I want to take a brief moment opening this Sunday’s bullets with a heartfelt thank you. To everyone who has come here to read and comment about the Blackhawks this season and everyone who has engaged with us on Facebook and Twitter this season, it is so very appreciated. It was a long, tough season with injuries, trades and a truly history changing of the guard in Chicago. I picked a tough year for this to be my first complete season at Bleacher Nation, but the community here is growing and I love it. And to the good folks here at BN who have taken me in and put up with the crazy that has been this NHL season, a huge stick tap. I’m excited for where this summer is going to take this community and the Blackhawks franchise.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin on Monday. Yesterday, we took a look at how the Blackhawks’ draft position(s) will be impacted by teams in the postseason. One of Chicago’s picks could move significantly if the team goes deep.
It’s the final Sunday of the AHL regular season, so Blackhawks fans can tune in to watch the IceHogs against the Milwaukee Admirals at 5 PM CT tonight to see how they close out their campaign. The IceHogs’ playoff magic number remains two after a tough 3-2 loss on Saturday. So there’s work to do for the Blackhawks’ prospects to get into the playoffs at all, much less make a run.
Lukas Reichel scored both of Rockford’s goals on Saturday, with the assists on both goals going to Joey Anderson and Rocco Grimaldi. Things went crazy at 8:45 into the second period when there was a legit line brawl that broke out. Isaak Phillips and Alex Vlasic were tagged with significant penalty minutes for the alteracation(s) and David Gust also picked up four minutes for roughing.
A funny comment from the exit interviews that I appreciated is worth sharing again here. A couple Blackhawks are tying the knot this summer. At least they could have a sense of humor about things before heading down the aisle.
If you’re like me, it’s still settling in that Jonathan Toews will not be the Blackhawks captain any more. At some point in the coming days my mind will fully turn the page to summer — travel baseball and golf for my older two sons, trying to keep up with my six-year-old and just life in general — but when the Blackhawks report for training camp in September and there’s no 19 it’s just going to rip that bandaid off again.
Finally, Eli put a bow on the Bulls’ season this morning and nailed it. It felt a lot like the 2021-22 Blackhawks: veterans with high expectations but brutal inconsistencies made it one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory.
NEWSLETTER
