Morning Chirps: Moore's season is over, first round in the East is set

The Chicago Blackhawks will wrap up the 2025-26 season, and frankly, the end of the year can’t come soon enough for this group. We’ll have a full game preview later today and then break down the season finale against the San Jose Sharks after the game.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks held their final practice of the season yesterday. Even though he was a full participant, head coach Jeff Blashill revealed that Oliver Moore will not play tonight against the San Jose Sharks. He finished his rookie season with five goals and 19 points in 51 games. He also had six goals and nine points in nine games for the Rockford IceHogs.

• The American Hockey League revealed its 32 nominations for the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. Each time nominates one player or their outstanding contributions to the local community and charitable organizations during the 2025-26 season. Brett Seney is the IceHogs’ nominee. It’s the first nomination of his career.

• In the Ontario Hockey League, Jack Pridham had a pair of assists in the Kitchener Rangers’ 4-3 victory over the Soo Greyhounds to take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series. Defenseman Chase Reid, who could be a target of the Blackhawks at the upcoming draft, had a goal and two assists for the Greyhounds.

• A.J. Spellacy scored a heck of a game-winning goal to lead the Windsor Spitfires to a 2-1 win over the Flint Firebirds. They also have a 3-0 lead in their series.

• Game 3 between the Brantford Bulldogs and North Battalion was postponed due to safety concerns from flooding in the North Bay area. It will be played later tonight.

• On this date in 1993, Jeremy Roenick scored his 50th goal of the season to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. He joined Bobby Hull as the only players in franchise history to have back-to-back 50-goal seasons.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, April 15: Jim McFadden, Jimmy Waite, and Sergei Krivokrasov.

NHL Chirps

• The first round is all set in the Eastern Conference:

• The Utah Mammoth beat the Winnipeg Jets to clinch the top wild card spot in the Western Conference. They will play the Pacific Division winner instead of the Colorado Avalanche. Whether they play the Edmonton Oilers or Vegas Golden Knights, it will be without forwards Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain, who are still a few weeks away from returning from their injuries.

• The Dallas Stars are dealing with injuries to two key players. Head coach Glen Gulutzan has ruled Roope Hintz out for the first two games of their series against the Minnesota Wild. His status beyond that is still unknown. Gulutzan did not have an update on defenseman Miro Heiskanen

• The injury news was better for the Ottawa Senators. According to Bruce Garrioch, captain Brady Tkachuk is “good to go” for the start of their postseason run against the Carolina Hurricanes, as he’s been cleared of all concussion symptoms.

• This postgame quote from Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness is what you want to see after a bad loss. Hopefully, this is played for some of the guys in the Blackhawks locker room.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, April 15: Hugh Bolton, Don Marcotte, Tom Laidlaw, Keith Acton, Kevin Lowe, Kevin Stevens, Todd Elik, Tim Thomas, Brian Pothier, Pavel Kubina, Ilya Kovalchuk, Daniel Paille, Cam Janssen, Calvin Pickard, Christian Fischer, and Logan Mailloux.

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