On Sunday we’ll find out the field for the upcoming NCAA men’s hockey tournament. Expectations are that the Blackhawks will have a number of prospects participating, and a few solidified their berths with conference championships on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks were officially eliminated from the NHL’s playoffs on Saturday night.
- I thought Wyatt Kaiser did a really nice job after just one real practice day with the Blackhawks of jumping into the lineup and contributing. He skated well and passed the puck effectively. I’d love to see him not paired with Nikita Zaitsev. So how did head coach Luke Richardson feel about Kaiser’s professional debut on Saturday nights?
- Here’s where the Blackhawks now sit in the Bad for Bedard Sweepstakes standings with 13 games left on their regular season calendar. They have now passed Columbus in games played and are in front of Anaheim for third. Montreal and Detroit (next off the list) are the two teams sliding the hardest right now.
- College championships were won last night! Drew Commesso, Ryan Greene and Boston U needed overtime but they were able to come away with the Hockey East championship. Greene had an assist on the game-tying goal and won nine of 17 faceoffs in the game. Commesso stopped 23 of 25, including this gem.
- Frank Nazar and Michigan faced Minnesota for the Big Ten crown on the Gophers’ home ice and the game was absolutely ridiculous. Back and forth for 60 minutes with the Wolverines coming away with a stunning 4-3 win to secure back-to-back B1G championships. Nazar was credited with one shot on net and won five of eight faceoffs in the game but his speed really popped off the television screen all night. The kid can absolutely fly!
- In other prospect news, forward Gavin Hayes of the Flint Firebirds — the other guy the Blackhawks drafted with the picks they got from Montreal for Kirby Dach — scored his 39th goal of the season last night.
- And then he scored his 40th.
- I know there was a lot of hockey and a lot of college basketball to occupy your viewing last night, but the USA vs Venezuela game in the World Baseball Classic was epic. The tournament has had headlines stolen by injuries, but the drama and passion in the games has been amazing. And last night the US got one of the most dramatic hits in the history of the WBC.