Morning Chirps: Ice melting at United Center, Blackhawks get another Olympian, 500 for Kane

The Chicago Blackhawks are scheduled to host the Washington Capitals tonight, but we’ll see how that goes, as the ice was melting under the basketball floor at the United Center last night, postponing the scheduled game between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. We’ll keep you updated all day long, hopefully, with a game preview and postgame thoughts.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks finally found a home for goaltender Laurent Brossoit yesterday. He was traded to the San Jose Sharks along with Nolan Allan and a 2028 seventh-round pick in exchange for Ryan Ellis’ contract, defenseman Jake Furlong, and a 2028 fourth-round pick. As Nestor Quixtan pointed out, having Ellis’ salary on the books next season will help the Blackhawks hit the cap floor. With some higher-priced veterans coming off the books and being replaced by guys on entry-level contracts, they will need some help in that department. Allan will get a shot to play for a team with fewer defensive prospects. The emergence of Louis Crevier pushed him down the organizational depth chart and eventually to San Jose.

• In other roster news, the Blackhawks reassigned defenseman Ethan Del Mastro to the Rockford IceHogs.

• With the passing of Glenn Hall, yesterday was the perfect time to remember his enduring legacy that goes far beyond the Blackhawks.

• Frank and I were back in the Second Balcony last night, where we talked about the passing of Hall and Bob Pulford, as well as the current state of the Blackhawks. Please hit the subscribe button while you’re listening.

• The Blackhawks have another Olympian as goaltender Adam Gajan will play for Slovakia next month. He’ll join current NHL players Dalibor Dvorsky, Martin Pospisil, Adam Ruzicka, Juraj Salfkovsky, Erik Cernak, Martin Fehervary, and Simin Nemec. Gajan is having a terrific sophomore season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, posting a 14-6-0 record with a 1.92 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He also recently played for the U.S. Collegiate Selects team at the Spengler Cup, allowing eight goals in his two starts.

• On this date in 1965, Bobby Hull scored twice to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 259 goals. Stan Mikita chipped in with a goal and three assists in a 7-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

• In 1992, Dominik Hasek stopped all 21 Toronto Maple Leafs shots he faced to record his first NHL shutout in a 2-0 win. This was his only shutout in his 25 appearances for the Blackhawks.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 9: Helge Bostrom, Bruce Boudreau, and Anders Eriksson.

NHL Chirps

• Patrick Kane lit the lamp twice in the Red Wings’ 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks to reach 500 goals in his career. He became the 50th player in NHL history to hit the 500-goal plateau, and the fifth born in the United States. He is the seventh player to score his 500th goal against the Canucks. Kane scored the first 446 goals of his career with the Blackhawks. The only bummer was that the milestone goal was an empty-netter and not a highlight-reel worthy one that he’s known for.  

• Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios released a statement regarding the rumors surrounding goaltender Linus Ullmark’s personal leave of absence. This reminds me of the Corey Perry situation from 2023, where online attention-seekers started unfounded rumors, leading many to repeat the nonsense as fact.

• Things didn’t get better for the Senators as they got blown out 8-2 by the Colorado Avalanche last night. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists in the second period for his 34th career four-point game, passing Alex Ovechkin for the fourth-most among active players. He trails Connor McDavid (45), Sidney Crosby (43), and Nikita Kucherov (35).

• Thursday was a big night for returns in the Eastern Conference as J.T. Miller, Evgeni Malkin, and Simon Nemec were all activated off injured reserve. Malkin was the only one of the three whose team won, as he scored a power-play goal in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 4-1 win over Nemec and the New Jersey Devils.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 9: Jim Weimer, Dave McLlwain, Jamie Huscroft, Scott Pelerin, Scott Thornton, Radek Bonk, Mathieu Garon, Radek Faska, Vitek Vanecek, Jackson LaCombe, and Arshdeep Baines.