Happy Friday, folks! There is college football on this weekend, we’re getting three days off instead of two and the sun is supposed to be out in the Chicago area so let’s enjoy these beautiful moments before there’s snow on the ground and you’re skating down the driveway to your car in the morning. Oh, and we’re now two weeks away from the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase, so another day checked off the calendar between now and hockey!
OMG A PATRICK KANE/JONATHAN TOEWS TRADE RUMOR! Not quite… they’re staying put (for now).
If you’re looking for some fall reading — or a holiday gift for that special Blackhawks fan in your life — we highly suggest Marian Hossa’s autobiography, which is hitting shelves in November.
The USA women handled their business at the World Championship on Thursday. On to the semi-finals! Hillary Knight put her name in the history books, too.
Speaking of USA Hockey, the US Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its induction class for 2022 next week. This will mark the 50th anniversary of the US Hockey Hall of Fame, which will be celebrated on Nov. 30 at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Speaking of USA Hockey… again… the IIHF ran its own story on the 2024 World Cup of Hockey on Friday morning that includes comments from the organization’s president.
“It is the goal of the IIHF to develop an international playing calendar that works with all our members but also can ensure we have the opportunity to hold best-one-best events to showcase our sport to a wider audience,” IIHF President Luc Tardif said in the story.
The Stars re-signed Jake Oettinger on Thursday. The deal has a $4 million AAV. As a reminder, the Blackhawks traded back three spots in the 2017 NHL Draft and selected Henri Jokiharju 29th overall; the Stars picked Oettinger 26th. Chicago drafted Andrei Altybarmakyan (who is no longer with the organization) with the third-round pick they received from Dallas to move back to 29.
If you’re like me and you always try to have at least one player from your favorite team on your fantasy team, we offered a few sleepers on the Blackhawks that might be an option this season.
Finally, something we hope to see a lot of this season from a Blackhawks perspective is prospects putting up huge numbers. One of the Cubs’ prospects got his hands on the launch codes and has been donating souvenirs in bleachers all over the league this summer.