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benpopecst.bsky.social
Chicago Blackhawks beat reporter for the Sun-Times
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While Seth Jones seeks an escape from the Blackhawks' losing, Connor Murphy is following a different approach: focusing on the positives. "I’ve been blessed, big-time, and given a ton of opportunity." New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

TJ Brodie's play continues to hurt the Blackhawks. Anders Sorensen semi-acknowledged that tonight. "He knows that he hasn’t played well... You put extra weight on your own shoulders at times, and it goes the wrong way." Postgame story from Vegas: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Anders Sorensen sees some similarities between Landon Slaggert and Brandon Hagel. And as it turns out, Slaggert has actually been studying Hagel for years. New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

The Blackhawks have some connections to projected #1 pick Matthew Schaefer, but they have a much greater need for another elite forward prospect. New story looking ahead to the Hawks' options in the 2025 NHL Draft: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

If the Blackhawks trade Seth Jones, they'll temporarily need to find another Seth Jones. It just doesn't make that much sense for them right now, regardless of what he wants. New column: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Blackhawks prospect Dominic James has overcome a lost junior season and earned an NHL contract with an excellent senior season at Minnesota-Duluth. "He’s a guy we really like. He’s in a similar vein to Landon Slaggert at Notre Dame." New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Teuvo Teravainen was disappointed by his lack of playing time at 4 Nations. “I never got a real chance. It’s always cool to put the jersey on and play for Finland, but I felt like I could’ve done more, for sure.” Quick new Blackhawks story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Connor Bedard loved watching Canada's victory Thursday. And next year, there's a good chance he'll be playing in the 2026 Olympics. "If anyone gets that opportunity, they would be over the moon. And obviously, I would be myself." Story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Seth Jones has been open and honest about all topics, including negative ones, throughout his Blackhawks tenure. He's open about his trade wishes, too, and that's admirable — as long as it doesn't create a distraction in the locker room. Quick story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Blackhawks assistant coach Kevin Dean received the type of call that has changed millions of lives on Dec. 2. "The doctor is like, 'It looks like you have low-grade cancer.'" For him, though, it fortunately wasn't life-changing. He explains why: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

NEW: Seth Jones says he's talking with the Blackhawks about the possibility of a trade. "I would like to give myself a chance to win in my career. I know that the money is not an easy thing to move, and that’s what we’re figuring out." Full story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Frank Nazar was the first Blackhawks player on the ice today. With 26 NHL games played and 27 to go this season, he feels much more comfortable. "[This break was] perfect, right down the middle, so I know what I’m getting into." New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

It’s time for a midseason update to the Blackhawks’ prospect rankings. Frank Nazar has graduated out, Sam Rinzel has surged into the top three and Artyom Levshunov continues to hold the top spot: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Teuvo Teravainen is moving from one underdog (the Blackhawks) to another (Finland’s 4 Nations team) while his Hawks teammates go on vacation. “I’ve got to turn off the group chat for a little bit so I don’t see any pictures of the beaches.” Story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

The Blackhawks came very, very close to avenging their Winter Classic embarrassment last night. Instead, they added another excruciating loss to a long list of those this season. Story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

The better Ryan Donato plays, the more he raises his trade value — but also the more he makes a case to stay with the Blackhawks beyond this season. It'll be an interesting decision for Kyle Davidson. Postgame notebook: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

The NCAA's rule change to make CHL players eligible has upended junior hockey. Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham, a BU commit now playing for OHL Kitchener, is one guy who has benefited tremendously. New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Artyom Levshunov "learned a lot" from his brief taste of NHL practices this week. "He was baffled [by] how quick it was at times. But that’s good. That’s how you realize where you need to be." New Blackhawks notebook: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Frank Nazar is excelling on the Blackhawks' penalty kill by keeping his feet moving and being aggressive up the ice. They've yet to allow a single goal during his PK ice time. Story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

An example of Frank Nazar’s effective penalty-killing through pure hustle:

The Blackhawks have lost so many games this season because of a singular third-period miscue that escalated into disaster. Add today's loss to the Devils onto the list. Postgame story from Newark: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Nick Foligno after the Blackhawks' 4-1 loss to the Devils: "We can't every night rely on our goalies to win us games. That's a sign of a bad hockey team. If Commesso has to pitch a shutout in his first NHL game...it's not a good sign for us."

Blackhawks' lines in warmups at Devils: Donato-Bedard-Kurashev Hall-Nazar-Bertuzzi Foligno-Dickinson-Mikheyev Maroon-Reichel-Teravainen Vlasic-Kaiser Allan-Murphy Korchinski-Brodie Commesso

Drew Commesso will make his first NHL start for the Blackhawks against the Devils at noon CT.

Frank Nazar's return to the NHL suddenly makes the Blackhawks' future feel more tangible. Nazar, Kevin Korchinski and Drew Commesso have all moved up from Rockford within the past week — joining Connor Bedard, Alex Vlasic & Co. New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Frank Nazar said Rockford GM Mark Bernard called him last night and told him he’d been called up and needed to fly to Newark. “I was kinda shocked. You get a random call at night from the GM, you can expect what he’s gonna say, but you never know. To hear the good news, it was a lot of joy.”

Looks like Frank Nazar will make his NHL season debut tomorrow against the Devils. These are Blackhawks’ forward lines in practice today: Kurashev-Bedard-Donato Hall-Nazar-Bertuzzi Foligno-Dickinson-Mikheyev Maroon-Reichel-Teravainen

Craig Smith will miss practice today with a lower back injury, per Blackhawks. Smith missed Monday's game at NYR and didn't play during the last 12 minutes last night at NYI.

Blackhawks have called up Frank Nazar. He has thoroughly earned this NHL opportunity and now he’ll get it. Quick story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

The Blackhawks scored first for an NHL-leading 18th time tonight, but they yet again failed to maintain that momentum in a funky 5-4 loss to the Islanders. Postgame story from Long Island: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Rockford has lost 3 straight games (outscored 11-1) since Anders Sorensen was promoted up to Chicago. "It looked like they did some good things; they just weren't able to capitalize on their chances."

Soderblom starts for the Blackhawks against the Islanders tonight. Craig Smith is back in the lineup for Anderson. Alec Martinez has gone home to Chicago for further evaluation.

Example of Blackhawks' D coverage under Luke Richardson from Dec. 1 vs CBJ:

Anders Sorensen's key idea for Connor Bedard is to get him the puck in motion more often. Sorensen has also asked Bedard for more ideas: "He’s a really smart hockey person, so just getting his thoughts on things is important." New Blackhawks story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Blackhawks lines in practice: Kurashev-Bedard-Mikheyev Hall-Donato-Bertuzzi Foligno-Dickinson-Teravainen Maroon-Reichel-Smith Anderson Vlasic-Kaiser Allan-Murphy Korchinski-Brodie Crevier

Blackhawks hitting the ice for practice at UBS Arena. Craig Smith, Kevin Korchinski, Joey Anderson and Alec Martinez are all present. Pat Maroon is wearing a gray jacket over his jersey as a joke.

Kevin Korchinski showcased his improvement in an “unbelievable” first NHL appearance of the season last night. “[I’ve gotten] a bit of that flair and confidence and, I guess you could say, ‘swagger’ back.” New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

During his time in Rockford, Anders Sorensen helped Lukas Reichel and Philipp Kurashev take big strides in their development. Now with the Blackhawks, can he have the same effect? New story: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...

Anders Sorensen's adjustments worked wonders for the Blackhawks tonight. The forecheck created turnovers. Defensemen jumped and got involved offensively. And the Hawks protected a lead proactively in the third period. Postgame story from New York: chicago.suntimes.com/blackhawks/2...