Morning Chirps: Big WJC for Blackhawks prospects today, Barzal loses his cool

The Chicago Blackhawks will have a rare practice the morning after playing on back-to-back nights. It’s even stranger because they play tomorrow night again. But, with three days off and no morning skates on Saturday and Sunday, head coach Jeff Blashill wants his team on the ice today.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks had “one of those days” where nothing goes right, and they should have never gotten out of bed. We’ve all been there. Check out my postgame thoughts from after last night’s 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

• After the game, I stopped by CHGO studios to hang out on their Blackhawks Postgame Show.

• At the World Junior Championship on Sunday, Sweden needed three third-period goals to beat Switzerland 4-2. Anton Frondell was held off the scoresheet after a goal and an assist in the tournament opener. Finland blew out Latvia 8-0 to improve to 2-0-0 in the only other game yesterday.

• All three Blackhawks prospects are in action today. Frondell and Sweden play Germany at noon, Vasclav Nestrasil and Czechia have a big game with Finland at 2:30 pm, while A.J. Spellacy and Team USA play Slovakia at 5 pm. Canada and Denmark close out the four-game day at 7:30 pm.

• On this date in 1945, the Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4. The legendary Maurice Richard scored twice to make him the fastest player in NHL history to score 100 career goals, doing so in 145 games.

• In 1964, Bobby Hull netted two goals to lead the Blackhawks to a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. The victory extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1) as they set a new franchise record with seven straight road wins.

• In 1991, Brian Noonan scored four goals in a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He scored seven straight goals for the Blackhawks, after his hat trick in the previous game provided the only three goals.

• Four years later, Chris Chelios recorded his 500th career assist during a 5-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres. All five Blackhawks’ goals came via the power play, with Gary Suter factoring in all of them with a goal and four assists.

• In 1998, the Blackhawks traded defenseman Paul Coffey to the Carolina Hurricanes for winger Nelson Emerson. The Hall of Fame blueliner played only 10 games in Chicago after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers the previous offseason.

• In 2017, goaltender Jeff Glass made his NHL debut and led the Blackhawks to a 4-3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. At 32 years and 40 days old, he was the second-oldest netminder to make his first NHL start since 1967. Only Rob Zepp of the Flyers was older (34 years, 106 days) in his first game.

NHL Chirps

• On Sunday, the Ottawa Senators announced that goaltender Linus Ullmark will be taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons. The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner is 14-8-5 this season with a 2.95 goals-against average (GAA), .881 save percentage (SV%), and the worst goals saved above expected at -11.5.

• Former Blackhawks forward Boris Katchouk is on the move again, as he was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Michael Milne. This is the second time the Tampa Bay Lightning traded Katchouk, as he was sent to Chicago as part of the Brandon Hagel trade in 2022.

• The New York Islanders are in town tomorrow night, but their star forward, Mathew Barzal, might not be making the trip. During last night's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Mason Marchment stuck out his leg to trip defenseman Matthew Schaefer in the neutral zone. Barzal didn’t appreciate the play and gave Marchment a Paul Bunyan slash to the foot. He was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct. I can’t imagine he'll escape suspension after this incident. The Blue Jackets got the last laugh by scoring three goals in the final five minutes to win 4-2.

Patrick Kane returned to the Detroit Red Wings lineup for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury against the Blackhawks on Dec. 13. He was held off the scoresheet in a 3-2 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is still two goals shy of 500 in his career.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 29: Nels Stewart, Tom Bladon, Andreas Dackell, Filip Kuba, George Parros, Derek Ryan, and Tyson Kozak.