Last night’s game was the latest dull thud in a season that’s had its share of highs and lows. And I’ve got some other thoughts on the effort last night that I’ll get to in a moment. But I wanted to start this morning with one glowing positive from last night: Landon Slaggert‘s first career NHL goal.
Since arriving following a really good senior season as the captain at Notre Dame, Slaggert has appeared in 12 games. He’s seen time on the penalty kill and moved around the bottom six of the lineup pretty effectively. He plays with good speed and makes smart plays. It’s exciting to see moments like this because it’s another reminder that there is light at the end of the (rebuild) tunnel.
Another big positive from Wednesday: WGN Radio announced three-year extensions with John Wiedeman and Troy Murray as the voices of Blackhawks radio broadcasts. Which is awesome because they’re not only one of the best radio tandems in the entire NHL, but they’re also wonderful people. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to get to know both of them over the past few years so this news brought the biggest smile to my face.
Scott Powers at The Athletic wrote about the Blackhawks’ decision to remain with a radio broadcast team instead of going with a simulcast. Thankfully, fans loving John and Troy played an appropriately significant factor in the decision.
Blackhawks fans near (who left the game early) and far (people from all over the world who access the game audio through the web or app) regularly listen to WGN Radio’s broadcast. And the team found the deep connection fans have with radio play-by-play announcer John Wiedeman and color analyst Troy Murray, who have been broadcast partners since the 2006-07 season.
For all those reasons, the Blackhawks have decided against the simulcast route and plan to continue to have separate radio and TV broadcasts.
“Generally, you hear that radio is dying, quote unquote,” Faulkner said. “And so, we really had to look, listen to our fans, look at the research, look at the radio data and realize it’s not that radio is dying, it’s just the Blackhawks needed an overall audio strategy, which is radio plus podcasts, plus a couple other things. But for us, radio is very much alive and thriving here as it relates to listening to Blackhawks hockey.”
Andy Strickland reported yesterday that there could be a few Blackhawks heading to the World Championship tournament in May. We heard about Hockey Canada asking Connor Bedard previously. This is the first time Seth Jones‘ name has been linked to the tournament for the US.
Speaking of Seth Jones, I was glad John Scott rightfully blasted him last night during the postgame show for his “effort” on one of the Blues’ goals. Both Jones and Slaggert took the skater on the wall, opening up a freeway down the middle of the ice for a scorer. Scott pointed out that, in that situation, Jones was both a) the veteran “leader”, and b) the defenseman who should have communicated better/at all.
After the game last night, Jason Dickinson spoke with the media and was just about as pissed off as I can remember a skater this year. Off the top of my head that’s No. 1 with a bullet because he was livid. And so was head coach Luke Richardson, who has seen this way too often recently. One does have to wonder if efforts like last night will lead to some personnel changes this summer with players who do have remaining term on their contracts.
The Frozen Four games are today! Here’s a reminder of when and where to watch the Blackhawks’ three prospects in action today:
As you tune in to watch Ryan Greene later today, keep an eye on Macklin Celebrini (it’ll be impossible to avoid him). When you’re watching Aidan Thompson in the same game, look for Denver defenseman Zeev Buium as well. Both are likely top-ten picks in this summer’s draft. Which is why we’ve got a special Frozen Four edition of a full two-round mock draft this morning!
With Cole Guttman being sidelined for the next 3-4 weeks, the Rockford IceHogs could use a little help. On Wednesday, it appears they got two more exciting bodies into the fold. Nick Lardis, who recently signed his entry-level contract, is signing an amateur tryout contract with the IceHogs. Paul Ludwinski is being loaned to Rockford by the Blackhawks.
We discussed the report on Wednesday that the Coyotes could leave Arizona for Salt Lake City yesterday. Well, that rumor mill went wild, and the move appears to be a foregone conclusion at this point. Lots of good people are going to be impacted, and the current ownership and the NHL are wearing a lot of ugly for how things are happening in real time right now. I provided a lot of updates this morning.
And now a really fun moment from the folks on reddit. A guy pulled a Connor Bedard card at a shop and the entire place was legit HYPED. I’m pretty sure any of us would have a similar reaction if we got this beauty out of a pack.
Maybe Maybe Maybe
byu/handlewithcareme inmaybemaybemaybe
Finally, this could be explosive for baseball and sports in general.
NEWSLETTER
