Morning Chirps: Lardis injury, reaction to Team USA winning gold

The Chicago Blackhawks are nearing a return to action. They will practice again today and Wednesday before traveling for Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators. Meanwhile, there was plenty of reaction to the United States winning gold and the Olympics, while a top prospect suffered an injury over the weekend.

Blackhawks Chirps

• After a wild 5-4 loss on Saturday night, the Rockford IceHogs got revenge on the San Diego Gulls with a 2-1 victory on Sunday. Defenseman Andrew Perrott’s first goal of the season tied the game midway through the second stanza. Captain Brett Seney scored the game-winning goal early in the third period. Owen Flores made 24 saves for his second career AHL win. The IceHogs were unable to cut into the Milwaukee Admirals’ four-point lead for the final Calder Cup Playoff spot in the Central Division. They will host the Hershey Bears on Friday and Saturday next week.

• The IceHogs won on Sunday without the services of either Nick Lardis or Samuel Savoie. Per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Lardis was held out for precautionary reasons, while Savoie suffered a minor ankle injury on Saturday.

• When the IceHogs hit the ice against the Bears, they will have a new goaltender. Olivier Rodrigue has been assigned to Rockford after clearing waivers.

• On this date in 1964, Glenn Hall became the third goaltender in NHL history to have five 30-win seasons after he shut out the Boston Bruins 2-0. He was also credited with an assist during his milestone victory.

• In 1991, Michel Goulet scored his 14th career hat trick and his first with the Blackhawks to provide all the offense in a 3-3 tie with the Minnesota North Stars. The three goals made him the 30th player in league history to score 1,000 career points.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Feb. 23: Jimmy Thomson, Jordan Hendry, and Nick Schmaltz.

NHL & Olympic Chirps

• Sunday’s biggest story was one of the biggest stories of the last four decades as the United States beat Canada 2-1 to win their first Olympic gold medal since 1980. Moments after Jack Hughes’ overtime goal, Auston Matthews, Zach Werenski, and Matthew Tkachuk skated the late Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey around the ice. They later brought his two young kids onto the ice to take the team victory photo.

• The Blackhawks skated yesterday shortly after the gold medal game ended. Colton Dach was a good sport and wore Alex Vlasic’s Team USA helmet from the World Championships after the teammates gave each other a hard time during the game.

• There was a lot of discourse after the game, especially from the country that won silver, about the 3-on-3 overtime. First and foremost, I agree that playing 3-on-3 overtime in such a game is silly, but if you don’t want to lose in that scenario, win the game in regulation. That’s something neither the Canadian men nor the women could do. While I disagree with playing 3-on-3, I understand the logic behind it. The Olympics use it because 3-on-3 overtime usually doesn’t last very long. In a tournament where teams play many games in a short period, you can’t have teams playing long overtimes. Both Canada and the United States played six games in 11 days. Asking them to possibly play multiple 20-minute overtimes, even though many of them have to fly around the world to play with their NHL teams as early as Wednesday, is asking a lot. The logic is sound, even if you don’t agree with it.

• Last Olympic thought: hopefully the tournament results get the NHL to promote the Hughes brothers as much as they do the Tkachuk brothers. If you watched some of the NBC broadcasts, you would have thought Brady and Matthew Tkachuk were the only two players on the team. I get why the league promotes them. They are fabulous players. While most fan bases hate them, they would welcome them on their teams in a blink of an eye. It's about time all three Hughes brothers start getting the same treatment as the Tkachuks.

• The Washington Capitals will restart their schedule five points out of a playoff spot. They got Pierre-Luc Dubois back from injury for the final game before the Olympic break. Now it looks like defenseman John Carlson is near a return. The former Norris Trophy winner has been skating recently, and head coach Spencer Carery says he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Feb 23: John Druce, Jeff O’Neill, Marco Scandella, Kevin Connauton, Justin Hryckowian, and Emil Andrae.