks prospects, only got to play one game. They won, and all three of Chicago’s prospects helped in the win. They’ll look to defend their 2021 Gold Medal properly, hopefully, later in 2022.
Our staff was very proud and honored to be a part of this group. We are crushed for them. They represented USA the right way and are winners. pic.twitter.com/luDsBzYu0u
— Nate Leaman (@CoachLeaman) December 29, 2021
• The environment that led to the potential for a COVID outbreak was highly scrutinized once it became public that the “bubbles” in Red Deer and Edmonton, were anything but that.
Passionate reaction from Slovakia goalie Simon Latkoczy regarding the World Juniors cancellation. Highly critical of the organization and explains how impossible it was for players to avoid contact with people outside of the tournament in Red Deer. pic.twitter.com/MZqGLQFvxx
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 30, 2021
• Could you imagine thinking that you were playing in the biggest tournament of your young life, supposedly isolated from the rest of the world, and then a wedding party is in the lobby of your hotel? I’d be a bit upset, too.
Another 5 positive test results from yesterdays testing at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Had the decision not been made to cancel the tournament, there would have been more forfeited games today and moving forward.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 30, 2021
• Again, this wasn’t going to go away after just a few tests. Not to be forgotten in all this, is that now these players, coaches, staff, and even media members, are stuck in Red Deer or Edmonton for the next ten days, in accordance with Canadian COVID protocols.
• Back in the NHL, the results are in for the highest-selling sweaters of the 2021 calendar year. Even though he’s only been a member of the Blackhawks for about five months, Marc-André Fleury’s Blackhawks sweater was the third-highest seller of the year.
Marc-André Fleury's #29 #Blackhawks sweater was the 3rd-highest seller in the NHL in 2021. Patrick Kane's #88 was 10th. https://t.co/bsLxGUFVmV
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 29, 2021
• Not too shabby with Patrick Kane coming in tenth.
• Major news for the Blackhawks community as Alex DeBrincat and his wife Lyndsey announced that they are expecting their first baby in May!
Alex and Lyndsey DeBrincat announce they are having a baby! Congratulations to the family! #Blackhawks
(📸 IG: lyndseydebrincat) pic.twitter.com/yNctCk26M6— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 30, 2021
• DeBrinBaby? Baby Cat? DeBrinKitten? This kid is going to have to be nicknamed something, we’ll figure it out.
• Speaking of DeBrincat, he’s going to be featured prominently in Scott Power’s list of the top goals from the 2021 year for the Blackhawks…
I watched every Blackhawks' goal from 2021 and ranked the best of them. Can you guess No. 1? https://t.co/Oeog9l2hfU
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) December 30, 2021
• You know who you won’t find on that list? Artemiy Panarin.
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 30, 2021
• He did that against Aaron Ekblad and his buddy Sergei Bobrovsky…ice cold.
An icon in motion pic.twitter.com/v4TOgInPgx
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 30, 2021
• I’ll say, it’s refreshing seeing NHL games be scheduled and actually happening again.
• The Blackhawks next play on January 1, 2022, as it is scheduled. The Rockford IceHogs on the other hand are not going to be in action before that with three more players added to their COVID list yesterday.
IceHogs Place Three Players into COVID Protocols, Game Against Milwaukee Postponedhttps://t.co/2y5JAp4hmf
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 29, 2021
• The AHL is no different than the NHL right now, dealing with COVID cases and postponed games. The league doesn’t have the luxury of the Olympic break in the schedule to reschedule postponed games, so it appears they may extend the season schedule.
I'm hearing the AHL is planning to get on a call tomorrow.
Among the topics of discussion @InsideAHLHockey has learned is the potential of extending the regular season by as much as 7-14 days.
— Tony Androckitis (@TonyAndrock) December 29, 2021
• After having their game tomorrow postponed, the IceHogs had their New Year’s Day game agains the Chicago Wolves postponed today.
Due to COVID issues on the #IceHogs and #Wolves, tomorrow's game in Rockford and Saturday's game in Chicago have been postponed. #AHL
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 30, 2021
• Game continue in the ECHL and they are doing all they can to enjoy them.
It's $1 beer night at the .@CincyCyclones game 🍻 (root beer for me) pic.twitter.com/GlaliTffjn
— Desmond Garrett (@3yearoldskater) December 30, 2021
• That’s a lot of enjoyment.
• Don’t miss this great write-up about one of the newest scouts for the Blackhawks, Canadian Olympian Brigette Lacquette.
Brigette Lacquette becomes the the first Indigenous woman to scout for an NHL team after securing a position with Chicago's NHL team
Lacquette also became the first First Nations woman to play hockey for Canada in a Winter Olympics in 2018https://t.co/qdSrAgWIaK
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) December 30, 2021
• The Blackhawks are working to change A LOT about the organization from over the past decade. Hiring Lacquette as a scout is one of the many moves made since Danny Wirtz took his position as Blackhawks CEO to implement change in the organization. It’s moving forward in a better direction, but there’s still a long way to go for the Blackhawks to earn back the good graces they once had with the hockey community.
• Ending today with some good coming out of the truly heartbreaking story of Jeff Dickerson’s passing. The GoFundMe page for his son, Parker, was loaded with donations from across the sports world yesterday, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter pushing it on social media hard.
Seeing so many people donate to Parker Dickerson’s fund is a nice reminder that this app can be a wonderful place and that there is still good in people. It’s truly refreshing. https://t.co/q7GJLurhts
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) December 30, 2021
• All of the major Chicago teams donated to Parker’s fund, with many other across the NFL landscape chipping in as well. As Lu said, it’s refreshing to see something like this come out of something so terrible.
• That will do it for today. Hope you enjoy your Thursday!
