Happy Thanksgiving y’all! I’m running these out the door this morning before heading out to play some football. Then, a big ol’ dinner at two houses (my family and then the in-laws) so if you don’t see bullets before noon on Friday it’s because I’m in either traction from the football or a food coma. Either way, have a blessed turkey day!
I kinda sorta don’t want to talk about last night’s game. It was soooo good for 50 minutes. Dallas is one of the best teams in the entire NHL and the Blackhawks (literally and figuratively) punched them in the mouth for 50 minutes and had a 4-1 lead in the middle of the third period. They were winning faceoffs, shooting the puck, and getting good goaltending. Then the wheels completely fell off and the Stars scored five goals in the final ten minutes of regulation. That one hurts… if winning is the point…
… if winning is the point, right? After a terrific start to the season, the Blackhawks have continued competing but haven’t been able to close the deal. With their fifth straight loss, the Blackhawks are right back into the Bad 4 Bedard Circle of Trust.
With his assist on Connor Murphy‘s goal (the Blackhawks’ third of the night), Jonathan Toews finally reached 500 in his regular-season career with the Hawks. He’s the eighth player to reach 500 helpers for the Chicago organization, and is now 17 away from tying Steve Larmer for seventh in franchise history.
Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi both scored a goal last night, which is good. Through 19 regular season games, they have combined to score 11 goals. If I told you they would score at that pace together, mostly on the top line with Patrick Kane, I think most fans would have taken it. Both of them is here on a one-year, $3 million deal. Both, based on their contracts, was expected to be prime trade bait if they performed. Thus far, they’re doing their part to improve their value.
After the game head coach Luke Richardson said Sam Lafferty was out injured for the entire third period. He’ll get re-evaluated on Thursday but the quick turnaround (1 PM CT start on Friday) doesn’t help.
Yesterday I shared a great way to get some good hockey viewing in before the Blackhawks game even started: Notre Dame was at Boston University for a late-afternoon start. Four Blackhawks prospects were in action and they all looked solid in the game. Landon Slaggert scored his first goal of the season in a huge spot for the Irish, who were chasing two goals before his snipe found the back of the net. But at the end of the night it was a strong performance from Drew Commesso in net for the Terriers who came away with the victory. Ryder Rolston (ND) and Ryan Greene (BU) also looked terrific in the game.
The more I get to see Greene in action the more I think the Blackhawks might have stolen a really good young center in the second round of the ’22 draft. He’s fast, defensively responsible and has marvelous offensive instincts. As a true freshman playing for a power program he’s stood out as one of the better players at BU this season, which is a big compliment.
Colton Dach apparently loves perogies and Def Leppard and he wants to be a detective when he grows up. Sounds like a hockey player to me! Here’s hoping he can stay healthy (and un-suspended) the rest of the way so we can get a good look at his potential. He had a great summer with the Blackhawks.
In his Wednesday edition of the 32 Thoughts written column, Elliote Friedman throws out an interesting thought:
This might be purely in my head, but I wonder if Los Angeles makes a pitch for Patrick Kane. The Kings’ .571 points percentage is sixth in the Western Conference, but their goal differential (minus-4) isn’t good. They have the picks and prospects to make this move.
He’s right that the Blackhawks could have interest in the picks and/or prospect LA has to offer. And one has to wonder if LA is in a strong enough position in the Pacific to be an interesting move for Kane. The Kings aren’t the only team that could be interesting to make an offer if/when 88 hits the market…
Because the New York Rangers made a trade on Wednesday. They traded Ryan Reaves to the Minnesota Wild for a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Yup, a guy they had to have to beat up the big, bad Washington Capitals just got straight-up salary dumped for a pick of minimal significance three years down the road.
Why do we care? Because this creates cap space for the Rangers, who most still believe are the front-runners to make a strong bid for Kane.
Finally, here’s hoping the Cubs go shopping like the rest of us on Black Friday.