Morning Chirps: Blackhawks rookies play dress up, bad injury news in Rockford

The Chicago Blackhawks are practicing today in Tampa ahead of tomorrow’s game with the Lightning. The rookies got a little bit of hazing on the trip down there, while there was some bad news out of Rockford. Around the NHL, one former Blackhawk will miss at least two more games, while another returned from injury and made his debut for his new team.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks had some fun on their trip to Tampa, as all the rookies were made to wear flight suits on the plane.

• Tuesday is when we take a look at the Blackhawks Prospects of the Week. Nick Lardis, Jack Pridham, and Adam Gajan were this week’s featured players.

• Speaking of Lardis, the American Hockey League’s Player of the Week met with the media during the Rockford IceHogs media to discuss his smooth transition into the professional ranks.

• Staying in Rockford, the team announced that forward Paul Ludwinski will miss the rest of the season with a left knee injury. The second-year pro had a goal and an assist in his first three games.

• Scott Rogust dropped in to write about Danny Wirtz’s patience with the rebuilding process and his satisfaction with the progress being made.

• Frank Seravalli has become a huge fan of Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight.

• On this date in 1957, Blackhawks legend Bobby Hull scored his first career goal in a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins.

• In 1998, Doug Gilmour picked up the 800th assist of his Hall of Fame career during the Blackhawks’ 2-2 tie with the San Jose Sharks.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Oct. 22: Ron Sedlbauer and Stephane Quintal.

NHL Chirps

• Patrick Kane will not accompany the Detroit Red Wings on their upcoming two-game road trip. He missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury, but skated on his own yesterday. The team will re-evaluate him when they return to the Motor City on Saturday.

• Another former Blackhawk, Corey Perry, was activated off injured reserve by the Los Angeles Kings, and he made his team debut last night. He had one shot on goal and two penalty minutes in a 2-1 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues.

• ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that the NHL is canceling the Olympic sendoff event at the USB Arena that was going to take place in February. The league and the NHLPA agreed that players should focus on their preparation and travel to Italy. The New York Islanders will now host the 2027 All-Star Game and Skills Competition.

• The Islanders beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3, handing them their 17th loss in a row, dating back to last season. The game featured the top two picks of the most recent NHL Entry Draft in Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa. Schaefer scored the game-winning goal and picked up an assist to extend his season-opening point streak to six games. He became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to score a game-winning goal. Misa picked up his first career point with the primary assist on Adam Gaudette’s second-period goal.

• Sidney Crosby scored his fourth goal of the season in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. He now has 1,896 points combined in the regular season and playoffs, passing Mario Lemieux for the most in franchise history.

• Brad Marchand returned to Boston for the first time last night, and the Bruins honored him with this emotional video tribute. Marchand had two assists against his former team as the Florida Panthers left with a 4-3 victory.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Oct. 22: Bill Brydge, Butch Goring, Ron Tugnutt, Terry Yake, Scott Lachance, Miroslav Satan, Darren Haydar, Matt Pettinger, David Savard, and Brendan Brisson.