The End Of Days

Timestamps

Start – Ping pong balls fall into place and now Blackhawks fans have something to look forward to.

4:00 – There’s nothing wrong with getting lucky, even if it is just luck

7:30 – Now the real work begins

9:10 – Turning the page

16:20 – Purpose of the J&B report

19:30 – Imagine how different things might be today had Stan Bowman done the tear down and rebuild in 2019.

25:45 – Evolution of talk in difference between picking 1 vs 2 or 3 or 4

33:35 – Kyle Davidson on controlling situations and admitting mistakes

37:15 – Luke Richardson

41:15 – Blackhawks surplus of picks and approach to this draft

42:45 – Kevin Korchinski and developmental philosophy

47:00 – Reichel, Vlasic and growth, and lack thereof in Rockford

49:45 – Soup of the day

51:55 – Davidson’s Rockford moves

55:10 – Davidson should get serious about coaching staff in Rockford

56:40 – Anders Sorensen’s Division-Semi Game 1 time out

1:11:00 – What is Korchinski

1:17:15 – Wood to chop still

1:24:10 – Alex DeBrincat

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@AlCimaglia – Twitter

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With the NHL Trade Deadline approaching on March 3rd, Al Cimaglia and I got together to discuss the status of Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks in what could be a pivotal two weeks in the future of the Chicago franchise and their rebuild. Will it also be the final days of Kane’s career in a Blackhawks uniform?

We also discuss other possible directions Kyle Davidson could go ahead of the deadline and in the coming months. We also take a look at NHL television ratings and how the IceHogs production team made a mockery of Rockford’s ‘Pride Night’ over the weekend and how the entire organization has, at least publicly, chosen to ignore it.

Scroll down to see the timestamps and some of the topics discussed. It was a fun, thorough discussion as always. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to listen. With some luck and proper planning, we’ll return around the deadline with some more fine analysis.

Timestamps

2:40 – Will Patrick Kane’s recent scoring outburst trigger a renewed interest from Cup contenders in number 88? What will the Blackhawks demand in return?

5:45 – Factors in Kane’s thinking when it comes to where he might go, or what will convince him to move his no-movement clause.

9:30 – Kane’s hip and the decision to play through the pain.

11:05 – Kane’s disappointment in the Rangers going in a different direction and more on Kane’s preferences.

13:50 – Jonathan Toews being taken off the trade market and dealing with ‘long-Covid’ again – Will this impact Kyle Davidson’s thinking trading Kane, or what he seeks in return? Or does Davidson change his focus to get whatever he can in dealing anyone else on the roster?

18:00 – Max Domi

21:30 – No matter where the Hawks land in the lottery, they still need a lot of luck to kickstart their rebuild. A look back at NHL Draft Lottery history. An argument to re-sign Kane and keep him in Chicago.

28:00 – Frank Nazar and what looks like it could be a strong 2022 Blackhawks draft class.

35:30 – How much value is there on a roster that was built to be terrible?

40:15 – Jason Dickinson and Lukas Reichel

42:25 – Theory of progression in development and how it changes once the next level is the NHL. More on why Davidson has chosen to hold Reichel down in the AHL.

45:50 – Isaak Phillips recalled to Chicago to sit in the press box

55:15 – Davidson’s goal to build a team designed for sustained success vs how he’s going about it so far. How the Blackhawks were rebuilt 15-20 years back.

59:30 – More recent NHL Draft Lottery history

1:07:30 – Maybe Kane stays and forces Kyle Davidson to be the one to run him off.

1:15:00 – Cole Guttman, Isaak Phillips and Kevin Korchinski

1:21:20 – There’s a lot of bad news and some good in the recent NHL national television ratings, and the NHL needs to get serious about growing its audience.

1:32:50 – Premier League soccer on USA doing better ratings many weeks than NHL on TNT and ESPN.

1:39:45 – Rockford IceHogs’ ‘Pride Night’ gone wrong and the organization stays silent about it.

1:50:00 – End show. And somehow I didn’t get hostile over Yanic Perreault. Maybe next time.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter
PuckChatter@gmail.com 

@AlCimaglia – Twitter

Al Cimaglia and I sat down today to record a conversation on the Blackhawks tank-job and a look ahead to the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. We tried to cram a bevy of topics into this 90-minute podcast including…

-How Lukas Reichel is being used vs. How Kyle Davidson said Reichel would be played in Rockford after being sent down two weeks ago.

-Is ‘the tank’ a failure if the Blackhawks don’t land Connor Bedard?

-The talent gap between Bedard and the rest of the field is wider than we were led to believe

-What happens if Chicago picks third?

-Could Reichel be used as trade bait at the Draft?

-Blackhawks when Tyler Johnson and Seth Jones are both healthy

-Front office has put Toews and Kane in a position to be resented by the fans if not waving NMCs

-Philipp Kurashev is an arbitration-eligible RFA and Davidson has a lot of money to spend.

-Everyone is watching the same movie. It all comes down to who figures out the ending first.

-Lukas Reichel has spent a season and a half with Anders Sorensen and he’s still not ready. Is Sorensen the right coach for that responsibility in Rockford?

-What 10 years of development coach Yanic Perreault gets you, or doesn’t

-Montreal edition Kirby Dach

-Should we really feel sorry for Bruce Boudreau?

-Soon a whole lot more tankin’ going on

-A little more on IceHogs PxP voice and media director Joey Z being fired by the Blackhawks a month into this season

All this and more

Al Cimaglia and I finally got our collective act (okay, it was mostly my fault) together and sat down for another round of recorded Chicago Blackhawks hockey talk.

I do want to thank everyone who listened to our last couple of podcasts. They are infrequent, and I know there are a lot of options when it comes to wasting your time, but I truly was humbled by the amount of people who did find and listen to the last podcast and also those who took the time to write some really thoughtful emails about the subject matter.

On today’s podcast, Al and I rumble through the state of the local Chicago NHL franchise and track the progress of Kyle Davidson and Norm Maciver’s rebuild.

We also delve into Marian Hossa jersey number retirement night, Eddie Olczyk, watching the current Blackhawks team, some IceHogs notes and the sudden disappearance of Rockford’s play-by-play announcer, who was formerly a contender to be the next Pat Foley.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter
PuckChatter@gmail.com 

@AlCimaglia – Twitter

BlogTalkRadio.com/TheThirdManIn

Uncle Al Cimaglia and I are back today with a new edition of Puck Chatter, our revived Chicago Blackhawks focused podcast.

If you missed our last show, you can catch it here.

Some of the topics discussed and timestamps:

5:20 – Al addresses his “lumberheads” and concept of a rebuild timeline

13:45 – How can you rebuild if Kane wishes to stay

15:00 – Seth Jones

21:15 – Stop saying it doesn’t matter who the next Blackhawks coach is

30:00 – Kirby Dach’s next season and how he’s been viewed in the CHI locker room

33:30 – Exclusive news on first new departures in Hockey Ops department

37:20 – Players who get hit more often than others

40:00 – Unsolicited advice for Kyle Davidson

43:00 – DeBrincat discussion

46:00 – Pay $5 mil to be rid of Toews?

53:30 – Rockford IceHogs discussion

1:11:00 – Don’t be afraid to surround yourself with the best people

1:18:15 – IceHogs-Chicago Wolves series lopsided

1:24:00 – Need for strong hockey people with history of success

1:29:30 – Kyle Beach and follow-up discussion on my article on the Jenner & Block report

Thanks for listening.

@ChrisBlock – Twitter

PuckChatter @ gmail dot com

This is something I wasn’t sure would ever happen again. We’ve talked about doing this for awhile now, but it finally came together.

Al Cimaglia and I sat down today to record a BRAND NEW podcast and discuss all the recent developments in Chicago Blackhawks-land.

Listen if you can.  We covered as much as we could in 85 minutes. We’ll follow up in the next week or two to cover the balance of topics.

Timestamps

3:00 – Reaction to the Blackhawks moves ahead of Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline

6:45 – Brandon Hagel trade

12:20 – First-rounders acquired from Tampa

21:20 – Stan Bowman wasn’t fired for poor performance

28:45 – Next steps in the rebuild operation

31:00 – Danny Wirtz and timeline of Stan Bowman firing

34:40 – Hawks missing out on other more qualified GM hires

35:50 – Kyle Davidson’s negotiation tactics

39:00 – Kyle Dubas vs Kyle Davidson

44:30 – Handling of prospects moving forward

48:40 – Jeremy Colliton and Dylan Sikura

52:15 – Concept of ‘over-ripening’ prospects in Rockford

55:00 – Anders Sorenson and Alex Nylander

57:45 – Recruiting the next Blackhawks coach

58:45 – Kane, Toews and more Wirtz’ incompetence

1:11:45 – Rocky Wirtz’ neutering of Chicago Blackhawks media

1:19:05 – Rocky Wirtz: Professional Victim

Chris Block and Al Cimaglia return to discuss potential of a 2021 NHL season and the Chicago Blackhawks pivot to "transparency."

Chris Block and Al Cimaglia talk State of the Chicago Blackhawks 2020 Offseason edition