The Blackhawks practiced in Calgary on Monday and made one lineup change from the group that did such a great job in Edmonton. Andreas Athanasiou will stay in the lineup as the fourth line center, but it looks like Craig Smith will draw back in for Ryan Donato. Which means no Lukas Reichel. Still. Which also confirms he is indeed the 14th forward on the roster right now. Here’s what Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said about Reichel and Nolan Allan being on the outside of the rotation right now (from Ben Pope on Twitter):
“We’re playing really well as a team right now, so there’s not a lot of changes going on and there’s not a lot of guys that are banged up, so you’ve got to bide your time and wait. I’m sure at some point we might have to have a discussion about a plan for them to get into games, whether it be here or down below, but we haven’t come to that point yet.”
- Really good read here from Ben on Wyatt Kaiser‘s return from missing pretty much all of training camp because of an illness to look like… a seasoned veteran who has no fear and all the confidence in the world. I noted it in my postgame and my bullets the morning after, but his play in Edmonton was outstanding. Looking at all of the really good prospects the Blackhawks have coming on the blue line, if Kaiser’s as much of a dude as Alex Vlasic is that’s a great start to building a rock solid back end.
- A “motivated team hoping to prove people wrong” sounds a lot like the Blackhawks this year. I’m not saying the Hawks are as close to being a potential playoff team as the Flames, but tonight’s game will showcase a couple teams that are both playing with a big chip on their shoulder. This is a really good read from Pierre LeBrun on Chicago’s latest opponent. This quote from Calgary GM Craig Conroy sounded… awfully familiar (well, the second half; he mentions the Blackhawks in the first part).
“You see these younger (rebuilding) teams like Chicago or San Jose, they’re bringing in veterans to help support,” Conroy said. “We have great veterans and they’re here and they’re supporting our guys.”
“You’re trying to build a culture. That’s one thing we’re always talking about, building the right culture. And those guys are a huge part of it. You have guys who want to be here and want to be part of the solution. That’s why I think we had a great training camp and good preseason. It’s carried over. They’re in this together.”
- I visited the United Center on the off day on Monday to learn about some of the new food and drink options they have available this season. I’ll have something with specific thoughts on what I tried before the home opener, but this was a hit at the event. They wouldn’t let any media shotgun one, unfortunately.
- This was pretty cool to see over the weekend and I completely whiffed on getting it into my bullets (sorry y’all). The IceHogs will put Bryan Bickell into their Ring of Honor on Feb. 15.
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- I remember 12 months ago when we got to the point that overanalysis was starting to question the validity of Connor Bedard’s “generational” label as a prospect. A lot of people started to chirp about Caleb Williams being the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft when he had a couple tough weeks early in the season. Well… Luis nailed it. Calebl Williams is the real deal.
- Hey, we know when we’re going to see Lonzo Ball in a Bulls jersey again.
- The ALCS joined the NLCS on my television on Monday. Lots to discuss. Plenty of highlights.