Morning Chirps: Champs return home, Blues add to their coaching staff

The Stanley Cup Champions returned home after a long night of partying in Sin City. Meanwhile, a Central Division rival added to its coaching staff. Get caught up on all the news with today’s Morning Chirps.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Many mock drafts have Ivar Stenberg falling to the Blackhawks with the fourth-overall pick. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, but there are plenty of reasons we should all hope it does.

• Ryan McGregor joined Jay Zawaski and me on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast to discuss Connor Bedard’s offseason training.

• Carolina Hurricanes goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder played the 2003-04 season with the Rockford IceHogs. I love everything going on in this picture!

• Staying in Rockford, congratulations to IceHogs captain Brett Seney and his wife, Andrea, on welcoming a healthy baby boy into the world!

• On this date in 1982, the Blackhawks made Orval Tessier the 26th head coach in franchise history. He won the Jack Adams Award after his first season, in which he led the Blackhawks to the Campbell Conference Final. After his team lost the first two games of that series to the Edmonton Oilers by a combined score of 16-6, he famously told reporters that his players needed “heart transplants.” He lasted another season and a half before being fired in 1985 despite the Blackhawks being in second place in the Norris Division.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 16: Gordie Fashoway, Frank Sullivan, Steve Larmer, and Pascal Pelletier.

NHL Chirps

• The Carolina Hurricanes had a lot of fans waiting for them as they returned home from Las Vegas as Stanley Cup Champions.

• Now that the Stanley Cup Final is over, we know the full order of the first round for next week’s NHL Entry Draft:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. New York Rangers
6. Calgary Flames
7. Seattle Kraken
8. Winnipeg Jets
9. Florida Panthers
10. Nashville Predators
11. St. Louis Blues
12. New Jersey Devils
13. New York Islanders
14. Columbus Blue Jackets
15. Blues (via Detroit Red Wings)
16. Capitals
17. Los Angeles Kings
18. Washington Capitals (via Anaheim Ducks)
19. Utah Mammoth
20. Sharks (via Oilers)
21. Philadelphia Flyers
22. Pittsburgh Penguins
23. Boston Bruins
24. Canucks (via Minnesota Wild)
25. Kraken (via Tampa Bay Lightning)
26. Rangers (via Dallas Stars)
27. Buffalo Sabres
28. Montreal Canadiens
29. Blues (via Colorado Avalanche)
30. Flames (via Vegas Golden Knights)
31. Hurricanes
32. Ottawa Senators (awarded)

• The Blues added two new assistant coaches to Jim Montgomery’s staff by hiring Greg Cronin and Vaclav Prospal. They are replacing Claude Julien and Mike Weber, who were relieved of their duties following the regular season. Cronin, the former Ducks head coach, spent last season as the head coach of the Iowa Wild. This is Prospal’s first NHL job after coaching in his native Czechia and the AHL.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 16: Derek Sanderson, Tom Fergus, Dainius Zubrus, Kevin Bieksa, Rick Nash, Nikita Nikitin, and Yaroslav Askarov.

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