The Chicago Bears handled their business on Sunday. Was it pretty? No. Does it count as a win? Absofreakinglutely. A dub is a dub. And it was exciting to see the collective Chicago fanbase get up for the arrival of another No. 1 overall pick. Among those who were in attendance at Soldier Field: new Blackhawks Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Mikheyev. They got to hear Jim Cornelison handle the anthem and then Chicago get hyped behind one of their teams. Welcome to Chicago, boys!
- Connor Bedard crossed paths with BizNasty on Sunday. For those who aren’t familiar, the “Grouse Grind” is a 2.9-kilometre trail up the face of Grouse Mountain outside Vancouver. So… yeah, Bedard’s a machine. Fun photo here from after they tackled the scenic route up the mountain.
- Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times did his best this weekend to project what we might see from Bedard in his sophomore season. While Paul Pidutti at Daily Faceoff was thru the roof with his projections last week, Ben is a bit more tempered with his expectations. And he went deep on the most productive rookie seasons over the past two decades in the NHL to examine the sophomore slumps… of sorts.
Thatโs right: The NHLโs best rookies over the last two decades have, on average, declined a tick in their second seasons. Thatโs a discouraging statistic, one that exemplifies why sophomore slumps can be so anxiety-inducing.
- There was preseason hockey in the OHL on Sunday. Blackhawks forward prospect Nick Lardis suited up for Brantford and had himself a day, scoring once and adding two assists in a 5-2 win over Niagara. All three of his points came on the power play. Lardis will be in Chicago on Wednesday and will play in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase this weekend. As a reminder, Marek Vanacker will eventually be with Lardis on the Brantford roster but he’s not expected back in the lineup until December.
- AJ Spellacy did not play for Windsor on Sunday. Alex Pharand did not register a point but was plus-one for Sudbury in their win on Sunday. They, too, are expected to be in town to join the Blackhawks’ prospects for practice on Wednesday.
- We’ve got another jersey sponsor in the NHL, and this one is… interesting. There are some folks in Washington DC that are trying to ban TikTok. The Washington Capitals just put the logo for the platform on the right shoulder of their jerseys.
- Mike Gartner will be the new name to which we need to forward our mail at the Hockey Hall of Fame to get someone to please make the call to Steve Larmer and get him in. Lanny McDonald has done a marvelous job as the chairman of the Hall for a decade.
- Finally, how about a postgame chat with Flus and Da Bears after their Week One win?