Morning Chirps: Ryan Greene Advances to Title Game, Top Free Agent to Hit Open Market

The Chicago Blackhawks are getting the day off today after traveling home from Boston. They will host the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night in the final home game of the season. Meanwhile, there were plenty of Blackhawks prospects in postseason action last night.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks responded well in last night’s 5-2 win over the Bruins. Arvid Soderblom stood tall, the young defensemen played well, and they got timely scoring in the third period.
• Andrew Fantucchio of Boston Hockey Now has the viewpoint from enemy territory.
• Denver’s reign as National Champions ended last night in a 3-2 double overtime loss to Western Michigan. Aidan Thompson scored his 21^st goal of the season in the losing effort. We’ll see if he signs his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks or elects to return for a fourth season with the Pioneers. It will also be interesting to see what happens with head coach David Carle, who will be a candidate to come to Chicago if he chooses to leave the college ranks.

• Western Michigan will play Ryan Greene and Boston University in Saturday’s National Championship game after they beat Penn State 3-1. Greene did not factor in any of the Terriers’ goals but had two shots on goal.
• The second round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs got underway last night. Nick Lardis scored a goal and finished with three points in the Brantford Bulldogs 5-2 Game 1 win over the Oshawa Generals. Marek Vanacker added an insurance goal in the third period.

• AJ Spellacy returned to the Windsor Spitfires’ lineup after missing the last three games due to injury. He did not find the scoresheet in their big 5-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Jack Pridham did not factor into the Rangers’ goal and was a minus-2.
• The Erie Otters enter their series against the London Knights as big underdogs. The Knights flexed their collective muscle in a 6-3 Game 1 victory. Martin Misiak recorded an assist and has at least one point in all six postseason games for Erie.
• On this date in 1993, three Blackhawks achieved personal milestones in a tie with the Tampa Bay Lighting. Chris Chelios picked up his 500^th career point with an assist, Dirk Graham scored his 200th career goal, and Dave Christian played in his 1,000^th NHL game.
• Four years later, Alex Zhamnov scored his sixth career hat trick to lead the way in a 7-3 win over the Calgary Flames. The win clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 28^th consecutive year, the new longest active streak in professional sports. Unfortunately, that streak was snapped the following season, as the Blackhawks qualified for the postseason only once between 1998 and 2008.

NHL Chirps

• All signs are pointing to Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. When asked by Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre about his chances of re-signing in Vancouver, he had this say:

Honestly, it’s unlikely at this point. It sucks, it’s unfortunate. I’m just trying to play good hockey, and then I’ll worry about everything after that. We all know it’s been a roller coaster of a year. There’s been a lot of different things.

• Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could play in his first professional hockey game since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final tonight. He was officially loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL for a conditioning stint and is likely to be in the lineup tonight when they host the Henderson Silver Knights.

• Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 25 shots he faced in a 5-0 shutout of the Dallas Stars. He earned his 45^th victory of the season, breaking his own franchise record. He is three wins shy of tying Braden Holtby and Martin Brodeur for the NHL record. The Jets only have three games left on the schedule, including back-to-back games against the Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers this weekend.
• The Washington Capitals clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout. They will likely play the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The best moment of the night came during one of the intermissions when the two area youth teams ended their game all doing the “Ovi dive!”