Calder Cup Playoffs, IceHogs Debuts, Goalies, College Prospects, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Nick Lardis Chicago Blackhawks

Hey, you know what’s fun? Playoff hockey. And you know who’s playing playoff hockey this week? The Rockford IceHogs! They played their final game of the 2023-24 regular season last night and won it in fabulously dramatic fashion on a Louis Crevier OT GWG! Blackhawks fans with their eyes on the future should absolutely have an eye on the IceHogs in the coming weeks.

  • Last night’s IceHogs’ lineup was one of the more exciting ones I can recall for Rockford. The third line was Martin Misiak – Paul Ludwinski – Nick Lardis, with both Misiak and Lardis making their AHL debuts. The lineup also had a healthy Colton Dach on the LW and Ryder Rolston on the RW on the second line and Lukas Reichel riding shotgun on the LW1 spot. Hopefully they can get Nolan Allan and Cole Guttman back in time for the playoffs this weekend. This is a really good team that could make a deep run, folks! Lots of future hope for the Blackhawks in this group.
  • The IceHogs’ first-round AHL playoff schedule is now set! They’ll host Game 1 of their best-of-5 series vs. Grand Rapids on Saturday. Here’s the full slate:
  • Game #1 – Saturday, Apr. 27 at Rockford (7 PM CT)
  • Game #2 – Wednesday, May 1 at Grand Rapids (6 PM CT)
  • Game #3 – Friday, May 3 at Grand Rapids (6 PM CT)
  • Game #4* – Sunday, May 5 at Rockford (4 PM CT)
  • Game #5* – Friday, May 10 at Grand Rapids (6 PM CT)
  • As some folks continue to complain about the Blackhawks being painfully intentional with their pipeline development, I offer this quote from a well-established and respected veteran in another organization as a reminder that not every player’s timeline to success in the NHL is the same. It takes time, folks. And some guys — read: CHL teenagers — don’t get the benefit of time in the AHL right away.
  • https://twitter.com/kevinlacy22/status/1781956148394094674?s=51&t=ESwYjOKcGL_TWWx-NV4tsw

  • I’m not saying anything specifically here, but… if you read my piece on Sunday morning identifying some free agent forwards who might fit the “identity” role that a couple Blackhawks players brought up in their exit interviews, one of the names I have circled for this summer is Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua. If you watched the Canucks’ win Game One of their playoff series last night, you saw Joshua score twice.
  • When he spoke with the media on Saturday, one of the subjects Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke about was the Blackhawks’ goaltending. Arvid Söderblom left a fair amount to be desired in his first full NHL season, but he has one more year on his contract. Jaxson Stauber, who was hot for Rockford down the stretch, is an RFA this summer. And Drew Commesso, the heir apparent, had a nice season but only has 38 professional games on his resume. Davidson said he will “take a deep look at” the goalie situation this summer
  • Blackhawks center prospect Ryan Greene is headed back to Boston University for a junior season. Greene, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel (Minnesota), Aidan Thompson (Denver) and Dominic James (Minnesota-Duluth) are Chicago’s college prospects who might be line for a pro contract after next year’s NCAA slate comes to a close.
  • Did you watch any Stanley Cup playoff hockey this weekend? The Winnipeg-Colorado game was DRUNK! The whiteout atmosphere in Winnipeg was insane and the game lived up to that hype. 13 goals!
  • Finally, thoughts and prayers to our NFL guys this week with the NFL draft finally coming to a head beginning — literally — with the Bears on the clock on Thursday. Welcome to Chicago, Caleb Williams! And… what else will the Bears do?
  • written by

    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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