Morning Chirps: World Juniors day 1, former Blackhawk gets NHL coaching gig

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships kicked off in the Twin Cities yesterday. All three Chicago Blackhawks prospects were in action, and they combined for six points on the day. Meanwhile, a former Blackhawks star gets his first gig behind an NHL bench. Oh, and the NHL is back in action tonight. Check back in later for coverage of tonight's game versus the Dallas Stars. Happy Saturday! Enjoy your Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• Anton Frondell and Sweden kicked off the World Junior Championship with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Slovakia. Frondell scored the opening goal of the match and recorded the primary assist on Victor Eklund’s goal. Both points came on the power play. He was named Sweden’s Player of the Game for his performance.

• Frondell finished the game with eight shots on goal, but could have easily had at least two more goals. He hit the crossbar in both the first and second periods and was robbed on a first-period one-timer. He was one of the best players on the ice, winning puck battles and constantly getting himself into prime scoring chances. Playing on the wing instead of down the middle really opened up his offensive game. Sweden is back in action on Sunday versus Switzerland.

• Team USA is looking to win a third straight gold medal and got off to a great start by beating Germany 6-3. A.J. Spellacy recorded assists on both of Will Zellers’ goals, the first of which was the game-winning goal. The United States will play Switzerland at 5 pm today.

• Vasclav Nestrasil was the third Blackhawks prospect to hit the ice on Friday, and he, too, had a multipoint game. He had two assists in Czechia’s 7-5 loss to Canada. His second assist of the game was a primary one on Tomas Galvas’ goal, cutting the Canadian lead to one. Czechia is back at it at 7:30 tonight against Denmark.

• In Friday’s other tournament game, Finland rolled to a 6-2 win over Denmark. The 2025 silver medalists were led by undrafted winger Roope Vesterinen, who had a pair of goals. Jasper Kuhta, a 2026 NHL draft prospect, had three assists. Finland will play Latvia on Sunday.

• On this date in 1991, Brian Noonan scored his second career hat trick during the Blackhawks’ 3-3 tie with the Winnipeg Jets. The draw pushed their home undefeated streak against the Jets to 10 games (8-0-2)

• In 2023, Connor Bedard became the third-youngest player in NHL history to score an overtime goal as the Blackhawks beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2. Only Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal were younger at the time of their first overtime goal. Bedard also became the fourth 18-year-old in team history to have a five-game point streak, joining Bobby Hull, Eddie Olczyk, and Kirby Dach.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 27: Oscar Hanson, Bryan Smolinski, Brad Brown, Fernando Pisani, Patrick Sharp, and Nikita Alexeev.

NHL Chirps

• Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Steve Sullivan is now a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ coaching staff. He was promoted from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to take the place of the recently-fired Marc Savard.

• The Edmonton Oilers will place forward David Tomasek on unconditional waivers when the roster freeze lifts on Sunday. Once cleared, they will terminate his contract. He is expected to sign with Färjestad BK in the Swedish Hockey League. The move will free up $1.2 million in salary cap space for the Oilers.

• The ECHL players officially went on strike on Friday. All the games scheduled for yesterday were postponed. Multiple teams have announced they will bring in new players, likely from the SPHL and FPHL, to fill their rosters and avoid further postponements. The players walked out after concerns about unfair labor practices were not addressed, and their new Collective Bargaining Agreement had not yet materialized.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 27: Mickey Redmond, Jay Pandalfo, Paul Stastny, Jonathan Marchessault, and Devon Levi.