Morning Chirps: Frondell scores a beauty, Bedard ready to Bear Down

The Chicago Blackhawks will practice later today after another disappointing loss. They will have some work to do before settling in to watch the Chicago Bears in the playoffs with the rest of the city. Before you get wrapped up in today’s football action, get caught up on last night’s hockey news.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks had their most successful stretch of hockey by playing simple, predictable hockey. They’ve gone away from that style of late, and it cost them another game against the Boston Bruins last night.

• We discussed what went wrong and what needs to be changed on last night’s CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show.

• Things didn’t go great for the Rockford IceHogs last night either, as they lost 5-2 to the Chicago Wolves. Rem Pitlick and Kevin Lombardi scored the two goals, with Gavin Hayes and AHL All-Star Kevin Korchinski picking up assists. The IceHogs outshot the Wolves 38-18, but Cayden Primeau outdueled Owen Flores in the crease. These two teams will meet again in Rockford this afternoon. We’ll see if Drew Commesso returns to action after missing the last two games due to illness.

• While his mentor, Marcus Kruger, was in Chicago to be part of the Banner Years celebration, Anton Frondell scored a beauty of a breakaway goal in Sweden. He has 12 goals and 18 points in 28 games for Djurgårdens IF. He has two goals and three points in his three SHL games since returning from winning the gold medal at the World Junior Championships.

• We all know Roman Kantserov can put the puck in the back of the net, but I don’t think many of us knew he had this in his repertoire.

• Marek Vanacker was the first player in the Ontario Hockey League to score 30 goals in the Brantford Bulldogs’ 5-2 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. He also recorded an assist on Caleb Malhotra’s first-period goal. Parker Holmes scored the game-winning goal, the fifth on the season for the 2025 fourth-round pick.

• The Chicago Bears will host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round later this afternoon. The winner will take on the Seattle Seahawks for a trip to the Super Bowl next week. Connor Bedard showed his support by rocking an orange Caleb Williams jersey at the United Center last night.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 18: Radim Bicanek, Ryan Carpenter, and Ian Mitchell.

NHL Chirps

• The St. Louis Blues will get a big boost to their lineup. Dylan Holloway will join the team for their upcoming three-game road trip. He’s missed the last 15 games with a high ankle sprain.

• The Edmonton Oilers announced that Leon Draisaitl will be taking a leave of absence to attend to a family illness back in Germany. He is expected to rejoin the team at some point next week. The superstar center is having another tremendous season with 25 goals and 67 points in 48 games. His absence didn’t affect the Oilers last night, as they erupted for six goals in the second period to blow out the Vancouver Canucks 6-0.

• The New York Rangers’ 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon produced two big milestones. Mika Zibanejad scored his 10th career hat trick. The second of his three goals was a record breaker as it was his 117th power-play goal, the most in team history. The win gave head coach Mike Sullivan 500 in his career, becoming the 30th member of the 500-win club.

• Rasmus Andersson was emotional after the Calgary Flames 4-2 win over the New York Islanders. The game might have been his last in Calgary, as his time with the Flames reportedly is nearing an end. Elliotte Freidman reported that the Bruins are the frontrunners to land the defenseman. He mentioned that the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, and Toronto Maple Leafs are also in the mix.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 18: Syl Apps, Jere Gillis, Mike Blaisdell, Mark Messier, Dean Kennedy, Andrew McBain, Brian Gionta, Ruslan Fedotenko, Alex Pietrangelo, Pheonix Copley, Kaiden Guhle, and Tyson Foerster.