NEWSLETTER
Mornings are definitely better when the Blackhawks scored eight goals the night before! Let’s get into the wild performance by Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks and some pretty exciting news this morning regarding Kyle Davidson’s front office.
• Derek King threw Alex DeBrincat on the Blackhawks’ top line with Dylan Strome and Patrick Kane for Tuesday night’s contest with the Anaheim Ducks, and boy did they respond to the move. Patrick Kane, Dylan Strome, and Alex DeBrincat combined for five goals in an 8-3 drubbing of the Anaheim Ducks. It’s not often we get to see Patrick Kane do something new with his fantastic body of work in a Blackhawks sweater, but Kaner erupted for a career-high six points against the Ducks logging a goal and five primary assists.
Patrick Kane on his career night: "I was texting Schmaltzy the other night after he had 7 [points], 'I wish I had a night like that.' Didn't quite catch him tonight, but 6 is pretty nice."https://t.co/m9RP6HQfbX
— Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers) March 9, 2022
• The Blackhawks blew the doors off of Anaheim from the drop of the puck with Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Ryan Carpenter, and Jonathan Toews, all scoring goals in the first period as the Hawks took a 5-0 lead into the intermission.
• The five-goal first period was their best opening frame since they scored five goals against the Ottawa Senators in the first period on February 18, 2019. Moreover, Patrick Kane became the fourth skater in NHL history with four or more points in an opening period, joining Grant Mulvey (4-1—5 on Feb. 3, 1982 vs. STL), Pit Martin (1-3—4 on Jan. 30, 1969 at PHI) and Dick Redmond (1-3—4 on Dec. 5, 1973 at DET), per NHL Public Relations.
• You can check out all five of the first period goals here courtesy of NBC Sports Chicago:
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1501386287613452294?s=20&t=ExwQ5hCufk5d5_WqSGlI6Q
• Dylan Strome logged a hat trick in the winning effort, his second this season, with his first coming on Jan. 26 against Detroit. Strome finished the night with three goals and an assist, and the 25-year-old center has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his last four games, and he’s up to 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 45 games this season.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1501408360268242947?s=20&t=ZnORin7ec8moBcNYpO4CFg
• Alex DeBrincat’s first-period goal marked his fourth straight game with a goal. DeBrincat has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his last four games and is up to 53 points (33 goals, 20 assists) in 58 games this season.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1501375684995919878?s=20&t=ZnORin7ec8moBcNYpO4CFg
• That was a fun one!
https://twitter.com/BN_Blackhawks/status/1501377820551004161?s=20&t=ZnORin7ec8moBcNYpO4CFg
• Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff reports that the Blackhawks will be hiring Norm Maciver as Kyle Davidson’s Associate GM. Maciver spent 14 years with the Blackhawks and served as the Assistant GM from 2012-2019 before leaving the organization after Stan Bowman demoted him from his AGM role.
Blackhawks Reportedly Hire Norm Maciver as Associate GMhttps://t.co/lG1YVLDyRF
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 9, 2022
• Maciver, whom Davidson developed a close working relationship with during their shared years together in the Blackhawks front office, will oversee all scouting operations for the Blackhawks and is reportedly going to play a significant role in determining the next head coach of the Blackhawks. This is a strong hire for Kyle Davidson, who continues to waste no time sculpting his front office.
• Sean Gentille and Craig Custance recently spoke with Carolina Hurricanes’ AGM Eric Tulsky on The Athletic’s Hockey Show. Of course, his interview with the Chicago Blackhawks came up during the interview. There was nothing groundbreaking in the discussion, but for those wondering what kind of role Rocky Wirtz is playing with the Blackhawks these days, Tulsky did not name Rocky as one of the faces in the room during his interview with the Blackhawks. According to Tulsky, the interview was led by CEO Danny Wirtz, President of Business Ops Jaime Faulkner, and VP of Human Resources Shara Meisinger were the three conducting his interview.
How do the Hurricanes blend analytics and scouting? What was Chicago’s GM search like? Ask Eric Tulsky.
Full transcript of a great talk. https://t.co/LjTm5P9Lis
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) March 8, 2022
• Tulsky also praised Kyle Davidson and said he believes that Davidson was hired because the Blackhawks felt he was the best man for the job, not because he was already in the building. Here’s what Tulsky said about Davidson: “my bet is that Kyle didn’t get the job because he was there. Kyle got the job because they liked the way he thinks and they came away feeling like, ‘We saw a lot of strong candidates, but in the end, we’re still very comfortable with the person who we’ve seen.’ I don’t think he was handed the job. I think he earned that job.”
• That’s another strong endorsement for Kyle Davidson, this time from the candidate that many fans and pundits were hoping the Blackhawks would hire.
• Could the Blackhawks be buyers at the trade deadline if the price is right on the rights to Minnesota’s Jack McBain?
Minnesota Might Trade the Rights to Jack McBain, and the Blackhawks Are Mentionedhttps://t.co/Ei26HODQA5 pic.twitter.com/xP6kqGtVpq
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 8, 2022
• I answered a four-pack of questions from the Blackhawks mailbag on Tuesday:
Blackhawks Mailbag: Targeting Forward Prospects in Trade and Free Agency, Fleury Helping Out? Next Captain? Morehttps://t.co/rupKnCrKC5
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 8, 2022
• Brandon Hagel scored a beautiful goal and set up Jonathan Toews for a short-handed goal on a beautiful assist on Tuesday night, so this idea won’t sit well with many, but might it be necessary, even if it hurts?
Trading Brandon Hagel Might Be a (Painfully) Necessary First Step for the Blackhawkshttps://t.co/VJByekmNqs pic.twitter.com/rvnkgJaQyU
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) March 8, 2022
• I’m totally ready for a new CBA to be reached today. I’m also totally prepared for MLB to crap all over me:
Deja Vu All Over Again? CBA Talks Made Enough Progress Overnight to Delay the Cancellation “Deadline” – https://t.co/YQyNqFm8IJ pic.twitter.com/U54ICwEmme
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 9, 2022
• It was a wild day in the world of the NFL. Luis had his hands full, so check out all his hard work from Tuesday’s pigskin madness:
HOLY WHAT: Russell Wilson is Being Traded to the Denver Broncos – https://t.co/Y9dMMIaXrv pic.twitter.com/KncpBxknS9
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) March 8, 2022
