Blackhawks on the Trade Block? U.S. and Canadian Men Ousted, Women’s Gold Medal Final, and Other Blackhawks Bullets
The Blackhawks do not have a permanent General Manager running the team. They have a coach who will likely not be the head coach again next season. They have no real aspirations of postseason hockey. They have a load of players that could and should be traded before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 21, just over a month away.
‘Tis the silliest of silly seasons.
• Just wrapping my head around the amount of turnover this Blackhawks roster could see by the end of the day on March 21…
There is a chance that by the evening of March 21, the #Blackhawks would be without:
Fleury
Strome
Kubalík
Hagel
de Haan
Carpenter
Gustafsson
Borgström
Connolly…Sheesh.
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) February 15, 2022
• Out of this list, only Hagel seems to be the one that is the most deserving to not be traded, at least to me. Now, moving Brett Connolly seems impossible because of his contract, but if there’s a chance to trade him as part of a package, Chicago needs to do it since he has no future with the club.
• Yesterday we learned that the Vegas Golden Knights may be exploring the possibility of reuniting with former Vezina-winning goaltender Marc-André Fleury. With starter Robin Lehner facing a possible long-term injury, Vegas is in need of a goaltender who could carry the load of a postseason run.
REPORT: Vegas Is Showing Interest in a Trade for Blackhawks Goalie Marc-André Fleuryhttps://t.co/RkhaArwcLd pic.twitter.com/h7KC6uSYzD
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 15, 2022
• Of course a few hours later, Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon put the kibosh on those rumors…
GM Kelly McCrimmon on a potential Marc-Andre Fleury reunion: “There is absolutely no credence to that rumor at all. I wouldn’t normally speak (officially) on such things, but there will be so much racket about this, it’s important to let people know that’s not going to happen.”
— David Schoen 🗞🏒 (@DavidSchoenLVRJ) February 15, 2022
• Listen, Marc Bergevin was adamant that the Montréal Canadiens would not be trading P.K. Subban back in 2016 and then, ope, he traded him. I’m not saying McCrimmon is lying, but, who believes everything they hear from NHL GM’s at this time of year?
• While names like Fleury’s have been thrown around trade rumors for months and the prospect of him, or Dylan Strome, or Dominik Kubalík being moved are fine to come to grips with (so long as the trade is worth it to Chicago), one name that many would not want to see moved is Patrick Kane. He’s a pillar of the modern-Blackhawks dynasty era and a Chicago sports icon. He also seems the be checking-in with management about the direction the new GM will want to take the Blackhawks for the rest of this season and beyond.
Sounds Like Some Teams Have Been Asking the Blackhawks About Patrick Kane’s Availability in Tradehttps://t.co/xllDxLvYAn pic.twitter.com/4UAy75DjiP
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 15, 2022
• Multiple things can be true at the same time. Kane wants to play his entire career in Chicago and Kane, likely, has no interest in playing on a team that will be rebuilding for ‘X’ amount of years. Kane is the best player the Blackhawks have on their roster, and Kane would get the biggest return in a blockbuster trade for the Blackhawks.
• If Kane really just wants to play the rest of his career in Chicago, Stanley Cup runs or not, fine. He has earned that right to make that kind of career decision. But, just know, as much as it will be sentimental to see him play his entire career with the Blackhawks, if they continue to stink out loud, he would be looked at as someone who ultimately held the team back.
• Olympic Men’s hockey update: While you were probably sleeping, the U.S. lost to Slovakia in a shootout. With just about a minute to play in regulation, holding a 2-1 lead, the Slovakian team found the game-tying goal from Marek Hrivik.
We're heading to OT on @USA_Network and @peacockTV.
Here's the Slovakia goal with 43.7 remaining. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/tcq0rpJ4iH
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 16, 2022
• The game would go scoreless through overtime and we would head to the shootout. This was the same place that Team USA lost in the 2018 tournament, also in a shootout.
• In what many called the worst shootout effort from a U.S. team in a setting such as the Olympics, the States went 0-for-5 while the Slovakian side found the shootout winner from former Boston Bruin Peter Cehlarik.
Slovakia advances to the semis after winning the shootout against Team USA.#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/cQ7uhZcyYv
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 16, 2022
• 0-for-10.
In the last two Olympics, the U.S. scored 0 goals in a quarterfinal shootout. Five shooters both times.
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) February 16, 2022
• This will be the third-straight Olympic Games for the Men’s U.S. team to come away empty-handed after losing the Bronze Medal game in 2014, and having back-to-back years of being bounced in the quarterfinals. Team USA’s last Men’s Olympic Medal remains the 2010 Silver, and their last Gold Medal remains the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team.
• The last time that the Slovakians earned an Olympic Medal was in 1992, when the nation was Czechoslovakia. The last time that Slovakia played for a Medal was in 2010, where they lost the Bronze Medal game to Finland. From the looks of it, this win (NHL players or not) means a lot to the country.
While we had our olympic shootout vs USA in China..this is how early morning practice looked like in many small arenas in Slovakia..🤷🏻♂️🤣🤣🤜🏻🤛🏻👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/Hipex9Yegv
— Miroslav Šatan (@miro81s) February 16, 2022
• I hope this ends in a Medal for them. Just based off this video alone.
• With the U.S. out, Canadians took to social media to “dunk” on the state of Hockey in the States. Well, hope they had their fun. Early this morning, Canada was shutout by Sweden in their quarterfinal matchup with the game-winning goal coming from former Blackhawk Lucas Wallmark.
https://twitter.com/KHLreplays/status/1493969816381763587?s=20&t=cLy1BgSuLoDpqHis1lwZiw
• For the first time since the 2006 Olympics, both the U.S. and Canada will not come home with a Medal in Men’s hockey.
Sweden ousts Canada. There will be no North American representative in the semifinals of the men's hockey tournament.
Semifinals will be:
Finland vs. Slovakia
ROC vs. Sweden— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) February 16, 2022
• Each team has at least one former Blackhawk or IceHogs player on the roster, so at least there is that guarantee that someone will be going home with a Gold Medal.
• Speaking of Gold Medals, the U.S. and Canadian Women play tonight in the Women’s Gold Medal game!
Tonight we play for a gold medal. 11:10 PM ET on NBC. #TeamUSA🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/TQGNeU6pmU
— Kendall Coyne Schofield (@KendallCoyne) February 16, 2022
• Gee, I wonder if Women’s hockey belongs in the Olympics now?
Tonight. For history.🥇
Game Preview ➡️ https://t.co/rjIj7jOUNZ#TeamUSA | #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/Tdx9BE18br
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 16, 2022
• Team USA looks to defend their 2018 Gold Medal, while Canada looks to reclaim Gold for the fifth time in Olympic history.
• Happy Birthday to former Blackhawk Tuomo Ruutu!
Happy 39th Birthday to Tuomo Ruutu!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/I1sBAXVsXS
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) February 16, 2022
• Other NHL news from last night, Alex Ovechkin reached the 30-goal mark for the 16th time in his career. One more 30-goal season will tie Ovechkin for the all-time record for most 30-goal campaigns in an NHL career.
Alex Ovechkin breaks his six-game drought for16th 30 goal season.
Most 30-goal seasons NHL history:
1. Mike Gartner 17.
2. Alex Ovechkin 16
3. Jaromir Jagr 15— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 16, 2022
• Ovechkin is also the only player to reach the 30-goal marker 16 times with one team.
• More history last night as Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby tallied his 500th career goal!
500 NHL GOALS!
Simply Sidsational. pic.twitter.com/ED74HpneAP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 16, 2022
• If not for injuries derailing some of his best seasons, Crosby could have reached the 500-goal mark much earlier and would likely be closing-in on 600 by this time.
• In IceHogs news, they won their third-straight game last night with a 3-2 shootout win over the Iowa Wild. Down 2-1 late in the third period, defenseman Ian Mitchell hammered-home the game-tying goal!
#Blackhawks prospect, Ian Mitchell (#51 in red) scores his eighth goal on the season! It’s his fifth goal in as many games. Alec Regula (#75) and Michal Teplý (#53 pick up the assists. Regula is on a five game point streak (1G, 4A). #HawksProspects #IceHogs #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/ckzPEvdlZC
— Chicago Prospects (@Chi_Prospects) February 16, 2022
• Later in the shootout, Mitchell found the winning goal on his stick.
IAN MITCHELL (#51) WINS IT THE SHOOTOUT FOR THE #ICEHOGS!!! What a move by Mitchell! He’s exuding confidence! #Blackhawks #HawksProspects #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/S229xrN58j
— Chicago Prospects (@Chi_Prospects) February 16, 2022
• Rockford holds a 20-16-4 record this season with the win. They are fourth in the Central Division based on point-percentage (.550), just behind the Milwaukee Admirals in third place (.553) with Milwaukee having played seven more games than Rockford has. And how about this? The IceHogs and Admirals face each other tonight in Milwaukee.
• If you’re not watching what DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls are doing this season, now would be a great time to start paying closer attention to what is shaping-up to be a legitimate MVP-caliber season.
The Bulls walked off the floor with a double-digit victory and their fourth-straight win.
DeRozan walked off the floor with his third 40-point game of the season and a history-making performance.
A fun story has quickly turned into an MVP campaign.https://t.co/CvjsabSz0s
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) February 16, 2022
• Love that the Bulls are back.
• That will do it for today. Hope you all enjoy your Wednesday!