Morning Chirps: Frondell vs Spellacy, Kane vs Toews

The Chicago Blackhawks will get the day off after earning a point last night. They will kick off 2026 by hosting the Dallas Stars tomorrow night. Enjoy the final batch of Morning Chirps for 2025! Happy New Year, and be safe tonight!

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks overcame a slow start to erase a 2-0 deficit and earn a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders. As I wrote last night, the emergence of a young trio is the biggest takeaway from the game.

• I talked about the big picture with my pals Jay and Mario on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show last night.

• The Rockford IceHogs suffered a 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals north of the Cheddar Curtain last night. They got 31 shots on goal, but could not get one past goaltender Magnus Chrona, who recorded his first career AHL shutout. Sam Rinzel led the team with four shots. The IceHogs will wrap up 2025 by hosting the Chicago Wolves this afternoon at 4 pm.

• None of the three Blackhawks prospects was in action at the World Junior Championship on Tuesday. They will all be playing today, as group play wraps up. Vlasclav Nestrasil and Czechia take on Latvia at 2:30 pm, A.J. Spellacy and Anton Frondell go head-to-head as Team USA plays Sweden with first place in Group A on the line.

• We made it into the top 10 of our countdown of the best 25 Blackhawks of the past quarter-century! The top five will be out later today, so check back in to see how it panned out.

• On this date in 1990, rookie goaltender Ed Belfour stopped all 22 shots he faced to earn his second career shutout. The 4-0 win at the Detroit Red Wings was the Blackhawks’ first road shutout since 1984.

• Five years later, Jeff Hackett won his eighth straight game, tying Tony Eposito for the longest winning streak by a goaltender in franchise history. He made 29 saves in a 5-0 blanking of the New Jersey Devils.

• In 2017, the Blackhawks lost 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary Flames. This was the final NHL game for the legendary Jaromir Jagr, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 15 goals and 29 points in 34 games against the Blackhawks.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 31: Charlie Gardiner, Terry Ruskowski, Paul Gillis, Scott Nichol, Corey Crawford, and Josiah Slavin.

NHL Chirps

• The Buffalo Sabres have been the hottest team in the NHL, riding a nine-game winning streak. However, goaltender Alex Lyon suffered a lower-body injury during Monday’s win over the St. Louis Blues. He didn’t leave the game, so it’s uncertain when the injury occurred.

• The injuries keep piling up for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Defenseman Chris Tanev will be out for “some time” with a lower-body injury. Forward Dakota Joshua is recovering from a kidney injury suffered in Sunday’s game and has no timetable for a return. To compound matters, Auston Matthews and William Nylander missed last night's game against the New Jersey Devils, making it the first contest since 2016 that didn’t have Matthews, Nylander, or Mitch Marner in their lineup. The shorthanded Maple Leafs played one of their most complete games of the season and beat the Devils 4-0.

• The Devils are now 0-3-1 since Jack Hughes returned and have scored only four goals. Head coach Sheldon Keefe called out his team when asked about captain Nico Hischier fighting in the third period.

• Back to last night’s Blackhawks game, where Matthew Schaefer made history. With his assist on the game’s opening goal, he became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 25 points.

• Tonight’s schedule features the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Winnipeg Jets, marking the first time Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will face each other in an NHL game. Wouldn’t be something if Kane can score his 500th career goal against his former iconic teammate!

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 31: Rene Robert, Gary McAdam, and Brandon Tanev.