Morning Chirps: Wild's season ends after epic collapse, Maple Leafs fire Berube

The former captain of the Chicago Blackhawks had himself a big night only to be erased by disappointment. Get caught up on a busy news day with today’s Morning Chirps.

Blackhawks Chirps

• First, we forgot how good Andre Burakovsky was at the start of the season because of how much he struggled in the second half.

• Next, we looked back at Spencer Knight’s first full season with the Blackhawks and how his demeanor and calmness were perfect for this part of the rebuild.

• On this date in 1985, the Edmonton Oilers beat the Blackhawks 10-5 to take a 3-2 series lead in the Campbell Conference Finals. Future Blackhawks defenseman Paul Coffey set an NHL playoff record for the most points in a single game by a defenseman by scoring a goal and adding five assists. Future head coach Darryl Sutter scored twice, while Denis Savard had a goal and three assists.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, May 14: Pierre Plante and Rick Vaive.

NHL Chirps

• The Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes seem to be on a collision course towards the Stanley Cup Final. The Avalanche are on to the Western Conference Finals after eliminating the Minnesota Wild in five games with a 4-3 overtime win. The Wild took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission after Nick Foligno scored his first two goals of the postseason. This was just the second multi-goal playoff game in his career, with the first coming with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2018. Parker Kelly scored midway through the second period, but the series looked to be heading back to St. Paul as the Wild still owned a two-goal advantage with less than four minutes to play. Jack Drury scored at 16:27 before Nathan MacKinnon tied the game with 1:23 left in regulation. Brett Kulak, playing on his third team this season, ended the Wild’s season 3:52 into overtime. Minnesota general manager Bill Geurin stole all the headlines by acquiring Quinn Hughes in December, but in the end, it was just another second-round loss for the Wild. They have only made it past the second round once in their 25-season history.

• The Vegas Golden Knights can advance to take on the Avalanche by beating the Anaheim Ducks tonight. However, they will be without the services of defenseman Brayden McNabb, who earned a one-game suspension for his hit on Ryan Poehling in Game 5.

• The Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Craig Berube on Wednesday. He still has two years left on his contract, so any team looking to hire him will need permission from the Maple Leafs to speak to him. We can now begin the weeks of speculation on who the next to put himself in the pressure cooker that is the Toronto market.

"Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person. This decision is more reflective of an organizational shift and an opportunity for a fresh start than it is an evaluation of Craig. We are grateful for his leadership, professionalism, and commitment to the Maple Leafs organization."

Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka

• Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that the Oilers are expected to fire head coach Chris Knoblauch. This isn’t a surprise, but the optics of how they are handling this situation are not great. ***UPDATE*** According to Ryan Rishaug, Knoblauch has been relieved of his duties.

• New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer was the unanimous winner of the Calder Trophy. He received all 198 first-place votes. The only other unanimous Calder winner was Teemu Selanne in 1993, when he scored a rookie record 76 goals for the original Winnipeg Jets.

• The NHL released the logo for next season’s Winter Classic, which will feature the Utah Mammoth hosting the Avalanche.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, May 14: Gump Worsley, Danny Gare, Steve Tambellini, Alain Vigneault, Ken Belanger, Mike Van Ryn, Morgan Frost, Jack Hughes, Joel Nystrom, and Wyatt Johnson.

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