It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball today, which has always been one of my favorite days of the year. Opening Day signifies hope — a new season begins on the baseball diamonds across the country, but even if/when it snows on a game this weekend, baseball tells us that Spring is coming. Warmer weather is on the way. Windows will open and activities will move back outside. I, for one, can’t wait!
- There are two days that are sports-related that should be federal holidays: the Monday after the Super Bowl and MLB’s Opening Day. Let people enjoy and celebrate. Thoughts?
- Seth and Caleb Jones were at the Bulls game last night, sitting courtside to watch LeBron and the Lakers take a big dub.
- The Blackhawks announced a couple interesting moves on Wednesday. They signed forward Brett Seney to a one-year, two-way extension. Which is great for him; he’s earned it. Even if it’s another season of depth and veteran presence in Rockford, it’s a great situation for both.
- The other move is intriguing to say the least. Forward Mike Hardman was sent back to Rockford. Who cares? Why is this interesting? Well, with Jujhar Khaira sick, the Blackhawks only had 11 healthy forwards on Tuesday night. Sending Hardman back to Rockford means a) Khaira is hopefully feeling better, and b) the Blackhawks would still only have 11 healthy forwards if he is able to return. So… what gives? More games with seven defensemen?
- The Blues come to Chicago tonight out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Even with a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games, St. Louis has a .500 point percentage and are tied with Detroit for ninth in the draft lottery standings. Washington and Ottawa are just behind them. It would be wise for the Blackhawks to drop this one in regulation to not only help their own lottery odds, but let’s just go ahead and get the Blues out of the race for the top overall pick completely.
- Forward prospect Paul Ludwinski signed his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks on Saturday. With his season over with Kingston, he signed an amateur tryout deal with Rockford to join them for the home stretch.
- The guys at CHGO had Kevin Korchinski, Colton Dach and Nolan Allan on their show yesterday. They talked about a bunch of topics, including how hard it was for the Dach family for Kirby to get traded to Montreal (Colton acknowledged that they thought all along that his fourth year would be a breakout because of the injuries and pandemic). Colton also cracked an enormous smile when asked about Seattle’s first round playoff opponent in the WHL, the Kelowna Rockets — where he was the captain before World Juniors. That should be a fun series.
- All three of the Blackhawks’ prospects in Seattle played with Connor Bedard at the World Juniors and have played against him. When asked about playing against him, all three talked about what a good guy he is off the ice and away from the rink. Pretty impressive (and at least Allan said out loud that he’d love the Blackhawks to win the lottery and land him in the draft).
- A reminder: we’re hosting a big event in Wrigleyville next week! One week from today, in fact. And you could be there FOR FREE! Hit the link here or in the tweet below and fill out the free form for a chance to win. If you don’t win, still come! Tickets are available here.
- It’s been a long week for coaches in the NHL. From Rick Bowness saying the Jets’ inconsistencies are hurting them to Detroit’s Derek Lalonde getting every ounce he could out of the F-Bomb (to the point he got ejected on Tuesday night), there have been some high blood pressure moments around the league. Wednesday night saw Paul Maurice go off on his bench even though he won a challenge and got a goal overturned in Toronto.
- Finally, back to where we started this morning’s bullets: Happy Opening Day. Brett’s ready to go — we all are. Have a wonderful day watching baseball in the afternoon and the Chicago — St. Louis rivalry at night on ice.
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