Morning Chirps: Two All-Stars in Rockford, Toews keeps scoring

The Chicago Blackhawks are off today after being “disconnected” against the Calgary Flames last night, according to head coach Jeff Blashill. There was plenty of news around the world of hockey on Thursday, including two All-Stars in Rockford, a franchise legend staying hot for his new team, and an all-time great defenseman getting his number retired. Get caught up with your Friday Morning Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• There were many factors why the Blackhawks lost last night, but the early special teams failures ultimately cost them the game.

• As I do after every home game, I joined my pals Jay and Mario on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show to break down the frustrating night.

• The Rockford IceHogs are hosting the AHL All-Star Classic on Feb. 10 and 11. The home team will have two representatives: forward Nick Lardis and defenseman Kevin Korchinski, who were named to the Central Division team. Korchinski was the MVP of last year’s All-Star Classic. In a normal NHL season, I’d say Lardis wouldn’t be going back to the AHL. But, with the All-Star Classic being held during the NHL’s Olympic break, he can easily go back to Rockford to take part in the festivities.

• Speaking of Lardis, Jeremiah Lee wrote about how he’s carried his success in the Ontario Hockey League into the start of his professional career.

• On this date in 1960, Gordie Howe became the NHL’s all-time leading scorer during the Detroit Red Wings’ 3-1 win over the Blackhawks. He scored a goal and recorded an assist to pass Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice Richard with 947 points. He retired with 1,850 points, which remained a league record until Wayne Gretzky broke it in 1989.

• In 1966, Bobby Hull had his second four-game of the season in a 6-5 loss to the New York Rangers. His 17th career hat trick made him the first player to score 300 goals in a Blackhawks uniform.

• In 1989, Denis Savard recorded his 600th career assist during a 2-2 tie with the Edmonton Oilers. At the time, he and Stan Mikita were the only two players in team history with at least 600 helpers. They have since been joined by Patrick Kane.

• In 1993, Steve Larmer became the third player in team history to score 400 goals with a third-period shorthanded tally in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 16: Lou Angotti.

NHL Chirps

• The Boston Bruins, who will be in town tomorrow, retired Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 on Thursday night. The amazing pregame ceremony included many of his former teammates as well as some of the Bruins' all-time greats, including Ray Bourque, Willie O’Ree, Bobby Orr, and Johnny Bucyk. He played 1,023 games in Boston and served as captain for 14 seasons. He won the Norris Trophy in 2009 and helped the Bruins reach three Stanley Cup Finals and win it all in 2011.

• After going 26 games without a goal, Jonathan Toews can’t be stopped all of a sudden. He scored a goal in his fourth straight game as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 6-2. He also recorded an assist, giving him 900 career points. The Jets have won all four games of Toews’ goal streak. We’ll see him on Monday night, as Toews will play his first game against the Blackhawks since returning to the NHL.

• Mitch Marner faced his former team for the first time last night as the Vegas Golden Knights hosted the Maple Leafs. Toronto had three separate two-goal leads before giving up the last three goals in a 6-5 overtime loss. Marner had the primary assist on both of Pavel Dorofeyev’s power-play goals.

• The Buffalo Sabres beat the Canadiens 5-4 to improve to 15-2-0 in their last seven games. Montreal blueliner Lane Hutson recorded two helpers to become the second-fastest defenseman in NHL history to tally 100 career assists. He accomplished this feat in 132 games. Hall of Famer Sergei Zubov holds the record by needing only 127 games to record 100 assists.

• Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The assist was his 100th against the Flyers in his career (regular season and playoffs combined). This is the second franchise he’s achieved this against, as he has 103 assists in 106 games against the New York Islanders. Wayne Gretzky had 100 assists against seven different franchises, while Bourque and Steve Yzerman did it against three.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 16: John Sorrell, Steve Leach, Brendan Morrow, Kurt Sauer, Matt Duchene, Jason Zucker, Derrick Pouliot, and Gage Goncalves.