It’s never too early to start planning a trip to Rockford, and we have a few dates already for next season! Meanwhile, the NHL honored some of its top stars and best rookies.
Blackhawks Chirps
- In case you missed it yesterday, Jeff Maroon looked back at how special teams impacted the Blackhawks season last year.
- The Rockford IceHogs announced the dates of six home games for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Those dates start with the home opener on Oct. 3 (Sat), as well as Nov. 27 (Fri), Dec. 27 (Sun), Dec. 31 (Thur), Jan. 30 (Sat), and March 13 (Sat). The opponents and the rest of the regular season schedule will be released later this summer.
- On this date in 1974, former Blackhawks general manager Tommy Ivan was inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with Dickie Moore, Art Coulter, Billy Burch, Tommy Dunderdale, Charles Hay, and former NHL referee-in-chief Carl Voss. Coulter played the first 170 games of his career with the Blackhawks before moving on to the New York Rangers. Burch’s final 22 games were played in Chicago during the 1932-33 season.
- In 1988, Tony Esposito took his rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was inducted as part of a legendary class with Brad Park, Guy Lafleur, Buddy O’Connor, builder Ed Snider, and official George Hayes.
- In 2015, the Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a 3-2 series lead. Patrick Sharp opened the scoring early in the first period, but was answered by Valterri Filppula halfway through the game. Antoine Vermette put the Blackhawks up early in the final frame by scoring off a rebound. It was his fourth goal of the postseason, and third game-winner.
- Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call: J.P. Bourdeleau, Doug Crossman, Radim Vrbata, and Andrea Martinsen.
NHL Chirps
- The NHL announced its First and Second All-Star Teams:
First All-Star Team
LW Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars
C Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
RW Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
D Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
D Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning
Second All-Star Team
LW Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens
C Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche
RW David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
D Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
D Evan Bouchard, Oilers
G Logan Thompson, Washington Capitals
- The league also revealed its All-Rookie Team:
F Ivan Demidov, Canadiens
F Beckett Sennecke, Anaheim Ducks
F Jimmy Snuggerud, St. Louis Blues
D Matthew Schaefer, New York Islanders
D Alexander Nikishin, Carolina Hurricanes
G Jakub Dobes, Canadiens
- Darren Dreger said on TSN’s OverDrive that there will be some level of interest in Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. However, he said he was told by a couple of NHL general managers that Edmonton would have to be willing to take back a bad contract to pull off a deal.
- Nick Kyperos reported on the Real Kyper & Bourne Show that the Vegas Golden Knights don’t want former head coach Bruce Cassidy to go to a division rival like the Oilers or the Los Angeles Kings, but they’d have no issue if he were hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 13: Ace Bailey, Blair Chapman, Randy Gilhen, Valeri Bure, Matt Bradley, Jason Spezza, Ryan McDonagh, Oliver Wahlstrom, Bowen Byram, Ville Koivunen, and Macklin Celebrini.
