NEWSLETTER
I’m tired, folks. I’m tired of this team and everything that surrounds it.
• Yesterday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with the NHL media ahead of the All-Star skills competitions. It was there that he said Rocky Wirtz and the Blackhawks would not face any discipline for his outbursts towards Mark Lazerus and Phil Thompson regarding the fallout of the Kyle Beach investigation and settlements on Wednesday night.
Gary Bettman: Rocky Wirtz Will Not Face Discipline For Comments at Town Hall Eventhttps://t.co/3dXTDuuQyY
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 4, 2022
• While we all likely feel like Rocky Wirtz should face some repercussions for his actions, given the context of the subject matter, did you actually think the league would do anything? The real answer is no.
Bettman on The Point: "What we saw from Rocky was emotional, frustration and overshadowed the work the #Blackhawks have done." Mentions Faulkner and Danny Wirtz "doing the right things" and having the right people around.
Whatever that means.— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 4, 2022
• We’ve all been frustrated and emotional, yes. But many times over, those moments are usually unexpected. There is no way Rocky Wirtz was not prepped prior to Wednesday night, that he and Danny Wirtz and Jaime Faulkner would face a question or multiple questions regarding what happened with Kyle Beach and/or “John Doe 2.”
There will be no league-issued punishment for Rocky Wirtz, Bettman said.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 4, 2022
• Rocky’s response shows to me, that yes, he is frustrated. He is frustrated that he has to deal with a problem that he threw money at and thinks should be over and done with now. That’s not how these things work. The actions of the Owner and Chairman of the Blackhawks shows me that what happened to Kyle Beach would have never come out or had anything done about it, had word gotten to Rocky Wirtz in 2010. The reason he didn’t know about it at the time and only learned of it in the court filings is because the culture of the Blackhawks front office found Kyle Beach to be a burden and they were not going to bring that burden to Rocky Wirtz, because likely, he would have had the same reaction then as he did on Wednesday night.
Bettman says recent months have been "emotional, frustrating, and draining" for Rocky Wirtz and the #Blackhawks
Yeah? Imagine what the last decade has been like for Kyle Beach and "John Doe 2"? https://t.co/2gQH2wQDJk— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 4, 2022
• Wirtz will not face discipline from the league. Fine. Face it from the fans. Face it from the public. Face it with dwindling season-ticket sales. Face it from empty seats at the United Center. Face it from sponsorship money lost. Money talks, and that’s the language Rocky speaks.
• Other news from Bettman and Bill Daly’s media availability, the Bruins will host the next Winter Classic at Fenway park. The Hurricanes will host an outdoor game. The 2023 All-Star weekend will be in South Florida next year.
#NHL Events Announced for next season#NHLBruins will host the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.#LetsGoCanes will host a Stadium Series game, #TimeToHunt will host the All-Star Game
Global Series will return next season in Europe pic.twitter.com/BWSl3znbJj— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) February 4, 2022
• Bettman also had a lot of things to say regarding how the Canadian government’s COVID protocols are hurting the Canadian teams and the league. He spoke about the 2022 NHL Draft being held in Montreal…for now.
Commissioner Bettman says 2022 draft may be moved from Montreal if there are still COVID restrictions in place
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 4, 2022
One thing abundantly clear from Bettman press conference: #NHL (and its clubs) are beyond frustrated with Covid-related restrictions in Canada.
There was a not-saying, just-saying moment about teams potentially moving games to U.S. as well as shifting #NHLDraft from Montreal.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 4, 2022
• But even with dealing with COVID, still, the NHL is expecting revenues to go over $5 Billion.
Gary Bettman says he expects NHL revenues to hit $5-billion this season even with Canadian teams currently playing at less than full capacity.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 4, 2022
• On his beloved Arizona Coyotes…
He said that under one projection Arizona's revenues may actually be better (in the smaller rink) than currently.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 4, 2022
• With his words about Canada and Arizona, there’s a less than zero chance that Quebec will see a team coming there via relocation. Bettman will continue to set money on fire in Arizona.
• It was the NHL All-Star skills competition night last night. Alex DeBrincat was part of the festivities and participated in the Breakaway Challenge.
https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1489757948813484043?s=20&t=_p7PWIMyRL_WB4w0cCHrlw
• He chose the song “Who let the dogs out” and we all thought the DeBrindogs were coming to the ice. We were mistaken. Rather, DeBrincat went with ” The Hangover” angle in Vegas.
who let the dogs out #NHLAllStar @derekcarrqb pic.twitter.com/BpcfjqIwtQ
— Alex DeBrincat (@Brinksy97) February 5, 2022
• He also went with the local angle, bringing in Derek Carr and Hunter Renfrow from the Raiders with Carr providing the assist.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1489815476423254017?s=20&t=STtRJJ8Pgodvtf99hLpqOw
• It was a great show and yet, DeBrincat was sabotaged by a Blues fan…
Jon Hamm would sabotage Alex DeBrincat #NHLAllStar
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 5, 2022
• Booooo!
• Although he did not win the competition, Trevor Zegras stole the show last night. It was the reason he was made a special guest at the All-Star weekend and he did not disappoint…
This is insane pic.twitter.com/7hSPSc3Z9A
— Stuckey (@Stuckey2) February 5, 2022
• Seriously, this is NUTS!
This is still the coolest shit ever pic.twitter.com/rS2i1G7YGA
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) February 5, 2022
• But the homers have the final say in the voting process.
Alex Pietrangelo wins the breakaway challenge without scoring a goal when Trevor Zegras scored one of the coolest showman goals I've ever seen in my life. Cool event!
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) February 5, 2022
• Zegras is a star in this league and he’s the future of the American hockey landscape. I love it.
It’s well-documented that Trevor Zegras’ favorite player growing up was Patrick Kane.@Jackie_Redmond said Zegras is bummed he can’t share the ice with him this weekend: "I’m a huge Patrick Kane fan. Kane, if you’re watching, I wish you were here.” 😂 #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 5, 2022
• Another show-stealing moment came from Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson in the Fountain Face-Off competition as she beat a number of NHL players.
How many skills competition events do women have to beat all the men at for people to realize it doesn’t matter who is holding the stick…good hockey is good hockey! pic.twitter.com/ETt7xAH0CB
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) February 5, 2022
• Here’s a rundown of the winners from last night…
Jordan Kyrou (@JordanKyrou) posted the top time in Verizon NHL Fastest Skater, becoming the first @StLouisBlues player to win the event. #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/k4reKOrefm
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2022
Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jack Campbell combined for nine consecutive saves for the Atlantic Division, the longest streak of any goaltender tandem in the Dunkin’ NHL Save Streak. #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/5650fq47aP
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2022
From the Fountains of Bellagio, @ZachWerenski posted a time of 25.634 seconds in the head-to-head final against Roman Josi (47.454 seconds) to claim the first-ever Discover NHL Fountain Face-Off. #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/HyZYXMhLuX
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2022
Victor Hedman clocked a 103.2 mph shot on his second attempt to claim the EA SPORTS NHL Hardest Shot, becoming the second @TBLightning player to win the event (Freddy Modin in 2001: 102.1 mph). #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/2eoGV1ye43
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2022
Joe Pavelski (@jpav8) of the @DallasStars played all his cards right to win the one-of-a-kind Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22 event. #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/5O4hkE3C7L
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2022
AHO THERE!@SebastianAho takes the @Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting! #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/V05LXJsOLL
— NHL (@NHL) February 5, 2022
• The winner of the Breakaway Challenge was contested. Rightfully so!
ⓘ This claim is disputed. https://t.co/exJkUvZcIg
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) February 5, 2022
• Back to Blackhawks news that isn’t about Rocky Wirtz, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Scott Mellanby will be interviewing for the GM position today. Dreger also says that Peter Chiarelli will interview tomorrow.
Scott Mellanby Will Reportedly Interview for the Blackhawks GM Positionhttps://t.co/ofzx6WPLGQ pic.twitter.com/iUqznw9YSP
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 4, 2022
• The team also confirmed that Hurricanes assistant GM Eric Tulsky has already interviewed for the GM position.
Eric Tulsky is Reportedly Interviewing for the GM Position with the Blackhawks https://t.co/q1GQudtysp
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 4, 2022
• Along with the interview with Tulsky, the team confirmed that interim GM Kyle Davidson had his interview to hold his current position.
This week, we completed interviews with Kyle Davidson and Eric Tulsky for our GM position.
We will continue to provide updates as upcoming interviews are completed.
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 4, 2022
• I appreciate the team coming forward and telling us who they are interviewing.
• Prospect Landon Slaggert doing his best Bobby Orr impression last night for Notre Dame in their win over Penn State!
What can you even say?!?
What. a. goal. by @slaggs_9 – one of seven from the Irish tonight!☘️
📺 @peacockTV #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/B2yDet4NJJ
— Notre Dame Hockey (@NDHockey) February 5, 2022
• In other prospect news last night, the IceHogs got a 4-2 win over the Iowa Wild to improve to 17-15-4. You can find the highlights from last night here:
HIGHLIGHTS: Ian Mitchell strikes twice on the power play and we battle through another physical tilt vs. @IAWild for a 4-2 win! Rematch tomorrow night at 6 at the BMO! https://t.co/Q25hs74QgF
— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) February 5, 2022
• Rockford and Iowa play again tonight, this time at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford.
• Very cool moment last night for Tyler Johnson with the Spokane Chiefs as his No. 9 was retired by his former Junior team.
Number 9, raised to the rafters by @tjohnny09 himself!@spokanechiefs | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/HU0TyyN0eN
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 5, 2022
• Pretty awesome. Johnson should be coming back to the Blackhawks next month after having neck surgery in December.
• News from Russia today, the KHL is stopping their season short due to COVID issues…
The KHL is ending its regular season early, citing the ongoing COVID pandemic and travel risks. It'll seed 16 teams based on points percentage and begin the playoffs on March 1.
Playoff games will "take place every other day, and no more than four matches take place per day."
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 5, 2022
• Will we see a KHL Bubble postseason? It appears possible.
• That will do it for today. Hope you all enjoy your Saturday!
Can’t think of a better guy to rep our city! @Brinksy97 pic.twitter.com/ozsKsA5HN5
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) February 5, 2022
• Don’t forget, this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. CT, the NHL All-Star 3v3 Tournament can be seen on ABC and ESPN+, Alex DeBrincat and the Central Division All-Stars look for the first 3v3 All-Star tournament championship for the Division. The Pacific Division (3) and the Metropolitan Division (2) have split the last five All-Star tournaments.
