Morning Chirps: Toews retirement expected, Babcock cleared to return

The greatest captain in Chicago Blackhawks history appears to be calling it a career today. Meanwhile, a controversial head coach has been cleared to return to the league, a former Blackhawks coach is making a career change, and an old rival is getting his number retired.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Even with their recent acquisition of Michael Kesselring, the San Jose Sharks remain the biggest wild card of next week’s NHL Entry Draft.

• Joseph Groves stopped by to tell us why Mason McTavish is worth pursuing this offseason.

• Former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has a press conference scheduled for 11 am this morning, where he is expected to announce his retirement. His No. 19 needs to be in the rafters of the United Center as soon as possible.

• Jay Zawaski and I talked about Toews’ impact on the franchise, and what Kyle Davidson needs to do this summer on yesterday’s CHGO Blackhawks Podcast.

• On this date in 1995, Darryl Sutter resigned as Blackhawks head coach after going 110-86-26 in his three seasons behind the bench. He was eventually replaced by Craig Hartsburg. His reasoning was to spend more time with his family, and especially his son Christopher. However, he returned to coaching two years later when he took the Sharks job in 1997.

• In 2013, the Blackhawks evened up the Stanley Cup Final with a back-and-forth 6-5 overtime win over the Boston Bruins in Game 4. Michal Handzus opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first period. Toews and Patrick Kane scored in the middle stanza to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead. Marcus Kruger scored 49 seconds after Milan Lucic, but the Bruins answered with a power-play tally before the end of the period. Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk forced overtime with only 55 seconds left in regulation. Brent Seabrook played the hero again with his second overtime goal of the postseason, less than 10 minutes into the extra time.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 19: Joey Anderson.

NHL Chirps

• The NHL cleared Mike Babcock after a brief investigation, and he is expected to become the next coach of the Edmonton Oilers. More of his former players come out every day to call him a bully and voice their displeasure with his return to the league. There will be a lot of folks who will get some satisfaction if and when this blows up.

• The Washington Capitals extended head coach Spencer Carbery. The official announcement calls it a multi-year extension without giving any specifics of the deal. He is 134-83-29 in his first three seasons leading the team, and won the Jack Adams Award in 2025.

• Former Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton is stepping down as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils. The team announced that he was leaving to “pursue other business opportunities.” The Devils now have three vacancies on Sheldon Keefe’s staff after assistant Sergei Brylin was reassigned and goalie coach Dave Rogalski was let go.

• According to Darren Dreger, the Buffalo Sabres have been contacted by multiple teams about the availability of defenseman Bowen Byram. This doesn’t mean he’s on the market, but if he does hit the market, the Blackhawks should make a big offer. He’d be a perfect fit for years to come.

• The Bruins will retire Patrice Bergeron’s No. 37 at some point during the upcoming season. He will be the 14th player in franchise history to have his number retired. He’ll join his former teammate Zdeno Chara, who had his number retired last season.

• The Anaheim Ducks announced that forward Troy Terry had successful surgery to repair a hip impingement and a labral tear. His recovery time is estimated at five to six months, which will cause him to miss a significant amount of time at the start of the season. He’d be ready to return sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 19: Stewart Evans, Keith McCreary, Walt McKechnie, Sergei Makarov, Dan Ellis, Alex Frolov, and Jonny Brodzinski.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow