Morning Chirps: Gajan's Olympic experience, Matthews' chase of history

The Chicago Blackhawks content is still being churned out here at Blackhawk Up, as we are enjoying another theme week. Get caught up on all the great work from Wednesday with today’s Morning Chirps.

Blackhawks Chirps

• It’s records, awards, and milestones week through our NHL network. I took a look at three Blackhawks’ franchise records that will never be broken.

• Speaking of records, Maya Smith points out one active player who could break Patrick Kane’s record for most points by a U.S.-born player.

• Ryan Gagne looked inside the numbers of Connor Bedard’s first three NHL seasons to see how the Blackhawks have fared since he arrived.

• Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Gail Kauchak projected what the defensive pairings may look like when the puck drops.

• Meanwhile, Justin Lynch gave us the five biggest storylines to watch for the 2026-27 Blackhawks.

• Ryan McGregor had me on his Blackhawks Conversation podcast to talk about some of our expectations for the upcoming season.

• Adam Gajan is heading into his first professional season, where he’ll likely split time between the AHL and ECHL. The 2023 second-round pick recently told Tracey Myers of NHL.com how helpful his trip to the 2026 Olympics was despite not playing in any games.

• On this date in 2020, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead in their First Round playoff series. Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalik drew the Blackhawks even in the second period. Dylan Strome forced overtime quickly after Mark Stone put Vegas up 3-2. After scoring two third-period goals in Game 1, Reilly Smith won the game for the Golden Knights in overtime.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Aug. 13: Marty Turco and Jujhar Khaira.

NHL Chirps

• Sticking with the theme of the week, the NHL Network crew debated whether Auston Matthews could pass Alex Ovechkin for the most goals scored all-time. He enters this season 501 goals behind the “Great 8. That is a lot to overcome, but Matthews is still only 28. However, he will need to have a better stretch of health than he’s had over the past two seasons. Last season, he scored only 27 goals, the lowest output of his career. He’ll need to rekindle that 60-goal magic if he wants to give Ovechkin a run for his money.

• This season will be the last one for Da Beauty League in Minnesota. Blackhawks defenseman Sam Rinzell has been playing this year. Da Beauty League has not only been a chance for NHLers to get some ice time in August, but it has also raised nearly $700,000 for local charities over the past decade. Joe Smith of The Athletic put together a retrospective of 10 years of hockey and fun in the Twin Cities.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Aug 13: Joe Simpson, Bobby Clarke, Mark Osborne, Shayne Corson, Marcus Ragnarsson, Ales Hemsky, Casey DeSmith, Cedric Paquette, Johnny Gaudreau, Filip Forsberg, Kyle Capoianco, Carter Hart, and Leevi Merilainen.

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