Salary Cap Deadline Day, Tampa Suspends Cole, Harry Styles’ Blackhawks Jersey, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

The Blackhawks are flying to Denver and will practice mid-afternoon today, so it might be a quiet day for the Blackhawks. Or… it might not.

  • First off, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends celebrating today in Canada.
  • The intrigue today will come on the waiver and trade wire. Teams need to be under the $82.5 million salary cap ceiling by 4 PM CT today, and there are a few teams that still have work to do.
  • Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has openly said he’s willing to take on salary if it helps the club (read: he can get draft picks back). He did that in the Riley Stillman trade on Friday night. We’ll see if he can get anything else done before the deadline today.
  • We’ll also wait to see if Buddy Robinson makes it through waivers and heads to Rockford. I’m guessing that’s a safe assumption.
  • One of the teams that is still over the salary cap (by more than $8M according to CapFriendly) is the Tampa Bay Lightning. But that’s not their biggest concern right now. Defenseman Ian Cole had some seriously disturbing accusations leveled against him this weekend, and has been suspended (with pay) by the team.
  • Cole, 33, appeared in 75 games with Carolina last year and signed a one-year, $3M deal with Tampa this summer. He was supposed to have a fairly significant role with the Lightning. But hockey really doesn’t matter when matters like this come up. The NHL is investigating the claims and Cole will be away from the team until that ends… but this is a disgusting accusation and once again brings light to the issues in the broader hockey culture of sexual assault being far too commonplace.
  • There’s really no easy way to transition from the Cole accusation back to anything hockey related, so we’ll interject this image of a Harry Styles signed Blackhawks jersey that has apparently been on display at the United Center during his performances this weekend (and tonight). Kinda neat if you’re into Harry Styles (note: I am not).
  • Looking for a perfect holiday gift for that wonderful kid in your life? How about an electric Zamboni? You can buy one now. I just wanna know if they make them in adult sizes because I live close enough to my in-laws house that I would totally do this instead of walking there.
  • Mark Lazerus asked the Blackhawks how it feels to be told on the regular that they’re terrible.
  • He makes one absolutely critical distinction that I have made countless times already in this space and in the comments on our social media accounts: “Players don’t tank, front offices do.” These players aren’t going to lose games on purpose. They just don’t have a roster that’s going to be good enough to beat many teams this season. So don’t mix the two realities. The Blackhawks are going to do their best this year on the ice. We just need to be prepared for their best to be… not quite good enough.
  • Finally, at least the Blackhawks aren’t going for it and failing like the Mets.
  • 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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