The Blackhawks play in St. Louis tonight! Well, their prospects will play the first of their two games as part of the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase. I’ve share what the early looked like as well as some of the special teams units we’ve seen at practice already. Now, it’s up to the coaches to do their thing and win a couple games. There are some exciting prospects playing in these games at various levels of their development, so these two games should be fun to watch.
As a reminder: the Blackhawks’ prospects play the Blues tonight at 7 PM CT and the game is expected to be streamed in the . I’ve got your full roster for the Blackhawks and everything else you need to know here.
The first question to IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen was if he had any updates on Artyom Levshunov‘s injury. He said none. But when asked about the timeline, he simply said “Soon.” So that feels positive, even if the bots on Twitter are hacking tweets into stories that claim he suffered a “devastating” injury.
Colton Dach looks healthy — finally. He spoke with us yesterday about his hopes for the coming season. Sorensen pointed him out as one of the guys who took a step forward on the ice on Thursday. Based on the preliminary lines, it looks like Dach will get some run with Frank Nazar and Landon Slaggert on the Blackhawks’ top line this weekend. He’s as confident as ever and wants to earn a spot in the NHL this comings eason.
I asked Sorensen about how Samuel Savoie looks on the ice. He won a lot of fans last year in training camp with his big smile, amazing lip sweater and energy on every shift. But then a big injury cost him a lot of last season. Sorensen said he looks like he’s right back where he left off last year — which is great news! The Andrew Shaw comps are warranted. I’m excited to see how he can be an energy guy on the IceHogs this year.
There were a whole lot of veterans on the other sheet of ice on Thursday for a captain’s skate before and during the prospects practice. Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou were out there looking good. Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teräväinen and Craig Smith were among the new faces taking part as well. And the Blackhawks’ phenom was back getting in extra work when everyone else was long gone to lunch dates.
ICYMI last night I shared a less-than-ideal update from Jeff Agrest at the Chicago Sun-Times on the new Blackhawks’ television network… hope y’all love the idea of preseason hockey on the radio.
Following up on some of the comments: having half of the preseason isn’t a huge loss for most fans, especially when there’s high school and college football and baseball and everything else in life happening in September. It still sucks for those of us who care and aren’t going to drive to Detroit or St. Louis.
Also, for those who are concerned about the network getting picked up by Xfinity and others… while I cannot speak on behalf of the network or teams, I would have to think the Blackhawks would do everything in their power to get Connor Bedard on local television. And I would go as far as to think the NHL would strongly encourage them to make sure Bedard is on local television.
While we don’t know how or if we’ll be able to watch the NHL team on television this year, we know how to stream the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate. In a subtle twist of fate on Thursday, the IceHogs shared that will stream every AHL game this season. It’s $150 for a full year or you can opt to pay $29.99 per month.
Harman Dayal at The Athletic listed in the NHL who need to find it this year. Even at a league-wide level, there are eyes on whether or not Lukas Reichel can find his game this season. He notes that an improved roster that’s deeper with veterans this season could/should help him, reminding us that the player Reichel spent the most time on ice with last year was MacKenzie Entwistle. Here’s how Dayal closed his comments about Reichel:
Reichel is no longer waivers-exempt so it’s time f🦹or him to sink or swim in the NHL. He has the dynamic offensive skill set to flourish, it’s just a matter of finding the right fiꦆt to unlock his confidence.
Former Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock officially called it a career on Thursday. He will join another former Blackhawk, Jamal Mayers, as part of the San Jose Sharks’ broadcast team for the coming season. Stalock was always engaging in the room and an interesting guy to talk to so I think he’ll be a fantastic add to their game coverage.
The University of Minnesota shared their roster for the coming season. We all know Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel will be there, but it’s worth noting Rinzel has apparently changed his number from 5 to 2 for the new year.
Meanwhile, Minnesota-Duluth captain Dominic James was part of the players’ takeover of the NCHC’s Twitter account for a while. After missing most of last year, he was asked about his health. he’s feeling 100 percent and ready for his senior season.
Finally, this is absolutely wild and Crash Davis approved. The Twins released a catcher they drafted this year because he told opposing batters what was coming — and his team got knocked out of the playoffs that night. I can’t…
