Morning Chirps: Impressive IceHogs debut, NHL DPoS can't get it right

The Chicago Blackhawks will host the Nashville Predators in a matinee at the United Center. They will look to bounce back from Friday’s loss to the Colorado Avalanche while playing spoiler to the Predators’ postseason hopes. Get caught up on a busy Saturday in the world of hockey while you wait for puck drop.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Anton Frondell’s SHL season ended yesterday, and he is expected to be recalled by the Blackhawks. He won’t have to deal with any visa issues, as he took care of all the paperwork after signing his entry-level contract last July. Justin Lynch gave us an idea of what the Swedish forward will bring to the lineup when he gets here.

• The Rockford IceHogs picked up a big win in Rosemont last night by beating the Chicago Wolves 4-2. Chase DaFoe, who was signed out of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks last week, made a heck of a first impression. He scored a pair of first-period goals in his professional debut. Veterans Brett Seney and Rem Pitlick both scored in the third period, while Samuel Savoie picked up an assist for the second straight game. Drew Commesso was about seven minutes away from a shutout, but still had a fantastic night with 36 saves. They will return home later today to take on the Grand Rapids Griffins again.

• Jack Pridham was held out of the Kitchener Rangers’ regular-season finale, an 8-7 overtime loss to the Owen Sound Attack. He finished the season on a 13-game point streak and was second in the league in goals with 46, one behind fellow Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker. I would be surprised if Vanacker plays in the Brantford Bulldogs’ regular-season finale today. Kitchener is the top seed in the Western Conference and will play the Saginaw Spirit in the first round of the OHL playoffs. Brantford is the top overall seed and will play the Sudbury Wolves to kick off the postseason.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, March 22: Eddie Rodden, John Marks, Warren Skorodenski, and Tuomas Gronman.

NHL Chirps

• The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has been under fire lately, and that isn’t going to change after announcing a telephone hearing for Florida Panthers’ forward A.J. Greer. This means the maximum suspension he can receive for blatantly boarding Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary is five games. When you watch the play below, you can see that Greer has plenty of time to assess the situation and still drills Zary square into the back, causing him to fall headfirst into the boards.

• The Boston Bruins picked up a huge 4-2 win over their Atlantic Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. David Pastrnak became the fourth-fastest player in team history to record 500 assists behind only Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, and Ray Bourque. That’s pretty good company! The Bruins are tied with the Montreal Canadiens for third place in the division, while the Red Wings are two points behind them. Detroit has only a one-point lead over the New York Islanders for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

• The Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 in overtime Saturday afternoon. Quinn Hughes had an assist on both goals in the preview for the likely first-round matchup. He became the sixth defenseman in the last 35 years to have at least 63 assists in 65 games. The others on this list are Bourque, Erik Karlsson, Roman Josi, Sergei Zubov, and Paul Coffey.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, March 22: Dave Keon, Bobby Leiter, Dunc Wilson, Pelle Eklund, Todd Ewen, Tom Poti, Joel Kwaitkowski, Mike Smith, Arturs Silovs, and Josh Samanski.