Dads On the Road, Healthy Bodies Nearing Return, Richardson’s Impact, Kirby’s Early Success, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

After four long days without Blackhawks hockey, Chicago is back on the ice tonight in Los Angeles. Make sure you schedule your afternoon nap — like the players — because the 9:30 CT start isn’t an easy way to get back in the viewing game. The Blackhawks will look to beat the Kings for the second time in a week. It’s just good to have a game to look forward to again tonight.

  • This weekend is the dad’s trip for the Hawks. This is always a fun one of the dads and players. We’ll see if the guys perform well on the ice in front of their fathers. Patrick Kane told us after practice on Wednesday that he looks forward to the new mix of dad’s on the trip this year. The roster has almost completely turned over since the last dad’s trip, so this will be a new group on the road.
  • Before Wednesday’s practice, three injured Blackhawks were on the ice. Seth Jones joined Tyler Johnson and Alex Stalock in getting some work in before their healthy teammates arrived at the office. The sooner all three of these guys can get back the better.
  • Getting those three players back will help Luke Richardson put together a more complete roster. He’s talked recently about the chemistry that’s starting to evolve on different lines and not necessarily wanting to mess with it even if moving a player — he’s suggested Philipp Kurashev — might help spark a player like Kane get back in the scoring column. Richardson has done a terrific job navigating the injuries on his team early this season. And, among the ten rookie head coaches in the league this year, he’s made the biggest impact.
  • While we’re on the subject of injuries, yesterday’s bullets shared concern for Evander Kane’s scary injury in Tampa on Tuesday night. Later yesterday the Oilers announced their Kane will be out a significant part of the rest of the regular season (3-4 months) because of the wrist cut he suffered. I broke down how that might play into the trade market warming up earlier than usual this season.
  • Transitioning from trade market speculation to a trade that already took place, there continues to be a lot of buzz in Montreal over the play of Kirby Dach early this season. They made a deal with the Islanders to add a pick in the middle of the first round to get him from the Blackhawks during the draft this past summer and took a shot on a guy who had underwhelmed since being selected third overall three years ago. Well, the deal looks great from a Habs perspective right now; Dach has 12 points in 14 games and is playing energized hockey.
  • How do we — Blackhawks fans — feel about the Dach move seeing him succeed in Montreal? I have thoughts.
  • Finally, things are heating up on the hot stove for baseball. Today’s a big day for the offseason. Brett’s all over it (as always).
  • 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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