Remembering Rocky, Mindset Change in the Room, Rockford Honors Crow, Ottawa Takes Multiple Ls, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Tab Bamford

Oct 22, 2023

I want to start today with where the Blackhawks began their presentation of the game last night. With the entire active roster on the ice, the Blackhawks shared an incredibly touching video tribute to the team’s late chairman and CEO, Rocky Wirtz. You can watch it below. When the video concluded, there was a folding chair in the back of Section 119 — where Rocky used to sit among the fans. His name was sewn into the back of the chair. And there were yellow roses in tribute on the chair with his family standing by.

Yeah, I had a few tears roll down my cheeks. It was beautifully done. A wonderful reminder of what Rocky meant to a lot of people around the organization and the city.

Dear Rocky, thank you. pic.twitter.com/8qvLwzjzfn
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 22, 2023

From before the game to after the game (don’t worry, I’ll get to the event itself momentarily). When we spoke with Connor Murphy after the game last night, I noticed a very subtle shift — a nuanced adjustment — to the way he spoke about the loss when compared to last year and previous years.

“We want to win games,” Murphy said. “It’s frustrating more so when you have a chance to win the games. Like tonight, I feel like we could have limited their goals against some of our play. So I think it just doesn’t feel good when we feel like we can control it more so, more than the result really.”

Last year, after tough losses it was usually Murphy who spoke with the media. And more time than not when he talked about coming up short in the game he started with the usual “we want to win games” component, but then the words we heard were more of a “it sucks when we try our hardest but we just don’t have the horses to get it done” mentality.

After a few of the early losses, different Blackhawks have been asked if there’s consolation in losing to one of the better teams in the NHL. Because, let’s face it, the Blackhawks’ schedule thus far has been loaded with potential Stanley Cup contenders (and Montreal). (Yes, that’s a shot at Montreal.) And the Blackhawks have really been in every game except the one in Denver. Their universal responses have been “not really, because we know we could have won that game if we didn’t make 1-2 little mistakes at the worst possible time.”

This Blackhawks team is learning a lot on the fly right now, and they’re playing teams against whom they can’t afford those 1-2 little mistakes at the worst possible time. But the players are right: they have, in fact, been *this close* to beating really good teams every night. The fact their mindset is shifting from “man, if only we had the horses to compete” to “man, that one got away” is very subtle but it’s huge for a competitor to know if they just clean up little things they’re able to be right there against some of the best teams in the league.

CHILLS. LITERAL CHILLS. HOCKEY IS SO BACK. pic.twitter.com/sxt1GE4CXr
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 22, 2023

On to something else: Connor Bedard wasn’t nearly as happy as he should have been after scoring his first career goal at the United Center. He took the blame pretty hard for Vegas’ goal in the opening seconds of the third period. He didn’t make a good play; as Luke Richardson said after the game, Seth Jones could have played that one better and taken away the scoring opportunity, too. Again, a small mistake that turned into a game-impacting moment. But Bedard should be happy waking up this morning with a goal — off his much-hyped shot, not a wrap-around — on his home ledger.

An honest Connor Bedard on all the attention he gets: “It's been pretty wild. Ever since before camp-ish, it's been crazy. But it's not something I look at as a negative at all. I'm really grateful to be in the position I am and there's very few people that get that opportunity,… pic.twitter.com/IMf3FxcMBk— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 22, 2023

Connor Bedard's dad, Tom, is in the house tonight ‼ pic.twitter.com/LXUYpEDWtS
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) October 21, 2023

How about some red carpet action from before the game last night?

#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/TXb7SlybWE
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 21, 2023

#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/NyWft13Q8f
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 21, 2023

The red carpet winner for me was Petr Mrazek.

Three piece power move from Petr Mrazek on the #Blackhawks red carpet pic.twitter.com/vIuOJWP0BV
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 21, 2023

Unfortunately, the Golden Knights made a little history of their own last night.

A Historic Knight. ⚔️

The @GoldenKnights become the first defending Stanley Cup Champions to start the following season 6-0-0. pic.twitter.com/Aph0oCCY19
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 22, 2023

Alex DeBrincat returned to Ottawa with the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon. Remember that time when the Blackhawks traded him for the picks that turned into Kevin Korchinski and Paul Ludwinski and Sens fans laughed that they won the trade in a landslide? And then 367 days later when Ottawa traded him to Detroit for Dominik Kubalik, Donovan Sebrango, a conditional first-round pick and fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft? Somehow, the Senators lost two trades in almost exactly one calendar year, so their fans bood and their players hit and chirped at DeBrincat.

Ridly Greig DESTROYS Alex DeBrincat. Gets called for roughing… clearly game management. What a player. #GoSensGo

Detroit scores on the garbage call. pic.twitter.com/rw4HQwiP6l— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) October 21, 2023

Hey! Speaking of Paul Ludwinski…

Paul Ludwinski takes home the Play of the Game tonight thanks to this well executed set play on the @CintasCorp powerplay 🙌#BearTheK | @bgmmetalworks | #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/IdXeVludwU— Kingston Frontenacs (@KingstonFronts) October 22, 2023

The Rockford IceHogs announced the first three inductees into their Ring of Honor last night at their home opener. Corey Crawford, who won two Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks, is front and center in the group. Congrats to all three!

Presenting our Ring of Honor inductees: J.F. Rivard, Steve Martinson, and Corey Crawford!

Read all about it: https://t.co/i15XYug6Hc pic.twitter.com/2Z50jqZwqV— Rockford IceHogs (@goicehogs) October 22, 2023

The third overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Adam Fantilli, scored his first career goal last night.

First NHL goal club newest member: One Mr. Adam Fantilli. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/HqEBikvObs
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 22, 2023

Something to keep an eye on in the coming days: Connor McDavid did not play the final four minutes of regulation or overtime for the Oilers last night. It looked like he might have been fighting some kind of lower-body issue late in the game and didn’t leave the bench in a game the Oilers needed.

From @EdmontonOilers Jay Woodcroft on @cmcdavid97 "I didn't walk back there yet but it looked to be more muscular. I'll have an update tomorrow".— Gene Principe (@GenePrincipe) October 22, 2023

Rasmus Andersson did a no-no and he’ll be in timeout for a while. Four games, to be exact. That’s the suspension handed down by the Dept. of Player Safety after a dirty hit on Patrik Laine on Friday night. Laine did not travel with Columbus for their game on Saturday because of an upper-body injury .

Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson has been suspended for four games for Charging Columbus’ Patrik Laine. https://t.co/qATDV5wOkk
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 21, 2023

Finally, Bear Down today. And… coaching rumors are back.

https://twitter.com/BN_Bears/status/1716107142531297654

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Remembering Rocky, Mindset Change in the Room, Rockford Honors Crow, Ottawa Takes Multiple Ls, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

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