An Athanasiou Appearance! Crawford Honored, Whiny Toronto, and Other Blackhawks Super Bowl Sunday Bullets

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to those celebrating. It’s 49ers vs. Chiefs in Las Vegas this evening. Who ya got, Blackhawks fans? I’m trying to decide if I’m wearing my Devin Hester Pro Bowl Jersey or my Joe Montana Chiefs jersey this evening. The Montana would be an all-time bet hedge at the shin dig but Hester just got in the Hall of Fame. Which jersey gets your vote for me to wear?

  • Hey how about a guest appearance from Andreas Athanasiou at practice on Saturday? Head coach Luke Richardson noted that it is indeed encouraging that he’s back on the ice, but there is still no timeline on his return.
  • The IceHogs retired Corey Crawford‘s No. 29 and inducted him into their Ring of Honor last night. Great stuff for a guy who should have won the Conn Smythe in 2013 and was significantly better than most will ever give him credit for because of the team he played with in those Stanley Cup winning years. Much respect to No. 29 (and, in Chicago, 50).
  • Landon Slaggert scored Notre Dame’s first goal and assisted on their second in a 3-2 loss at No. 4 Wisconsin last night. He now has 17 goals and 10 assists in 30 games this season; the 27 points are a new career high for the Irish captain. His final regular-season home series is this coming weekend when Minnesota visits South Bend.
  • In the college ranks last night, Minnesota beat Penn State 3-0 for the second straight night. Oliver Moore was held without a point but put three shots on net and won 8 of 15 faceoffs. Sam Rinzel didn’t register a point, either, but blocked four shots.
  • Michigan lost 3-2 to Michigan State at Little Ceaser’s Arena in Detroit last night, a weekend sweep for Sparty. Frank Nazar III did not register a point but won 13 of a team-high 25 faceoffs.
  • Providence won 4-3 in overtime at No. 7 Maine on Saturday night. Connor Kelley blocked one shot and Taige Harding put one shot on net.
  • Okay, let’s get into the whole unwritten rules conversation from overnight. As you can see below, the Ottawa Senators were beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 late when Ridly Greig got a chance to shoot an easy breakaway into an empty net. He opted to go with the Larmer/Hossa Special and rip off a slapper for emphasis. At which point Morgan Reilly decided a crosscheck to the back of the head was necessary.
  • A couple things… first, the Sens suck this year (again) so them beating a Leafs team that’s not exactly playing as well as their fans/media market expect is undoubtedly fun for them. Especially in Ottawa in front of their fans. The Leafs losing to a team they’re supposed to beat isn’t a great look this time of year, so they were clearly frustrated. So Grieg teeing up a slapper was going to (probably intentionally) piss someone off. It’s like a batter pimping a home run in an 11-2 game off a middle infielder. The next day, the pitcher has two options when that guy comes back up to the plate: change-up to the wallet or a fastball around the head. In this case, Reilly opted to go fastball at the head.
  • I get it. There’s the whole unwritten code. Grieg knows it. But Reilly opting to do what he did instead of either barking at him/maybe whacking him in the back of the legs is selecting the fastball up and in, which is bush league. I hope Reilly gets suspended for a game because he took the whole code enforcement too far. Because, after all, if you don’t want to be embarrassed at the end of the game don’t let the Senators score four times and force your team to pull the goalie in the first place.
  • Congrats to Blackhawks legend Patrick Kane on playing in his 1,200th career regular-season game last night. We’ll see him in a couple weeks.
  • Finally, and speaking of No. 1 overall picks like Kane, the Chicago Bears own the top pick in the NFL draft for the second consecutive year. Last year, they traded back with Carolina and were able to add a nice stockpile of talent to the roster — and the pick that now sits on top of the board. With a highly-touted prospects at the top of the draft in Caleb Williams, the Bears are reportedly asking for A LOT to move back this year. Let’s see if anyone is willing to back up the Brinks truck in the coming weeks.
  • written by

    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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