chicago-blackhawks

REMEMBERING BLACKHAWKS CENTER TROY MURRAY WHO ALWAYS WILL BE A CHICAGOAN

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Some professional athletes that play their game in your town for so many ‘X’ amount of years then linger around after their career is over. You feel like they are part of the city. They are a citizen of your town. Many athletes come to your town, get paid for what they do, and leave for another city. Many don’t even stay during the off-season. Like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, there is no place like home. For 12 seasons, Troy Murray skated for the Blackhawks in the NHL and was the team that drafted him in the 3rd round in the 1980 draft. When Murray finished his NHL career, he was not done playing hockey. He suited up 1 more season for the minor league hockey team in Chicago, the Wolves, who played at the time for the IHL (International Hockey League.) After 16 years of professional hockey, Troy, nicknamed “Muzz,” took another job with the Blackhawks as one of the team’s broadcasters. He was a hockey analyst giving the Blackhawks fan base the insight of the game from 1998 until he recently as he passed away after battling cancer the last 5 years. Troy Murray was part of Chicago and the sports landscape for 45 years. He is also a guy we lost way too early at the age of 63.

Troy Murray started his NHL career during the 1981-’82 season making his debut for only 1 game. His NHL career ended playing his final year for the Colorado Avalanche where he helped them win a cup. That is a nice way to ride off into the sunset because that was the only Cup he would ever hoist in his professional hockey career. Murray played hockey before the Blackhawks at University of North Dakota, where he helped the Fighting Hawks win the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship in 1982. From 1980-82 he played in 80 games for the Fighting Hawks scoring 55 goals while dishing out 74 assists for 129 points. He then would go from the Fighting Hawks to the Blackhawks. Murray was from Calgary, Alberta in Canada where most hockey players are factory-made. In 15 seasons in the NHL, he suited up for 5 different franchise which also included the Jets, Senators, and the Penguins. He had two stints with the Blackhawks. He missed playing with the Blackhawks team that made it to the Stanley Cup with the Penguins by one season which was the 1991-’92 season. The first time he left the Blackhawks organization as a player, his last season was 1990-’91. He was a center by trade. He was awarded the Frank J Selke award being the top defensive forward for his play in the 1985-’86 season. That season was by far the best season he had in the NHL. That year he scored 45 goals and had 99 points for the Blackhawks. During his career he did hit 20 or more goals in a season a total of 5 times. With the Blackhawks points-wise he did the most damage on the back of his hockey card with 197 tallies, dishing out 291 passes for goals, and accumulating 488 total points. For his career in played in 915 NHL games. Lit the lamp 230 times while dishing out 354 assists which tallies up to 584 points.

During the 1980’s and early 90’s the Blackhawks were always a fixture in the post-season it seemed. Back then the Blackhawks owner was Bill Wirtz and he was a terrible owner. The only way to watch the Blackhawks on television were only their road games and they were on cable, not regular TV. The home games were blacked out. Only way to see them play was going to the game. They were a hard ticket to buy back then. Especially for someone like my father, who was raised during the Great Depression. Troy Murray played with many great players during his time on the ice in Chicago. Like Dennis Savard, Eddie Belfour, Steve Larmer, Bob Murray, and the great Doug Wilson to name some of them. I think if the Blackhawks had a halfway decent owner at the time, his management may have went out and added to this core of players to make them Stanley Cup worthy. After being swept by the Penguins in the 1992 Stanley Cup finals, the Blackhawks went into the dark ages of one of the worst franchises in sports. It would be Bill Wirtz’s son after the passing of his father that helped get this original six franchise out of the dark ages in 2008 and 2009 when things started getting exciting again. They won the cup in 2010. That was the Blackhawks dynasty with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane which Troy Murray was part of because he was an analyst for the team. He would end up being around the Blackhawks hoisting more than one Cup during his time with the organization. Murray was also the President of the Blackhawks Alumni Association after his playing days came to an end. During the dark ages of the Blackhawks, the Wolves arrived at the perfect time. You saw Murray as the captain of the team. You saw former Murray’s teammates like Al Secord and Chris Chelios suit up for the Wolves who are still around today. The IHL folded up shop. The Wolves moved into the AHL which is the American Hockey League. The Wolves games were cheaper to go to than the Blackhawks. Many years it was well worth it seeing better hockey being played by the Wolves over the Blackhawks who were playing in front of crickets than actual fans.

In 2021, Troy Murray told everyone he was diagnosed with cancer. He still worked as a broadcaster for the Blackhawks in the last 5 seasons. He did not have the full tilt schedule he had so many years doing all the games. It’s far too young to pass away at the age of 63. Cancer has gotten many people in this world, which sucks. He will be missed on the airwaves. He had terrific insight in every game he called. He will never be forgotten wearing the Indian-head sweater and the Wolves. He was a solid player who gave it his best every game he played. Being from Canada, but always a Chicagoan in my book spending most of his life in this town for so many months a year. It counts. We lost a neighbor and I’m sure a friend at the same time. You may watch a game on the ice this weekend with a cold one. Make sure you raise a glass, can, or bottle to good ole number 19, Troy Murray. May he rest in peace and our prayers go out to his family.

CAPTAIN SERIOUS TAKES A BOW WITH PLENTY OF ENCORES IN HIS RETURN TO CHICAGO

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The Captain, Jonathan Toews, returned to Chicago for the first time wearing something else instead of the Indian-head sweater. Tazer’s contract ended after the 2022-’23 season for the Blackhawks which was a year Captain Serious only played in 53 games. Health issues had followed the center like dark clouds since the pandemic was lingering in the world. He never retired from the game as the Blackhawks had no interest in bringing him back. After a few seasons of healing the body and redefining the mindset, he then made a plan of attack on a comeback to the NHL. The Captain was sharpening up his hockey skills with weeks of training to ink a one year deal with his hometown team, the Winnipeg Jets. His hockey home will always be at the United Center in Chicago where the former Blackhawk was like a rockstar in his return to Chicago. The fans wanted encore after encore because, ‘Let’s be Serious,” he did help the franchise hoist three Stanley Cup Championships.

In his first season with the visiting Jets, Jonathan Toews has played in 49 games. This season he has lit the lamp 7 times and has dished out 11 assists for a total of 18 points. The Jets wanted to add some leadership to a team that was one of the top seeds in their conference and made the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. The Jets have been struggling this season so far. They did not get out to the fast start they did last year. In his comeback, Toews has struggled on the ice most of the season. Still very good at face-offs. Knows what he is doing on the ice but does not have that ice speed he once had. The Captain still has those leadership skills on display every night on the ice. He has improved over the last few weeks overall in his game. Perhaps he is still knocking off the rust and maybe the body is responding to the grind on the ice in a 37 year old body. He scored 372 goals in a Blackhawks uniform in 15 seasons with the team that drafted him. He also served up 511 assists wearing the Indian head sweater. He has played in 1,116 games in the NHL and will be for sure a first ballot Hall of Famer when he does hang up the skates permanently.

In the first television timeout, the Blackhawks honored Jonathan Toews with a video tribute of all his top highlights in a Blackhawks uniform. After the tribute, the fans gave the Captain one of the longest standing ovations of all-time. Chants of “Johnny” filled the air inside the UC. Toews would go on the ice waving to all his fans from the Chicago days. Both teams behind the benches whacked their sticks against the boards like in a game when their team scores or one of their own wins a fight on the ice. Toews circled the ice & raised his stick as the thunderous applause kept coming down on him as it went on for 3 to 4 minutes. The Captain looked awkward for a moment because it went on and on. Toews was never a guy that looked for the fan appreciation. He played his game on ice and did everything he could to help lead his team to a victory on that night. The hard work paid off as the UC exploded with love for their former Captain who will one day have his jersey retired after his playing days come to an end.

When Patrick Kane played his first game at the UC in the enemy sweater the night of Chris Chelios’ jersey retirement night, he crashed the party. Kane did get a thunderous applause by the fans at the UC along with a video tribute. Kaner would end up scoring the winning goal in that game as his Red Wings beat the Blackhawks in OT. In the return of Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks shut out the Jets 2-0 as Spencer Knight had a magnificent night in front of the net stopping 32 shots for his 3rd shut out of the season. Jason Dickerson scored the first goal of the game for the Blackhawks for his 6th of the season. Then the Blackhawks’ next superstar, they hope, Connor Bedard added an empty netter late in the contest to make it the final 2-0. On hand were two young superstars right now in the mix of the Chicago sports landscape. Caleb Williams is the quarterback of the Chicago Bears who just lost in the divisional round the night before to the Rams. Then Pete Crow-Armstrong is the centerfielder of the Cubs. The Cubs made the post-season last year. All three of these guys – Williams & Crow-Armstrong along with Bedard, could learn a lot from what they witnessed at the UC in the return of the Captain. You play hard and give it all you can on the field, ice, or court playing in the town of Chicago. They will love you for a lifetime. It did not hurt that Johnny Be Good Toews helped the city capture three championships along the way. You hate seeing guys like Toews wear another team’s jersey. That’s the nature of sports nowadays which has been going on for decades. You don’t get many players from any sport that stay with one team. I wish Toews the best of luck with his home team he grew up watching, the Jets. It’s a great story. Down the road I’ll be excited when we bring back the Captain to Chicago with all the bells and whistles when the organization retires his sweater to the UC rafters, with all the great Bulls and Blackhawks players of the past. Oh Johnny, that will be hot.

KANE VS TOEWS NOT WEARING THE INDIAN SWEATER FOR THE FIRST TIME

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For the first time ever, two Chicago Blackhawks legends faced off against each other in the NHL not wearing the Indian sweater. Before last night, the only time you saw Captain Serious Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane going against each other, was in international play. Kane was born in in the United States while Toews was born in Canada. They won three Stanley Cups together skating for the Blackhawks. They came up around the same time and gave the Blackhawks franchise life again. They played 15 seasons together as they were roommates all those years on the road. They will be friends for life and eventually will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame when their time comes. To end the year of 2025, Toews with the Winnipeg Jets were the visiting team playing Patrick Kane’s Detroit Red Wings at the Little Caesars arena. I don’t know what was stranger… both Blackhawks legends wearing a different sweater or a arena named after Little Sleazers.

At one point, it looked like this reunion of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane would never happen. The last time Toews was on the ice for a NHL team was his last season in Chicago, the 2022-’23 season. He had a 2 year hiatus from the game and the league due to health reasons.

It’s very much like when Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins leaves Gotham to train with the League of Shadows to improve his entire crime fighting skillset. Jonathan Toews did a 5 week stint in the country of India to improve his health and overall mind set with yoga, meditation, and herbal medicines. Then after his return to North America from India, he had weeks of hockey training to get back to his old form. Toews would sign a one year deal worth 2 million to play for his home team, the Winnipeg Jets.

Patrick Kane’s final season playing for the Blackhawks came in the same year as Jonathan Toews, the 2022-’23 season. Kane was traded to the New York Rangers while Toews’ contract ran out and was not re-signed because he was injured most of that season. The following season Kane would sign with the Detroit Red Wings, which is now his 3rd season in Detroit. He has already been back to Chicago to face the team that drafted him.

Both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are 37 years of age. In the Captains’ return he has played in more games this season than his partner in crime from the Chicago days, 38 games. Kane recently returned from the injured list and could have missed this reunion. Kane has played in only 26 games but has been more productive than Toews. Kane has tallied 6 goals and dished out 17 assists for 23 points. He is only two goals shy of 500. Kane’s career numbers are impressive as he has 498 goals with 868 assists for 1,366 points total. Toews has lit the lamp only three times and has dished out 8 assists. In 16 seasons in the NHL, he has 375 goals with 519 assists and has accumulated 894 points. Kane is in his 19th season in the NHL.

This first reunion in different sweaters favored Patrick Kane’s team as the Red Wings won 2-1 over the Jets in this New Year’s Eve game. Neither Kane or Jonathan Toews were a factor in this game. The Red Wings have the better record this season as they are 24-14-3 to this point. The Jets made the post-season last season and got off to a great start. This season right now they have a losing record of 15-19-4. The reason the Jets signed Toews, was to be that veteran guy with his leadership skills and hoped they’d get something out of him on the stat sheets. So far Towes has done well on face offs. In general he has great instincts but has been very slow on the ice. Not sure how long this Toews comeback will last after this season concludes. It was a great story for Captain Serious returning to his hometown to wear the Jets sweater. This reunion with Kane was a nice story to end the 2025 year off with. Down the road we might not see these two legends on the ice at the same time. They may not be enshrined together in the Hockey Hall of Fame at the same time because they may not retire at the same time. If I was the Blackhawks front office, retiring both of their numbers one day at the same time would be very special. It would make a great finish with these two NHL legends while seeing them both together in the same ceremony one more time. While wearing the right sweaters, instead of the enemy Red Wings jersey or the Jets.

HAVE THE BLACKHAWKS STUMBLED UPON A WINNING RECIPE?

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The last time the Chicago Blackhawks made the post-season was in 2020. The regular season was cut down short due to the pandemic in 2020. The NHL and other sports expanded the post-season that year. The Blackhawks participated in the qualifying round and beat the Edmonton Oilers. Then reality hit them when the Las Vegas Golden Knights eliminated them in 5 games in the next round. Since then, the Blackhawks dynasty crumbled. The last few years have been disastrous. The Blackhawks number one phenom Connor Bedard has been regressing since last season on the ice from his rookie debut.The experts believe he was supposed to be the next Connor McDavid of the league. This is Chicago sports where great teams come along ever 17 years like Haley’s comet. Last year the Blackhawks were 5-12 in their first 17 games with none of those losses coming in over time. The first 30 games the Blackhawks played in the 2024-25 season, they only won 9 of them. This season in 17 games they are 8-5-4 for 20 points.

If we could only freeze time. The Blackhawks would be in the post-season. What’s different than last season and all the other years we Chicago fans were tortured by this team on the ice?

Have the Chicago Blackhawks stumbled upon an actually great hire as their head coach? It’s Jeff Blashill’s first season as the Blackhawks head coach. It’s his second head coaching job in his career in the NHL. He will be a retread style coach which sometimes works, but sometimes it’s the same ole story same ole song and dance. I will say it’s way too early to start printing up post-season tickets or name him coach of the year. Blashill has developed a new identity for this young Blackhawks team. He has given them confidence and has developed structure with positive leadership skills. You can tell he already has an impact on the younger players. You know it starts with the Blackhawks and the NHL “we hope” future superstar in Connor Bedard.

Connor is sizzling on the ice so far as he is second in points in the NHL right now. He has scored 10 goals while dishing out 16 assists. Bedard had 23 goals in 82 games last year. On October 29th, Bedard registered his first NHL hat trick in 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. Besides the younger guys being impacted so far this season. Tyler Bertuzzi, a ten year veteran of the NHL who was drafted by the hated Red Wings, has made some noise on the ice. Bertuzzi is 30 years old and has scored six goals in the last three games. Bertuzzi has had 14 points in the first 15 games of the season. He has played in 16 games & has one game winning goal. He has tallied 9 total goals while dishing out six assists for 15 points this season so far. Last season Bertuzzi had 23 goals while dishing out 23 assists. I know two guys can’t carry the entire load the entire season. The Blackhawks will need more guys to get the offensive production they need to continue to put up W’s in the standings. You want to see a positive veteran presence with the rise of Bedard contributing. The last Blackhawks dynasty had Marion Hossa playing a big role with guys like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp.

This season early on, the Blackhawks have gotten great goal tending unlike the last few seasons. It may be one of the best savvy moves made by current Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson at the trade deadline last season. He acquired a young on the rise goaltender in Spencer Knight from the Florida Panthers for an overpaid waste of a defenseman in Seth Jones. Knight has been a wall in front of the net wearing the Indian head sweater. His record so far this season in net is 6-3-3. He has recorded one shut out. He has allowed only 2.46 GAA (Goals Against Average.) His save percentage in the net has been stellar at .923%.

We know it is way too early to be this optimistic about the Blackhawks, not even 20 games into the season. The NHL is a long grueling season with 82 games on the docket. Right now the Blackhawks are putting the puck into the net and getting great goaltending along with solid leadership. The team has had defensive struggles they will need to iron out. How will this team adjust when other teams make adjustments to their game plans? The team has not had any significant injuries yet. We do not know how this year will play out. Usually the best teams make it to the post-season. Some suspect teams slip in there from time to time. I think most Blackhawks fans would take a winning team with a winning record and in the thick of things making positive steps to get back to the post-season by the end of this season. Post-season would be cherries on the sundae for this team if they made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. We want to see pillars in place for the future. We want to see the organization plan start working. We are sick of the word REBUILD in Chicago sports. That has become a staple like pizza and Italian beef sandwiches in the Windy City. Right now I’m ecstatic just about watching exciting hockey instead of turning the channel to the same old new generation style of television that is mostly garbage. Most of the time when Chicago sports teams are winning, they pretty much accidentally stumble upon it and tell us lies saying it was the plan all along. We will enjoy it while we have it and hope it continues all season long.

CAN A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR SAVE THE DYSFUNCTIONAL BLACKHAWKS?

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It has been another disastrous year for the Chicago Blackhawks as they will miss the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs for the 5th season in a row. The Blackhawks are at the bottom of the Central division standings of the Western Conference with a 20-41-9 record. The original six franchises were sellers at the deadline. Many hockey experts have said they are wasting away the talented young superstar they have in Connor Bedard, who is 19 years old in his second season in the NHL. The Blackhawks are on their second head coach for the season as Anders Sorensen is no better than the guy he replaced in Luke Richardson. The jury is still out on the Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson which he may have made a savvy move to right the ship for Chicago. Davidson corrected a bad move made by the former GM for the Blackhawks’ Stan Bowman. Davidson was able to get rid of the high price stink in the locker room who is paid a hefty salary in defenseman Seth Jones. Chicago may have their future goalie from the Panthers in Spencer Knight, a 23 year back up net minder for Florida

When you are a young goalie and play behind a superstar, Sergi Bobrovsky, you’re probably not going to get much playing time. Bobrovsky was one of the main cogs in the Panthers machine which is why they won the Stanley Cup last year. Plus the reason the Panthers are perched once again on top of the Atlantic division in the Eastern conference of the NHL world and will be one of the top seeds. Spencer Knight was first round pick of the Panthers in the 2019 NHL draft where he was selected 13th overall. He has so far played in 86 NHL games in 4 seasons and has a record as a starter of 46-29-7 with 5 career shut outs. He has 2.77 GAA (Goals Against Average) of 2.77 in those 86 contests with a save % of .906. This season with the Panthers & Blackhawks so far combined he has a record of 14-12-1 with two shut outs and 2.50 GAA and .908 save percentage. Knight before being traded to the Blackhawks had a 12-8-1 record and posted both of his shut outs with Florida. For the Blackhawks he is six games in and has a 2-4 record which makes sense. The Panthers are the better team and have the better personnel so the stats will teeter downward wearing the Indian head sweater.

I was not sure what the hell Stan Bowman was thinking when he orchestrated the trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets to acquire Seth Jones. The Blue Jackets received defenseman Adam Boqvist and plenty of draft capital. The Blackhawks did get some draft picks in return from Columbus along with Jones but are not the high kind of picks Chicago gave up. Jones also was thrown an 8 year extension on the contract he already had with the Blue Jackets worth 76 million which equals out to 9.5 million annually. For what the Blackhawks at the time were not going anywhere in the standings and surly did not need a high price defensemen who has only made one all-star appearance in 12 seasons. Bowman crawled away from his GM post at the time for his cover up of the Kyle Beach sexual assault case that still brings dark clouds hovering over the United Center where the Blackhawks lie in their muck. Jones has not played well in Chicago and is not worth the money the team invested in his talents. He wanted out, Kyle Davidson accomplished that, and it may be the move that will keep his job. The Blackhawks will still be on the hook paying 26% of Jones’ salary while Chicago gets the young U.S.A. born goalie and both teams rearranged some of their draft picks in the deal.

The Chicago Blackhawks traded their starting goalie Petr Mrazek to the Detroit Red Wings. The Blackhawks still have Arvid Soderblom, a Swedish goalie who has been in the league for 4 seasons and is still young at 25 years of age. He has 83 NHL games under his belt and his record is not very good at 15-51-11. Let’s not forget he has played on bad hockey teams since he entered the league, all with Chicago. With Spencer Knight and Soderblom pretty much at the same age and same amount of games, I like where the Blackhawks goalie room is at and has a chance to flourish. Knight helped the Panthers win the Stanley Cup last year. He has learned from Sergi Bobrovsky in Florida and that should help him take the next step in Chicago. Right now the Blackhawks defense is in shambles. All the veterans the Blackhawks signed in the off-season did the team no favors. Some of them were dealt to other teams. Connor Bedard’s development as a player seems to have taken a step or two backwards. Many experts still scratch their heads on why the Blackhawks never made Bedard a Captain this season. The Blackhawks still have multiple other younger pieces on this current roster that need to develop along with Bedard, who is the face of this franchise.

The Blackhawks need another solid piece to play along the side of Bedard. Like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks also on those teams had Patrick Sharp and the veteran Marion Hossa was the missing piece that made that dynasty finally gel as they won three Cups. They can’t waste Bedard’s youth on bad team after bad team. The Blackhawks have to help this young goalie Knight as well by getting stronger defense. If they don’t, the confidence of Knight and Bedard will be crushed & then this franchise will be set back in space years that it takes to get to the planet Pluto. This franchise is already going back to the dark times before Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews took the ice. Nothing but crickets chirping in the stands. The team is on a new network along with the Bulls and Blackhawks that most of Chicago is unable to see. Most of the bar scene don’t even care if they have this network because they are all bad teams. With Jones gone, the locker room is saying the same thing, “Good riddance,” which is a start to fixing a franchise that is broken once again. Bringing back memories when the home games were not televised and blacked out by Bill Wirtz, who goes down as one of the worst owners in sports. This latest move by the Blackhawks gives the team a Knight in shining armor, but they need an army of horsemen to bring respect back to one of the original six.