Hey Happy Labor Day, Blackhawks fans! Here’s hoping you are nowhere near working other than somewhere near a grill or a cooler. It’s also the second day of September, which means we should all be listening to Earth, Wind and Fire and finding our hoodies because we’ll be heading back to the rink soon.
- Ben Pope shared a Blackhawks-related hockey story with us this weekend, which is simply fabulous. No pictures of him with everyone else in the free world at Pearl Jam at Wrigley. Ben updated us on what Alex Vlasic has been doing to get ready for his second full NHL season. The good news: he’s bulked up while staying on the same plan that put him in position to have a legitimate break-out season last year. The better news: he’s signed long-term so we’re going to get a lot of opportunities to appreciate his game.
- This morning I wrote about the contract deferrals in Seth Jarvis’ new deal in Carolina and how that might have an impact on the future in Chicago. The current NHL-NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement runs out following the 2025-26 season. The Blackhawks can get an extension done with Connor Bedard beginning in the summer of 2025. So…
- There were some hockey games this weekend that actually mattered. Like… really mattered. The results: Latvia, Denmark and Slovakia won qualifiers and are now part of the 2026 men’s Winter Olympic tournament field. At the current pace of global politics, I’m not sure Russia will be invited. But Steven Ellis shared the current field with us. There’s a good chance the Blackhawks have players on a few of these rosters.
- Filip Zadina signed a contract with HC Davos in the Swiss National League this weekend. Zadina was the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft (Quinn Hughes was seventh… oops!) and the final first-round pick by Ken Holland as the general manager in Detroit. There were rumors recently that he might sign a PTO in Buffalo, but it appears he’s heading to Europe instead.
- Once again, here’s the link to the verified GoFundMe to help supporting the family of Matthew Gaudreau. It’s up to almost $500,000 already.
- The Cubs are hot, folks. White hot. They just had a road trip for the ages and are hanging around the wild card race enough that the final month of the regular season has some juice. Which I absolutely love to see.
- Finally, BEAR the **** DOWN!