World Juniors Playoffs Begin, Blackhawks Add on the Blue Line, Foley Calling Cubs-Cards, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Happy World Juniors quarterfinals day! Make sure your coffee is ready because the United States got the late night slot once again.

  • We’ve got three games of interest for the Blackhawks on Wednesday as the WJC begin. We have the entire schedule on the site.
  • In case you went to bed relatively early on Tuesday night, you might have missed the report that the Blackhawks are signing veteran defenseman Jack Johnson to a one-year deal. The contract is expected to be announced today.
  • Maybe “Rodeo Clowns” is too close to home when we think about where this season is headed for the Blackhawks, but our Twitter poll of the day asks you to give us your favorite song performed by the musician who shares the name of the Hawks’ newest blue liner.
  • Miss me yet? He’s retired from hockey, but that doesn’t mean he’s putting the mic down for good. In fact, next week we’ll get to hear Pat Foley live out one of his dreams. He’ll be on the call for the Cubs vs. Cardinals game at Wrigley.
  • The NHL announced the league’s COVID protocols for the 2022-23 season on Tuesday. Of note: because of ongoing travel restrictions, unvaccinated players will not be able to travel from the US to Canada for games again this season. And the league is allowing teams to suspend players (without pay) while traveling to Canada if they are unable to travel because of vaccination status.
  • The guys at the Blackhawks Talk Podcast at NBC Sports Chicago dropped their latest episode. They talked about the Toews-Kane departures because of course they did, but we were more interested in their comments about how Wyatt Kaiser and Landon Slaggert fit into the Blackhawks’ future.
  • Charlie Roumeliotis said (and I agree) that the Blackhawks should look to sign both Slaggert and Kaiser as soon as they’re ready to go (he specifically encourages the Hawks to get it done after their coming juniors seasons at Notre Dame and UMD, respectively). He projects Kaiser as a second-pair defenseman and Slaggert as a “really good middle-six forward.”
  • Finally, as a proud Hinsdale Central football alumni myself, this one hurts. But I think we — Hinsdale grads, Illini fans and Bears fans in general — are hoping Doug gets his body right and works his way back onto the field for his hometown team in the future.
  • written by

    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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