Bickell Broadcast, Banking on Bedard, Bad December(s), USA Vibes, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Connor Bedard Philipp Kurashev Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard Philipp Kurashev Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks — well, what’s left of them — will host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night. If you enjoyed the HawkCast the first time they gave it a shot, they’ll have another special presentation on the back-up channel tonight with the ol’ two-nine in the studio. Bryan Bickell will be sitting in with Charlie Roumelioutis tonight to see how things play out with one of the teams after which the Blackhawks are modeling their rebuild is in the building. Love me some Bickell so it will be good to see him on the screen.

  • Hey, Connor Bedard landed another marketing gig! Bedard was announced as an ambassador for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) on Monday. Keep getting the bag, Bedsy!
  • Bedard’s been money for the Blackhawks this season (literally and figuratively) and continues to put points on the board even though the wins aren’t coming as frequently as he would like. Dangle makes a good point below that if/when Bedard gets some stability (and improved skill) on his line at some point it’s kinda fun to think about how big the point production might become.
  • USA Hockey is getting ready for what they hope is a deep run at the World Junior Championship in the weeks after Christmas. This US squad might be the most impressive in the entire field, so it’s fun that four Blackhawks prospects are on the roster and could be contributors to the effort. It’s also nice to have some prospect content around the holidays while college hockey is off.
  • Some good stuff here from Ben Pope about the bottom falling out last year around the same time as this season. I’m with Ben in my skepticism about this team seeing significant improvement in the standings, even if they do get completely healthy and start to drive some more consistent play. Unless the front office is able to make some significant personnel changes — which would require another organization offering/accepting the right deal from a team in a rebuild — I think this might be a situation where you dance with who brought you and the roster the Hawks started the season with wasn’t going to win a championship before half of it got hurt.
  • The Ottawa Senators fired DJ Smith on Monday, replacing him with Jacques Martin. Sens legend Daniel Alfredsson will join the coaching staff as well (perhaps as an heir apparent to the HC job?) but this is an interesting move on so many levels. The first time Martin took over as the Senators’ head coach was in 1996 and spent parts of nine seasons behind the bench in Ottawa. When he was relieved of his duties after the 2003-04 season, Tim Stutzle had… not yet turned two years old.
  • This is noteworthy for the Blackhawks because they’re in Dallas for two straight games on Dec. 29 and 31 (because I guess staying in Texas for an extra couple days at the end of the year isn’t terrible?) and the Hawks could use any help they can get at this point. “Week to week” means he’s probably out at least until the Christmas break. If it’s another week, that might keep him out against the Hawks for a couple games.
  • Finally, are we seeing addition by subtraction?
  • Or are we seeing the emergence of a star in Chicago? Because the play of Coby White recently has been a revelation. And, for some sports fans who need a daily reminder, White is a terrific case study in some players needing a little more time than others to mature and develop into something close to their potential.
  • 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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