Morning Chirps: Jason Dickinson trade value, goalie fight

The Chicago Blackhawks are getting a well-deserved day off today after their big 2-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. They will be back on the practice ice tomorrow before traveling to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Blackhawks Chirps

• What an amazing night at the United Center last night was! The Jonathan Toews ovation, the Spencer Knight shutout, and the Caleb Williams and PCA cameos! Check out my thoughts on all of it, in case you missed it last night.

• After the big win, I hung out with Jay, Mario, and Noodle Man on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show!

• Last night was a great night to remember all the great moments Toews has given Blackhawks fans. It’s hard to come up with a consensus favorite moment, but Justin Lynch gave us his 10 top.

• Insider Frank Seravalli was on the CHSN pregame show and had an interesting tidbit about Jason Dickinson’s trade value. He said the veteran forward could garner a second-round pick and a prospect at the trade deadline.

• On this date in 1946, Max Bentley scored his fourth career hat trick in a 9-1 blowout of the New York Rangers, in front of a record-setting Chicago Stadium crowd of 19,749.

• In 1970, Bobby Hull was named the MVP of the NHL All-Star Game with a goal and an assist to lead the Eastern Conference to a 4-1 victory.

• In 1995, the NHL’s 48-game condensed regular-season finally got underway after a prolonged owners’ lockout. The Blackhawks kicked off their schedule with a 4-1 loss at the Detroit Red Wings, with Dirk Graham providing the lone goal.

• In 2018, Patrick Kane became the fifth player in Blackhawks history to score 800 career points. He had two goals and an assist in a 7-3 loss to the New York Islanders to reach the milestone.

• One year later, the Blackhawks beat the Washington Capitals 8-5 behind Toews’ five-point night, including his sixth career hat trick. He became the 12th player in NHL history to score at least 20 goals in each of his first 12 seasons. He joined Hull, Stan Mikitam, and Kane as the fourth player to do so in team history.

NHL Chirps

• The NHL trade deadline will not have the same drama that we’ve seen in years past. With so many top potential free agents already signing contract extensions, there will be fewer players available. Now, it seems like teams are trying to get their big trades done before the Olympic break. We saw Rasmus Andersson get traded on Sunday, and then the Vancouver Canucks traded Kiefer Sherwood on Monday. They sent the forward to the San Jose Sharks for 25-year-old defenseman Cole Clayton and second-round picks in 2026 and 2027.

• Matthew Tkachuk was active off injured reserve and made his debut for the Florida Panthers last night. Seth Jones was moved to long-term injured reserve to make room. While the fans in Sunrise, FL, were happy to see him, the San Jose Sharks could not have cared less. Vincent Desharnais, who was just activated off injured reserve himself, welcomed Tkachuk back with this big hit.

• The Sharks’ 4-1 win over the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions also featured a fight between goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Sergei Bobrovsky. This was the first goalie fight in the NHL since Mike Smith and Cam Talbot dropped the gloves in a Battle of Alberta game back on Feb. 1, 2020.

• The Colorado Avalanche beat the Capitals 5-2 yesterday. They did so without forward Valeri Nichushkin, who suffered minor injuries in a car accident on his way to the Ball Arena. Head coach Jared Bednar did not have a further update and said Nichushkin is considered day-to-day.

• Quinn Hughes has been worth every penny for the Minnesota Wild. He had two assists in their 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs to jump ahead of the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central Division. He has two goals and 20 points in his first 18 games with Minnesota, becoming the fastest player in team history to reach 20 career points.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan 20: Lou Fontinato, Inge Hammarstrom, Chuck Lefley, Jamie Hislop, Dick Tarnstrom, Josef Melichar, Ryan Reaves, Sean Kuraly, Anthony Stolarz, and Hampus Lindholm.