Morning Chirps: Abbey Murphy coaches some lucky local girls, Jeff Skinner lands in Swiss League

Happy Saturday! Yes, the Chicago Bears kick off their preseason later today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spend a little time talking about the Chicago Blackhawks and hockey.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Connor Bedard was drafted to be a franchise icon, so I looked at three Blackhawks records he could break before it's all said and done.

• Brooke LoFurno wrote about what Jordan Greenway will bring to the Blackhawks’ lineup next season after being acquired as part of the Bowen Byram trade this summer.

• Jeff Maroon had fun comparing Blackhawks players to Marvel superheroes!

• Mario Tirabassi and I looked at some recent redrafts and discussed the games we are most looking forward to this upcoming season on yesterday’s CHGO Blackhawks Podcast.

• Olympic gold medalist and Chicago-area native Abbey Murphy took part in the Big Strides Girls hockey camp, giving young hockey players valuable lessons and memories for a lifetime. Very cool!

• On this date in 2002, the Blackhawks signed free agent forward Theo Fleury to a two-year, $8.5 million contract. Unfortunately, this was another move made a couple of years too late, which was common in this era. Fleury didn’t make his Blackhawks debut until December after serving a suspension for violating the NHL’s substance abuse program. He scored 12 goals and 33 points in his 54 games. He was suspended by the team later in the season for an off-ice incident. After the season, he was suspended yet again for another substance abuse program violation and never played again in the NHL. What a disastrous signing.

• In 2020, the Vegas Golden Knights took a 3-0 lead in their First Round playoff series by beating the Blackhawks 2-1 in the Edmonton Bubble. Vegas got a shorthanded goal from William Karlsson in the opening period and another goal from Patrick Brown in the second period. Defenseman Olli Maatta cut the deficit in half with over 13 minutes left to play, but the Blackhawks could not score the equalizer.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Aug. 15: Norm Corcoran, Ivan Boldirev, Neil Wilkinson, James Black, Brendan Morrison, and Adam Boqvist.

NHL Chirps

• Jeff Skinner is heading overseas after signing a one-year contract with EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss National League. The veteran of 1,110 NHL games was the seventh overall pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. He had six seasons of at least 31 goals, including 40 with the Sabres in 2018-19. He scored 379 goals and 712 points over 16 seasons with the Hurricanes, Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, and San Jose Sharks.

• Nicolas Aube-Kubel is signing a one-year deal with Dynamo Minsk in the KHL. The 30-year-old right wing was a second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014. He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2002. He scored 32 goals and 82 points in 310 NHL games with the Flyers, Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, and Minnesota Wild.

• Matthew Strome, the young brother of former Blackhawk Dylan Strome, has re-signed with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He had eight goals and 23 points in 55 games for the Bears. He scored the Calder Cup-clinching goal for them back in 2024.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Aug. 15: Sheldon Kannegiesser, Craig MacTavish, Peter Taglainetti, Greg Adams, Martin Biron, Jakub Voracek, Teddy Blueger, and Oskar Lindblom.

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