Morning Chirps: Prospects Have Yet Another Huge Night, Drew Commesso Wins Third Straight

The Chicago Blackhawks are taking the day off and will be back in action Monday night against the new-look Colorado Avalanche. One of the organization’s top prospects hit a historic mark last night, while the Rockford IceHogs won again behind another strong performance.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Arvid Soderblom was fantastic in last night’s overtime loss to the Nashville Predators. He continued to put up great numbers in the white sweater.
• In case you missed it, general manager Kyle Davidson held a press conference after Friday’s trade deadline passed. He covered everything from his recent roster moves to his offseason plans and the search for a new head coach.
• The Ontario Hockey League has its first 70-goal scorer since John Tavares in 2006-07 after Nick Lardis netted a pair Saturday night. He is the eighth player to have a 70-goal season in league history. Marek Vanacker had a five-point night with a goal and four assists in the 11-3 blowout of the Saginaw Spirit.

• The University of Minnesota beat Notre Dame 4-2 to force their Big Ten quarterfinal series to a third and final game. In the second period, Oliver Moore tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal. Sam Rinzel picked up an assist on the Gophers’ late insurance goal. The winner-take-all Game 3 takes place tonight.

• Do you want yet another reason to be excited about the future? Sacha Boisvert has scored a goal in six straight games at the University of North Dakota!

IceHogs Chirps

• The IceHogs won their third straight game by beating the Texas Stars 4-2 last night. Rockford got goals from Cole Guttman, Paul Ludwinski, and Zach Sanford before Joey Anderson picked up his 200^th professional point with a late empty-net goal. Artyom Levshuvnov and Nolan Allan had assists from the blue line.

• The story of the weekend was the play of goaltender Drew Commesso. After a 23-save shutout of the Iowa Wild on Friday, he made 36 stops, including 13 in the third period, to pick up the win. Commesso has won all three of his starts since returning from an ankle injury, posting a .953 save percentage and 1.33 goals-against average.

NHL Chirps

• According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the Boston Bruins offered Brad Marchand a three-year contract extension in a last-ditch effort to keep their captain. Boston previously wouldn’t go past two years, but they still didn’t come close enough on the money to avoid his eventual trade to the Florida Panthers.
• Former Blackhawks defenseman Henri Jokiharju revealed to reporters that he requested a trade from the Buffalo Sabres. He mentioned that he was excited to be reunited with Casey Middlestadt in Boston.
• According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, not only did the Toronto Maple Leafs try to acquire Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes, but talks ended when Mitch Marner refused to waive his no-trade clause. That trade would have been insane! It is also a sign that the Maple Leafs expect Marner to hit free agency summer, which is good news for the Blackhawks.
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