So much playoff action! We’ve got ridiculous NHL action, games happening in the AHL and juniors across the CHL playing. What a time to be a hockey fan! And Blackhawks fans have a cheering interested in every level of playoffs… except the NHL. Someday, folks. We’ll be back.
- Last night the IceHogs had a chance to finish their best-of-three first-round series in the Calder Cup Playoffs against Iowa in Iowa. The first went overtime. So did the second, and it was Buddy Robinson coming through with the game-winning, series-clinching overtime goal.
- Alex Vlasic had the primary assist on the game-winner for Rockford last night. Which was lovely if you wrote a fun story about Alex and his sister, Emma, that published earlier in the day. Scott Powers did precisely that for The Athletic on Friday, and you should read the piece. Emma, Alex’s older sister, plays for the Connecticut Whale. Powers tells about how the two kept each other game-ready during the pandemic in 2020.
“She kept me in check a number of times,” Alex told Powers. “There’s some days where you just don’t really feel like going, and it’s definitely (harder) when you don’t have that gym slot and when you have a trainer waiting for you. So it’s kind of up to your own standard of how you want to work out. And she would drag me on a Sunday or on a Saturday or whatever — I didn’t feel like going for the cardio or whatever. So she was keeping me in check, which I’m super grateful for.”
- From a future Blackhawks defenseman to one of the best to ever do it, how about we talk real estate? Apparently Chris Chelios — who, with Mark Messier and PK Subban, has been solid on ESPN’s playoff coverage — is reportedly putting his Malibu house on the market. The pricetag: $75 million. Why do I feel like I need to go full Dr. Evil with a pinky near my mouth when I say that listing price? Seventy-five million?!?
- We’ve heard plenty of complaining from players, coaches and media about the officiating in the playoffs. Last night’s Kings-Oilers game — which went overtime and ended dramatically and controversially — led Leon Draisaitl to open a case of whine. I get it; the Oilers are supposed to be the team to beat in the Western Conference and have the pressure of not wasting one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the NHL from Connor McDavid this year. The frustration is obvious. Can they get over it and move on? Or will it impact them in future games and, possibly, cost them the series?
- Here’s the Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule for Saturday, starting early at 3 PM CT in Winnipeg:
- Our guy Sharpie is going to be on the call for the late night game in Seattle. And Kathryn Tappen is going to be part of the game call as well, which is marvelous. She did an awesome job in the studio when NBC had the rights.
- We’re going to count it down from now until the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery on Twitter. So… how long do we have to wait until May 8?
- Finally, I love prospect highlights. The IceHogs gave us a beauty last night. And so did Kevin Alcántara for South Bend last night.