Morning Chirps: Historic Day for Savard, Ekblad Suspended, More Rantanen Details

The Chicago Blackhawks have two off days before they return to game action against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. The youth movement has taken over, and even though they lost last night, the kids that will be here when this team is pushing for the playoffs all showed up.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Artyom Levshunov made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche. He showed he could hold his own at the NHL level this early in his professional career. He showed off the tools that made him the No. 2 pick of last summer’s NHL Draft.
• Aarif Dean gives the perspective from the home locker room over at Colorado Hockey Now.
• The Brantford Bulldogs made the short trip to Buffalo to see their team owner and Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman play the Sabres. Nick Lardis got some exposure by chatting with Gene Principe of Sportsnet.

• Hall of Famer Denis Savard loved playing on March 11. First, in 1987, he became the sixth player in franchise history to score 250 goals during a 3-2 loss to the visiting St. Louis Blues. Three years later, he became the 26th player in NHL history to score 1,000 career points, with an assist in another loss to St. Louis. In 1996, Savard scored two goals and an assist to become the 15th player to accumulate 1,300 NHL points in an 8-4 victory over the Florida Panthers.
• On this date in 2000, Bob Probert became the sixth player in NHL history to amass 3,000 career penalty minutes. He also scored a goal in a 5-3 win against the Panthers, while Alexei Zhamnov recorded his 300^th career assist.
• Happy 48^th birthday to Michal Handzus! He had two stints with the Blackhawks, the first one coming after he was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers for Kyle Calder in 2006. He scored eight points in his first eight games before his season ended due to a torn ACL. He returned to Chicago at the 2013 trade deadline and became a key depth piece over the next two seasons.

NHL Chirps

• The NHL announced on Monday that Florida Panthers star defenseman Aaron Ekblad was suspended for 20 games, without pay, for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. George Richards of Florida Hockey Now had the hometown reaction, including a statement from Ekblad. This means former Blackhawk Seth Jones will move up to the top defensive pairing.
• The Mikko Rantanen story keeps providing new wrinkles every day. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that the Colorado Avalanche offered Rantanen an eight-year, $93.2 million deal worth $11.65 million per season. He also confirmed that the Canes’ offer to Rantanen was an eight-year, $100 million. Rantanen eventually got $96 million over eight years from the Dallas Stars.
• The Utah Hockey Club will be without defenseman Juuso Valimaki for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL. His recovery is eight to nine months, so he will also miss the beginning of next season. Valimaki had a breakout season last year in Arizona but couldn’t carry the success to Utah. He was sent down to the AHL on Feb. 24 and injured his knee in his first game.