Morning Chirps: Plenty of Blackhawks on prospects list, Stanley Cup Playoff field set

The Chicago Blackhawks will hold their final practice of the season today as they prepare for tomorrow's finale against the San Jose Sharks. We’ll see how the morale is after a rather embarrassing effort last night.

Blackhawks Chirps

• There have been a lot of frustrating losses this season, but last night’s 5-1 defeat to the Buffalo Sabres might be the most frustrating of them all. Check out my postgame thoughts in case you missed them last night.

• Jay and I vented our frustrations on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show last night.

• One of general manager Kyle Davidson’s biggest offseason tasks will be signing Connor Bedard to his next contract. According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, those negotiations will begin “sometime in May.”

• Scott Wheeler of The Athletic released his list of the top 100 drafted prospects in the NHL. Without spoiling his hard work, the Blackhawks have eight players on his list, with Anton Frondell being ranked the highest.

• On this date in 1980, Stan Mikita announced his retirement from the NHL. He played all 1,396 games of his career with the Blackhawks, scoring 541 goals and a franchise-record 1,467 points. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

• In 1992, Steve Larmer played in his 800th consecutive game, a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

• In 1994, the Blackhawks lost 6-4 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final regular-season game played at the Chicago Stadium.

• In 2022, Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists in the Blackhawks 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks. This was his 312th multi-point game, tying him with Bobby Hull for the third-most in franchise history. He is third all-time with 324, Denis Savard is second with 326, and Mikita still holds the record with 403 multi-point games.

• In 2024, Frank Nazar became the fourth-youngest player in team history to score a goal in his NHL debut, at 20 years and 91 days. He was behind only Eddie Olczyk (18 years, 56 days), Jonathan Toews (19 years, 164 days), and Ken Solheim (19 years, 258 days).

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, April 14: Paul Masnick and Wyatt Kalynuk.

NHL Chirps

• The Colorado Avalanche got a sight for sore eyes as Cale Makar was back at practice on Monday without his non-contact jersey. He missed his seventh straight game with an upper-body injury last night, but the star defenseman is expected to return to the lineup before the postseason. The Avalanche have two games left, tonight against the Calgary Flames and Thursday versus the Seattle Kraken.

• The Stanley Cup Playoff field is now complete after Monday’s action. The Philadelphia Flyers clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division by beating the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout. By earning a point, the Hurricanes clinched the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. With the Sabres clinching the Atlantic Division, the Tampa Bay Lightning will play the Montreal Canadiens. The Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators still have to decide who gets the top wild card spot and a first-round date with Buffalo.

• In the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings punched their tickets to the postseason last night. However, the Pacific Division is still up for grabs, as the Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, and Ducks all have a shot at winning it. Of the 16 teams in the field, six did not make it last year.  

• Jonathan Quick played his final NHL game last night as he announced his retirement on Monday morning. Unfortunately, the Florida Panthers spoiled his last game by beating the New York Rangers 3-2. The future Hall of Famer finished his career with 410 wins, won two Jennings Trophies, one Conn Smythe, and got his name on the Stanley Cup three times. After the game, the Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky waited for Quick on the ice to give him a proper send-off.

• Patrick Kane picked up his 1,400th career point by setting up an Alex DeBrincat goal. The Red Wings lost 4-3 to the Lightning in a shootout and will miss the playoffs for the 10th straight season.

• Nick Foligno scored his first goal for the Minnesota Wild in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues. He also picked up an assist on Michael McCarron’s goal.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, April 14: Sylvio Mantha, Larry Brown, Steve Jensen, Paul MacDermid, Jeff Finley, Steve Chiasson, Dave Archibald, Jason Weimer, Grant Clitsome, Peter Mueller, Eric Gryba, Matt Kiersted, Thomas Milic, and Jiri Kulich.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow