Points Galore at World Championship, Toews Stories, Toronto Drama, OT Oilers, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks

The World Championships got started with a bang on Friday morning. Germany, without Lukas Reichel (who still wasn’t on their roster), beat Slovakia 6-4. Philipp Kurashev and Switzerland rolled to a 5-2 win over Norway. Kurashev picked up an assist in the third period and spent four minutes in the box on back-to-back penalties (he took the second 30 seconds after leaving the box). Here’s his assist from the game:

  • Later on Friday, the US lost 5-2 to Sweden. But Blackhawks defensemen had assists on both goals. Alex Vlasic made a nice play to start the first goal and Seth Jones executed a pretty no-look pass for the second.
  • On Saturday morning, Canada beat Great Britain 4-2. Connor Bedard scored twice and was named the Player of the Game. Because of course he was! Oh, and he wasn’t wearing the bubble any more, either. Here he is postgame talking about his big debut on the men’s (no more “Junior”) stage.
  • As fans, we got to see the stares and the talking to the officials and faceoffs won and goals scored and the C on the jersey. But a lot more goes into being a captain in the NHL than just the on-ice responsibilities. And the good ones do a lot more than checking the boxes of organization commitments that come with being that guy as well. Brendan Perlini shared some terrific personal stories about Jonathan Toews‘ leadership while walking around the woods. A good couple minutes.
  • Well, it sounds like we could see some big time movement in Toronto this summer (Mitch Marner trade?) based on the comments from their senior leadership at Friday morning’s press conference. The Leafs have some expensive pieces on their roster and it just hasn’t worked, so tough decisions are going to have to be made. They could shape the entire offseason for the NHL if they do indeed look to move a guy like Marner.
  • The Oilers needed almost six minutes of overtime to get a desperately needed win against the Canucks last night. And Evan Bouchard made a little history with his OT GWG.
  • Speaking of Edmonton, this is a really cool story. When Zach Hyman scored his third goal against the Kings, more than 1,100 hats hit the ice. Those hats were donated to an organization that combats homelessness and poverty and made a difference.
  • Finally, happy anniversary to those of us old enough to remember watching Glenallen Hill do something we didn’t think was humanly possible (except for maybe Dave Kingman?). This was ridiculous to watch in real time!
  • 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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