Blackhawks Celebrate Stauber’s Debut, a New Timeline for 19 and 88, Boudreau Out in Vancouver, More
The Blackhawks come home to face the LA Kings riding a three-game win streak and with Ws in six of their last seven games. Because of course the Blackhawks are going to go on a mid-January heater against teams with playoff aspirations like the Flames, Avs, Sabres and Blues. Of course!
- Oct. 6, 2018 was the last time the Chicago Blackhawks won a regulation game in St. Louis. Whelp, like the streak that was 22 year older than this in Philly, put that one to bed. Jaxson Stauber was terrific in his NHL debut and picked up the victory. Four of the Blackhawks’ five goals came from the bottom six as Chicago’s depth showed out.
- One of those bottom-six goals came from Reese Johnson, who has now scored in two straight games. He was the owner of the championship belt. But he gave us a Corey Crawford-esque presentation of the belt after the game last night, handing it off to the young man who had the night of his life in St. Louis.
- Stauber wasn’t the only player to make his NHL debut last night, but things didn’t go nearly as smoothly postgame for Calgary forward Jakob Pelletier. Luke Richardson praised Stauber after the Blackhawks’ win. Darryl Sutter was… Darryl Sutter.
- While you were watching the Blackhawks run Jordan Binnington out of the barn early in the second period with a sub-.500 save percentage, Jeff Marek was on the televisions up in Canada talking about the Blackhawks’ two future Hall of Famers. According to Marek, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews may wait until mid-February to make their decisions about the future (trade or stay).
- Bruce Boudreau’s future in Vancouver is no longer a “what is going on?” scenario. It appears Rick Tocchet will be introduced by the Canucks on Monday. Boudreau has reportedly been called into a meeting with the front office in Vancouver this morning, and this is a fait accompli. This was a dirty situation from the jump and it’s disappointing that a veteran front office executive like Jim Rutherford would handle this so poorly. And, again, Boudreau was brought in last year when the previous head coach underwhelmed with the same “core” group of players. Maybe it isn’t the coach?
- And this also begs a more significant, immediate question for me: if you’re Tocchet or another head coaching candidate, would you want to work for this organization after they played Boudreau this way in front of the entire league and its fans for months? Boudreau’s a lifer in the game.
- A huge hit to the Montreal Canadiens’ lineup: Cole Caufield’s season is over. His agent, Pat Brisson — yes, the same guy who reps Kane, Toews, Seth Jones and a handful of other top players — told the media in Canada on Saturday that they evaluated every possible option and this is the right path. The Habs are likely now in the seller category more firmly than they were before.
- Finally, if you haven’t joined our NFL coverage this postseason what’s the hold up? Patrick is doing exceptional work covering the entire playoffs. And I, for one, can’t wait until the Bears are in this mix next year.
