NEWSLETTER
You know what? It’s the first Monday of 2025. Kids are going back to school, it’s cold as hell outside, most of the Chicago area is covered in some combination of snow and ice and the Blackhawks suck. So let’s take talk about something that’s good to start our week. Let’s choose positivity. And last night the boys representing the United States of America did the thing. For the first time ever, the US repeated as World Junior Championship gold medalists. And Blackhawks prospect Oliver Moore was a big part of both championships. Hell yeah, boys! Way to go!
(Even if the game required a two-goal comeback by the US and overtime and I don’t have any fingernails left but it was nice to actually invest emotionally in the outcome of a game for once…)
- Moore started the tournament and played a lot of pool play as the third-line center for the US. He won 63.04 percent of his faceoffs in the tournament, which ranked fourth among players who took at least 20 draws. That’s good. The US coaches were clearly comfortable with Moore and his Minnesota teammate, Brody Ziemer, being a skilled line that could also shut down the opposition defensively throughout the tournament. Which bodes well. Moore finished the tournament with one goal and four assists and was a plus-three in seven games. And he’s a back-to-back champion.
- Speaking of back-to-back champions, if you watched the US during this tournament and paid attention to how the players were being used and how the team attacked every situation, you got a good idea of why one month ago (tomorrow if we want to be specific) I wrote that the Blackhawks should target University of Denver and USA Hockey head coach David Carle for their permanent head coaching vacancy. He’s really freakin’ good at his job.
- About the NHL team that got its collective tail kicked by the bad New York Rangers last night at the United Center… yeah. There are no answers coming from the room. We consistently hear that there are mistakes happening that are unacceptable. The trendy target is “puck management” right now. But I like what Mark Lazerus wrote for The Athletic after yet another debacle last night. Yeah, Nick Foligno can bark at the guys and pick a fight and Pat Maroon can exchange hands with an opponent but they need an Andrew Shaw.
- Does that mean they need to move out a few bodies and bring up Samuel Savoie before he’s necessarily fully NHL ready? Do they need to find a guy on the trade market to fill the gap between now and Savoie being ready to recall? Whatever it is, Mark’s right: they need a young spark in the lineup.
It's hardly their most pressing need, but the Blackhawks are in dire need of a sparkplug — not someone who fights, but someone who plays *with* some fight, some bite, some energy. Because too often, like today, they look utterly lifeless. Column: www.nytimes.com/athletic/603…
[image or embed]— Mark Lazerus (@marklazerus.bsky.social) January 5, 2025 at 9:56 PM
- A pathetic note here from after the game courtesy Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times: the Blackhawks have now lost 15 straight nationally televised games. I’m fairly confident I’m not alone when I ask that the NHL stop putting them on national television until they deserve it. I know the Connor Bedard phenomenon led to terrific ratings for the networks last year, but that’s gone now. He’s a sophomore (who’s still producing) and the team around him is just not good.
- Since I mentioned Bedard, it’s worth noting again that he extended his personal point streak to seven games last night. He has three goals and six assists during the seven games. All six assists are on Tyler Bertuzzi goals. The Blackhawks have won one of the seven games.
- Before the game on Sunday I asked interim head coach Anders Sorensen about the play of Louis Crevier. It certainly appears the Rockford connection has helped Crevier perform comfortably and stay in the lineup. Phil Thompson from the Chicago Tribune was kind enough to share video of Sorensen’s answer.
- File this one away as at least intriguing given the comments I shared yesterday regarding the trade market potentially warming up sooner than later. The IceHogs acquired LHD Matteo Pietroniro from the Toronto Marlies for Stan Bowman’s best draft pick, “future considerations.” The Blackhawks currently have a handful of young defensemen up in the NHL, but the left side of the blue line doesn’t figure to be an issue. Rockford has Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro and Isaak Phillips available.
- A name that we’ve brought up here in the past is now in the most intriguing spot possible: on Sunday, the Los Angeles Kings placed forward Arthur Kaliyev on waivers. The 23-year-old forward has only appeared in five AHL games thus far this season. He’s an RFA after this season and has a $825k cap hit. By virtue of having the worst record in the NHL, the Blackhawks would have the first crack at claiming him. Thoughts?
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