Blackhawks History
Morning Chirps: Blackhawks Add to the Front Office, Kings Return Home

The Chicago Blackhawks will take the day off today after last night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. They will get two more days to prepare for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who come to town on Friday. The team added someone to the front office on Monday who could fill a vital role in the future.
Blackhawks Chirps
- Phillip Kurashev had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup, while Petr Mrazek made a season-high 44 saves. However, neither performance was good enough for a victory. Read the full recap with quotes directly from the Blackhawks locker room.
- A pair of scoring streaks were extended in the loss last night. Tyler Bertuzzi now has three goals and five points during his three-game streak. Seth Jones’ assist gave him points in four straight games, with a goal and six points.
- I’m not sure how the Blackhawks staff can watch T.J. Brodie and feel that Nolan Allan can’t do any better. Brodie was on the ice for two of the three goals against. He allowed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to get inside of him for Carolina’s second goal. He could have done a better job getting the puck back under Mrazek on Jordan Staal’s goal. All he does is lose battles, play soft around the crease, and fail to clear the puck. At least with a young defenseman, there is room for improvement. Brodie is what he is these days, and it’s good. He was, by far, the worst player on the ice last night, according to Hockey Stat Cards.
- The Athletics’ Mike Russo broke some Blackhawks news Monday. He was the first to report that the Blackhawks have hired former Wild assistant general manager Chris O’Hearn as the Vice President of Hockey Operations. He added that O’Hearn is an attorney with expertise in contract negotiations and CBA. O’Hearn served as Bill Geurin’s top assistant general manager and contract negotiator from 2019 until he and the team parted ways in December 2023.
- Finally, there was some Blackhawks goaltending history made on this date. Tony Esposito won his team-record eighth straight game on Jan. 21, 1981, to lead the Blackhawks to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Eighteen years later, in his first game against his former team, Jocelyn Thibault made 33 saves in a 3-0 win over the Canadiens to pick up his 10th career shutout.
NHL Chirps
- The biggest news of the day came when the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers had been given three-game suspensions for their altercations on Saturday night. McDavid’s three-game ban was for cross-checking Connor Garland, while Myers’ punishment was for cross-checking Evan Bouchard.
- According to The Athletic on Monday, the Vancouver Canucks had a deal set with the New York Rangers for disgruntled forward J.T. Miller. The potential trade involved the Rangers giving up Filip Chytil, Ryan Lingren, and multiple “future-focused assets.” Per the report, the deal fell apart because of a disagreement on the conditions around the prospective first-round pick.
- The Boston Bruins scored four third-period goals Monday afternoon to knock off the pesky San Jose Sharks. This was the Bruins’ 14th straight win over the Sharks, dating back to 2017. It’s the fifth-longest winning streak over one team since the start of the 1984-85 season.
- Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves to help the Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1. He has 20 seasons with at least 10 wins, tying Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur for the most in NHL history.
- Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews played big parts in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning as they continue to rewrite the franchise record book. With his goal and assist, Matthews passed Dave Keon for the third-most multi-point games in team history. He trails only Mats Sundin (274) and Darryl Sittler (244). Marner recorded his 123rd multi-assist game, passing Borje Salming for the most by a Maple Leaf.
- The Los Angeles Kings played their first home game since wildfires ravaged the city two weeks ago. However, the Pittsburgh Penguins were rude house guests as they won 5-1. Dan Kingerski covered the emotional night for Pittsburgh Hockey Now.