Morning Chirps: IceHogs make change to coaching staff, Brantford blows it

The Chicago Blackhawks will find out later tonight where they will pick in the first round of next month's NHL Entry Draft. Before we settle in for the NHL Draft Lottery, get caught up with today’s batch of Morning Chirps.

Blackhawks Chirps

• There is a lot of anticipation heading into the offseason, with many fans expecting the Blackhawks to add to their NHL roster to compete for a playoff spot. I put together a wish list of players who made the Stanley Cup Playoffs who would be ideal fits for this team.

• Be sure you’re signed up for the Blackhawk Up Newsletter to get some historic tidbits on the NHL Draft Lottery.

• The Rockford IceHogs announced that they will not be retaining assistant coach Rob Klinkhammer.

• Jack Pridham will be the only Blackhawks prospect in the Ontario Hockey League’s Championship Series. The Brantford Bulldogs lost Game 7 of the Western Conference Championship Series 5-0 to the Barrie Colts. The Bulldogs had a 3-1 series lead before the Colts stormed back to win three straight games. Barrie goaltender Ben Hrebik followed up his 54-save win in Game 6 with a 40-save shutout to complete the comeback.

• On this date in 2009, the Vancouver Canucks took a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semifinals by beating the Blackhawks 3-1. Brian Campbell scored a power-play goal midway through the second period to cut into the 3-0 deficit, but this was as close as they would get.

• One year later, the Blackhawks beat the Canucks 5-2 to gain a 2-1 advantage in the Western Conference Semifinals. Dustin Byfuglien scored the first road playoff hat trick in team history since Bobby Hull in 1972 to lead the offense. Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa also found the back of the net.

• In 2013, the Minnesota Wild beat the Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime of Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. A pair of blueliners scored for the Blackhawks, with Johnny Oduya providing the opening goal and Duncan Keith tying the game with less than three minutes to play. Jason Zucker got the Wild their first victory of the series 2:15 into overtime.

• In 2015, Patrick Kane’s first-period power-play was the only tally of the night as the Blackhawks beat the Wild 1-0 to take a 3-0 series lead in their second-round series. Corey Crawford made 30 saves for his fourth career postseason shutout.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, May 5: Jim Conacher, Florent Robidoux, Mike Stapleton, and Pavel Vorobiev.

NHL Chirps

• The Philadelphia Flyers had the response they were looking for in Game 2 after they were shut out by the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 in the opening game of their series. Jamie Drysdale and Sean Couturier scored 39 seconds apart to give the Flyers an early 2-0 lead. However, the Hurricanes forced overtime as Nikolaj Ehlers and Seth Jarvis scored their first goals of the postseason. Even though the Flyers dominated overtime, former Blackhawk Taylor Hall won the game at 18:54 of extra time with his first career playoff overtime goal. After allowing two goals on back-to-back shots, Freddie Andersen stopped 33 shots in a row, including 14 in overtime. The Hurricanes take a 2-0 lead into Philadelphia, where Game 3 will be on Thursday night.

• ESPN began its broadcast of the series opener between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks by telling us these were two of the top three scoring teams in the first round. So, of course, Game 1 ended up as a low-scoring affair. Brett Howden stayed red hot by scoring the game’s opening goal early in the second period off a great feed from Mitch Marner. Howden has five goals in his last four games. Mikael Granlund tied the game by scoring off a rebound with six minutes to play. The game didn't stay even for very long as Ivan Barbashev put Vegas back on top just over a minute later on a play the Ducks felt should have been whistled dead for icing. Marner capped off his two-point night with a late empty-net goal. Carter Hart had another excellent outing with 33 saves.

• The Toronto Maple Leafs introductory press conference for their new front office was quite the thing....

• Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig will be suspended for the first two games of the 2026-27 season for his sucker punch of Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker.

• Calgary Flames forward Matthew Coronato will join Wyatt Kaiser and Oliver Moore on Team USA at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. The tournament will begin on May 15 and conclude on May 31.

• According to Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News, Detroit is getting a PWHL expansion franchise. The official announcement will be made on Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena, where the new team will play its home games starting this upcoming season.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, May 5: Willy Lidstrom, Bruce Affleck, Grant Jennings, Mikael Renberg, Zigmund Palffy, Brad Bombardir, Johan Hedberg, Darcy Kuemper, Rickard Rakell, Mitch Marner, Matt Luff, Josh Mahura, Jordan Kyrou, Josh Norris, Klim Kostin, Cameron Crotty, Conor Geekie, and Bradly Nadeau.

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