Shoutout to the Columbus Blue Jackets! They pulled of an overtime win against Ottawa on Sunday, meaning the Chicago Blackhawks are now two full points clear of the entire field for dead last in the NHL — and first place in the Bad for Bedard Sweepstakes (aka the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery). The Blackhawks have six games left in their regular season, beginning Tuesday night in Calgary against a Flames team that had to come back to beat Anaheim in the third period on Sunday (a Ducks win would have made Sunday a huge win for the idle Hawks).
I didn’t think one of my lead stories in bullets on the penultimate Monday morning of the 2022-23 NHL season would come from coverage of the Chicago Bears, but here we are. The guys at The Athletic wrote a terrific, deep piece looking at how the trade came together between the Bears and the Carolina Panthers that sent the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft to Carolina. And apparently the Bears’ new GM, Ryan Poles, called the Blackhawks’ front office for some guidance when it comes to complex trades involving players and draft picks.
Poles needed help — or maybe just some advice from a friend in town. So he called Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson.
“Really, hockey is the only one where you’re trading a combination of picks and players,” Poles said. “So I just was curious.”
He had plenty of questions about how the Blackhawks valued players against picks, how contracts and age played into the equation, etc. Davidson started laughing.
If the Blackhawks win the NHL Draft Lottery on May 8, there will NOT be a return phone call about trading back out of the No. 1 pick by Davidson. The Blackhawks will take Connor Bedard. So rest easy on that one, Hawks fans.
The Blackhawks placed forward Joey Anderson on waivers on Sunday. The 24-year-old forward has three goals and two assists in 18 games since he was acquired from Toronto in the trade that sent Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty to the Leafs. If you recall, Anderson was one of the players the Blackhawks assigned to Rockford just before the trade deadline so he could be eligible to play for the IceHogs in the AHL postseason. Him clearing waivers would allow them to send him down at some point. I would be surprised at this point in the season if he was claimed.
Anderson is just one of a handful of new faces that have entered the Blackhawks’ lineup since Jonathan Toews took a step away to deal with his health. So having only participated in two morning skates and one actual practice, there were a lot of moving pieces the captain had to navigate with on the ice on Saturday night as he worked his way back into NHL action. Chemistry isn’t born overnight. Here’s what Toews had to say about the new lineup he was joining after two months away:
“A lot has changed since I last played and a lot of new faces and a lot of young guys that I think, at times, are all showing a lot of promise, showing they can make plays,” Toews said after the game Satuday. “It’s not easy, though, when you have so many new players to try to learn systems, try to get on the same page, everyone trying to get comfortable. Sometimes your individual game gets better the more five guys can be predictable for each other out there. So that’s a challenge that you can see that we’re working as a team to overcome.”
Sarnia had a hard fought game last night. And the emphasis is on fought — thanks to defenseman Ethan Del Mastro dropping the gloves.
Finally, I loved this look at some vintage WrestleMania moments that involved former Chicago Bears players.
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