Morning Chirps: Memorial Cup starts, Canadiens roll in Game 1

Happy Friday! We’ve not only made it to the weekend, but a three-day weekend! Start off with a fresh batch of Morning Chirps.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Blackhawks assistant coach Michael Peca gave some high praise to his group of young players, and Artyom Levshunov in particular, during a recent podcast interview.

• Speaking of young defensemen, Richard Jelinek feels that Louis Crevier deserves the elevated role he got last season.

• The Memorial Cup starts tonight with Jack Pridham and the Kitchener Rangers taking on the hosting Kelowna Rockets. They will play the Everett Silvertips on Monday and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Tuesday. All three preliminary games start at 9 pm CT and can be seen on the NHL Network.

• On this date in 1970, the NHL announced that the Buffalo Sabers and Vancouver Canucks would join the league for the 1970-71 season, bringing the team total to 14. The expansion caused the Blackhawks to move from the East Division into the West Division, which was made up of the six expansion teams from 1967.

• In 1992, the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 4 of the Campbell Conference Finals to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1973. Brian Noonan led the offense with two goals, as the Blackhawks won their 11th straight game, setting a new NHL postseason record.

• In 2009, the Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime of Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. Patrick Sharp scored the game’s first goal and the game-winner in overtime. Andrew Ladd and Samuel Pahlsson (remember him?) had the other two goals in regulation. Despite the win, the Blackhawks still trailed the series 2-1.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, May 21: Lude Check, Rich Preston, Perry Pelensky, and Jim Playfair.  

NHL Chirps

• Not many people picked either the Vegas Golden Knights or the Montreal Canadiens to win their respective series, but both have 1-0 leads. The Canadiens took advantage of a rusty Hurricanes team to roar to a 4-1 lead after the first period, on their way to a 6-2 win. Not playing for 11 days showed in the opening frame, which was the worst period of hockey the Hurricanes have played all postseason. They played much better over the final 40 minutes, especially in the second period. Game 2 will be back in Raleigh on Saturday night.

• It sounds like Andrei Kuzmenko will be hitting free agency on July 1. Eric Stephens of The Athletic reports that he is now likely expendable after the Los Angeles Kings acquired Artemi Panarin. The 30-year-old forward had 13 goals and 25 points in 52 games last season.

• Early on Thursday, there was a report that New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec requested a trade. However, that report was refuted by James Nichols, who had sources tell him that the new general manager, Sunny Mehta, had already reached out to Nemec about a new contract.

• Defenseman Victor Soderstrom has signed a two-year deal with ECH Biel-Bienne in Switzerland. The 25-year-old blueliner was part of the Blackhawks organization for about three months last year. He was acquired from the Utah Mammoth in the trade that included Shea Weber’s contract. He was flipped to the Boston Bruins for a seventh-round pick and Ryan Mast.

• Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won the Gagarin Cup for the second straight year yesterday. Goaltender Alexei Melnichuk had himself a memorable moment on the ice after the game. Don’t worry, he only suffered a bruised ego in the fall.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, May 21: George Patterson, Andrei Nazarov, Janne Niinimaa, and Brandon Duhaime.

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