Morning Chirps: Boisvert drops the gloves, Rangers open for business

Tonight will be a special night at the United Center as they will celebrate the Banner Years before hosting the Boston Bruins. Having the Bruins in town is a nice touch, as I’m sure we’ll see a ton of 17 Seconds references. Meanwhile, one top prospect dropped the gloves while another scored a hat trick. Also, an Eastern Conference team is open for business while two Western Conference rivals are dealing with key injuries.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks will have three representatives at next month’s Winter Olympics: Teuvo Teravainen (Finland), goaltending prospect Adam Gajan (Slovakia), and assistant coach Anders Sorensen (Sweden). Jeff Maroon looked into the future and tried to predict who from the organization could compete in the 2030 Winter Olympics.

• With the Blackhawks celebrating the Banner Years tonight, Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers of The Athletic tracked down the players from those great teams to see what they are up to these days, including Dustin Byfuglien, Antti Niemi, and Michal Handzus.

• The Rockford IceHogs started off their busy weekend with an impressive win over the Grand Rapids Griffins. All the scoring came in the third period, with goals coming from Ryan Gagnier, Dominic Toninato, and Samuel Savoie. Goaltender Stanislav Berezhnoy stole the show with 31 saves to hand the AHL-leading Griffins their third regulation loss of the season. The IceHogs will close out the weekend with a home-and-home series with the Chicago Wolves, starting tonight in Rosemont.

• Sacha Boisvert went viral last night during Boston University’s 4-3 loss to UMass-Lowell. Midway through the third period, he and Connor Eddy dropped the gloves for a rare fight in college hockey. Both players were ejected from the game and, under NCAA rules, will be disqualified from their teams’ next game.

• Jack Pridham scored a hat trick and recorded an assist to lead the Kitchener Rangers to a 7-4 win over the Saginaw Spirit. The three goals give him 28 on the season, and put him one behind fellow Blackhawks’ prospect Marek Vanacker for the Ontario Hockey League lead.

• On this date in 1962, Glenn Hall was honored for playing in 500 consecutive games, regular season and playoff combined. The Montreal Canadiens spoiled the party by hanging a touchdown on Hall in a 7-3 win over the Blackhawks.

• In 1979, the Blackhawks beat the Colorado Rockies 2-1, making Tony Esposito the first goaltender in franchise history to win 300 games.

• In 1988, Denis Savard scored his 10th career hat trick to lead the Blackhawks to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals.

• Five years later, Michael Goulet scored his 16th and final career hat trick to extend the Blackhawks’ home winning streak over the Toronto Maple Leafs to 12 games.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 17: Pep Kelly, Russ Brayshaw, Jeremy Roenick, Derek Plante, Scott Foster, and Viktor Stalberg.

NHL Chirps

• New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury wrote a letter to fans explaining how the team will retool its roster this season. He is essentially waving the white flag on the season. While he never said “rebuild,” the Rangers have plenty of pieces they can move before the NHL trade deadline. Fans of the Blue Shirts are used to getting this kind of letter, as Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton co-wrote a similar one back in 2018.

• Elliotte Friedman reported that Drury and the Rangers will not offer a contract extension to star winger Artemi Panarin. He added that the Rangers’ general manager spoke to Panarin and will work with him and his agent to trade him where he wants to go. This opens the door for a big payday this summer. With all the would-be free agents who’ve already extended with their current teams, Panarin will be the top target on July 1. The Blackhawks have no reason to trade for him, but a reunion with the former Calder Trophy winner should at least be worth a discussion this offseason.

• The Minnesota Wild placed two key forwards on injured reserve. Joel Eriksson Ek has been dealing with a lower-body injury since Jan. 8, while Matt Boldy suffered an undisclosed injury during Thursday’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

• The Anaheim Ducks announced that center Leo Carlsson underwent a procedure to treat a Morel-Lavallee lesion in his left thigh. He will be out 3-5 weeks, putting his participation at the Winter Olympics for Sweden in jeopardy. According to the National Library of Medicine, Morel-Lavallee lesions are soft tissue injuries seen in high-velocity trauma and are usually associated with underlying fractures of the pelvis, acetabulum, or proximal femur.

• Friday night was all about snapping streaks. Ryan O’Reilly had a hat trick and four points as the Nashville Predators handed the Colorado Avalanche their first regulation loss on home ice this season. They had gone 19-0-3 in their first 22 games at the Ball Arena before last night’s 7-3 defeat. The St. Louis Blues beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in a shootout to snap their 11-game winning streak. This is the second double-digit winning streak they’ve ended in franchise history. They put an end to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 10-game winning streak in 2018.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 17: Leo Bourgeault, Jacques Plante, Sylvain Turgeon, Aaron Ward, and Mason Lohrei.