News Blackhawks Team Notes

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Ovechkin’s Night, Moore on the Board, Reichel Sits, Mean Harding, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Last night the Blackhawks hung around against a Capitals team that might win the Presidents Trophy this year. A couple nights after being ten seconds from beating a Colorado Avalanche team that is a legit Stanley Cup contender. Does it suck that these games are ending up in losses? Sure. Absolutely. But the fact is the lineup the Blackhawks are putting on the ice probably has the least collective NHL experience in the entire league right now — and that’s with Pat Maroon and Nick Foligno. Learning to compete in the NHL can be the hardest part for some teams. That doesn’t necessarily appear to be the Blackhawks’ issue right now. They’ve moved on to learning how to win/finish games.

• I want to say it again this morning because it bears repeating: Alex Ovechkin telling his head coach point blank “no” when asked if he wanted to break the record into an empty net at home is why he’s an all-time great. Knowing the Caps’ next game is on the road, he could have easily tapped in. He didn’t. That gets a ton of respect from me.

• After a tough loss last night, the Blackhawks stayed on the ice and paid their respects to Ovechkin after he tied the record. Class move.

Respect. pic.twitter.com/9Y8D9heRJA

— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) April 5, 2025

• Frank Nazar was the Blackhawks’ best forward last night. Again.

• Lukas Reichel was a healthy scratch on Friday because he missed a team meeting before the morning skate, according to interim head coach Anders Sorensen. So the young man who has struggled to stay out of the dog house based on production oversleeps on one of the last road trips of the season. I hope he’s only renting in Chicago…

• On Wednesday night, the line of Reichel with Landon Slaggert and Oliver Moore had a 2-11 CORSI For ratio and a 1-5 shots on goal ratio at 5-on-5 (according to Natural Stat Trick). Last night, Philipp Kurashev got Reichel’s spot with the same two young forwards. He scored a goal and both Slaggert and Moore had two assists in the game. Hmm…

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2025-04-04: pic.twitter.com/0HENzDf0LK

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) April 5, 2025​

• Good read here from Ben Pope on the early days of Moore’s professional career. As I noted many, many times throughout the season as he moved up and down the lineup at Minnesota, the Gophers were using him in situations to help develop his complete game. I would absolutely love it if he paid incredibly close attention to Ilya Mikheyev as a role model. Get the puck, keep the puck and make things happen at an extremely high speed.

Oliver Moore's production at Minnesota this season wasn't spectacular, but he believes he quietly improved a lot.

He shifted his mentality to tell himself, "I’m going to hold onto this puck, and no one is going to knock me off of it."

Story: https://t.co/S6poCLA4OW

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 4, 2025​

• Good read here from Scott Powers at The Athletic on newly signed defenseman Taige Harding. Y’all have been begging for there to be some big nasty in the organization and I’ve been trying to tell ya he’s precisely that. Now he’s in Rockford, and we might get to see more of it in training camp finally this fall.

“He was a mean son of a b—- all year.”

Newly-signed Blackhawks prospect Taige Harding could bring something different to the defense.

A breakdown of Harding https://t.co/pIBpfRRI4i

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) April 4, 2025​

• Jack Pridham and Kitchener hosted Flint and sent them home for the summer. Pridham did not have a point in a 2-1 elimination win for the Rangers.

• Windsor hosted Sault Ste. Marie and eliminated the Greyhounds with an 8-4 win. AJ Spellacy was a scratch again. We’ll see if he’s available to start the next round.

• We’ve got two playoff games in the OHL on the slate tonight. Nick Lardis, Marek Vanacker and Brantford host North Bay. And Martin Misiak, Ty Henry and Erie visit Saginaw.

• Congrats, Kaner.

Most 20-goal seasons by a U.S. born player in NHL history + his 100th point as a Red Wing.

Congrats, Kaner! pic.twitter.com/Fmbb5UGFEp

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 5, 2025​

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• Y’all the Cubs won their home opener yesterday.

• ICYMI we’re giving away two (2) pairs of BMO Club tickets to the Blackhawks’ home finale one week from today!

#Blackhawks fans – we are giving away two (2) pairs of BMO Club tix for the home finale thanks to our new partners, Ivy Hall.

Here's how to win:https://t.co/fs6VCwvRAp

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) April 4, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...ts-mean-harding-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Blackhawks Prospects Lardis, Mišiak BOTH Produce Hat Tricks in OHL Playoffs

Hey, it’s Saturday night and the NCAA’s Final Four is on television. But two Blackhawks prospects in the OHL playoffs had enormous performances that deserve your attention.

Blackhawks prospects Nick Lardis, Marek Vanacker and Brantford hosted North Bay, and Lardis did Lardis things. Three of those things, specifically.

The OHL’s record-setting goal leader had a hat trick. Check the move on his second goal, where he goes between his own legs to get the shot off! Vanacker had an assist on the first goal. Brantford’s win ends the series and the Bulldogs advance.

LARDIS OPENS THE SCORING @NHLBlackhawks prospect Nick Lardis rips his fifth goal of the series home to give the @BulldogsOHL an early 1-0 lead on the power play!#OHLPlayoffs | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/XWj4DuAPNe

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 5, 2025

NICK LARDIS ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!@NHLBlackhawks prospect Nick Lardis goes BETWEEN THE LEGS to score his second goal of the game for the @BulldogsOHL and put them up 2-0!#OHLPlayoffs | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/5wT6jgJgvT

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 6, 2025

NICK LARDIS PLAYOFF HAT TRICK ALERT @NHLBlackhawks prospect Nick Lardis puts the @BulldogsOHL up by three with his third goal of the game and seventh of the series!#OHLPlayoffs | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/tfxTnw85YG

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 6, 2025

Martin Mišiak Doubles the Fun​

Blackhawks prospects Martin Mišiak, Ty Henry and Erie visited Saginaw and Misiak did… dare I say… Lardis things? Misiak also had a hat trick (and an assist for a four-point night) to lead Erie to a series-clinching win as well.

Right off the faceoff for Erie

The @ErieOtters get on the board early in the second period as @NHLBlackhawks prospect Martin Misiak finds the back of net for his fifth goal of the #OHLPlayoffs!#OHL | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/n8lHCHhEge

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 6, 2025

ERIE TIES IT UP @NHLBlackhawks prospect Martin Misiak scores his second goal of the game midway through the third period to get the @ErieOtters back to even in this game!#OHLPlayoffs | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/7icNmKTelE

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 6, 2025

MARTIN MISIAK GIVES ERIE THE LEAD WITH THE HAT TRICK GOAL @NHLBlackhawks prospect Martin Misiak has put the @ErieOtters on his back tonight as he gets his third goal of the game and fourth point of the game to put them in to the lead!#OHLPlayoffs | @CHLHockey pic.twitter.com/zfNvi1634e

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 6, 2025

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...siak-both-produce-hat-tricks-in-ohl-playoffs/

 

[Chicago Blackhawks]

Moore’s Impact, Dach Not Close, Kantserov, OHL Stars, Söderström Coming? and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Because the first few days of being a professional athlete haven’t been quite crazy enough for Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel, their gauntlet will go from Nathan MacKinnon on Wednesday night to Alex Ovechkin making history on Friday night to… an early evening date with Sidney Crosby on Sunday. Talk about “welcome to the NHL” moments stacking up in three of their first four games! I loved this comment from Moore on Saturday when asked about being part of that history — while having his first career multi-point NHL game get massively overshadowed.

Oliver Moore now has one of the most unique "First NHL Point" stories ever. (And second point, too.)

"That was a surreal game. That was absurd."

"He's the greatest goal-scorer of all time…so I was happy for him, to be honest with you. It was really cool to see."

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 5, 2025​

• Here’s more from… Moore… about the Blackhawks’ roster and, again, it being about learning to win as much as anything for the young players right now. (Shoutout to Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune for tweeting the video.)

“We have all the pieces, it feels. … But winning games is definitely a mental battle, and you have to be mentally focused all the time.”

—Blackhawks F Oliver Moore on what he has learned so far about the NHL pic.twitter.com/Ax9qsBHfOW

— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) April 5, 2025

• Rinzel was named in The Athletic‘s piece this weekend looking at which prospects in each team’s pipeline had the most promising season.

• The “update” we got on Saturday on Colton Dach isn’t exactly ideal. Interim head coach Anders Sorensen said Dach “isn’t close” to returning from his hyperextended left elbow. Including today, there are nine days left in the regular season.

• According to a report from Jennifer Engstrom of Swedish outlet Expressen on Saturday, there is buzz that right-handed defenseman Victor Söderström will join the Blackhawks next year. Söderström reportedly won the Börje Salming Trophy as the the top defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League. His rights were acquired from Utah at the trade deadline. He recorded 37 points in 49 regular-season games for Brynäs. He’s listed at 6-0 and 196 pounds, so we’ll have to wait and see if/how he fits on a right side that appears to have Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov and Connor Murphy in the mix to start next season.

• And now an update from Russia courtesy Scott Powers. Roman Kanteserov‘s season has come to a close. It was a good one. He’ll be back in Russia again next year.

Metallurg & Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov were eliminated from the KHL playoffs today after winning the Gagarin Cup last year.

He had two assists in six playoff games and 13 goals and 25 assists in 47 regular-season games. He has one more year on his KHL contract.

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) April 5, 2025​

• The two teams in the OHL playoffs with multiple Blackhawks prospects — Erie (Martin Mišiak, Ty Henry) and Brantford (Nick Lardis, Marek Vanacker) — both advanced to the second round of the playoffs with huge wins last night. And they did it because BOTH Mišiak and Lardis had a hat trick last night!

• Mišiak now has 7 goals and 5 assists for 12 points in five playoff games this spring. Lardis also has 7 goals with 2 assists for 9 points in his five playoff games. They’re tied for second in the entire OHL playoffs in goal scoring.

• I went ahead and put those six clips out last night. ICYMI here’s the link:

#Blackhawks Prospects Lardis, Mišiak BOTH Produce Hat Tricks in @OHLHockey Playoffs

Watch ALL SIX goals here! https://t.co/tfTMRMXOsY

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) April 6, 2025​

• We’ll (hopefully) get a matchup of Blackhawks prospects in the second round of the OHL playoffs beginning Thursday. Jack Pridham and Kitchener will face AJ Spellacy and Windsor. Spellacy has missed the last two games because of an upper-body injury.

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• Ian Happ made one of the best catches you’ll ever see in the Cubs’ win yesterday.

• Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

#Blackhawks fans – we are giving away two (2) pairs of BMO Club tix for the home finale thanks to our new partners, Ivy Hall.

Here's how to win:https://t.co/fs6VCwvRAp

— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) April 4, 2025​

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/blac...derstrom-coming-and-other-blackhawks-bullets/