Connor Bedard will play in the World Championships for Canada. Michael Reaves/Getty Images After weeks of dodging the question, Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard finally confirmed the news Saturday: His 2023-24 season isn’t quite done yet. Bedard will play for Canada in the world championships next month in Czechia, joining Hawks teammates Seth Jones (U.S.), Alex Vlasic (U.S.), Petr Mrazek (Czechia) and Philipp Kurashev (Switzerland). “Me and ‘Kurshy’ were talking, and our main goal is to score on Mrazek,” Bedard quipped. He hadn't 100% committed because he wanted to first assess how his ..read more

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said he expects the team to start improving next season. George Walker IV/AP Photos Kyle Davidson has preached patience throughout his tenure as Blackhawks general manager, and he spent about 10 minutes reemphasizing that Saturday after the Hawks' end-of-season interviews. For the first time, however, Davidson stated he's ready to help the Hawks begin slowly ascending. "It's time to take a step forward," Davidson said. "[In 2022-23], we finished third-last. This year, we finished second-last. That can’t happen again. We need to start moving up and ..read more

The Blackhawks have finished their 2023-24 season. Michael Reaves/Getty Images A Blackhawks season that began with Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski’s rookie laps Oct. 10 in Pittsburgh ended Thursday with a chaotic overtime loss in Los Angeles. In between, the Hawks mustered only 23 wins in 82 games, falling short of expectations but not in particularly worrying fashion. The team’s win-loss record was always destined to be some form of ugly this season, and whatever form that turned out to be was never going to mean much. Relatively few players on this current roster are penciled into l ..read more

Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks lost 5-4 in overtime against the Kings on Thursday. Harry How/Getty Images LOS ANGELES — It would be an easy storyline to purport, that the small yet poorly timed errors the Blackhawks committed in their season finale Thursday exemplified their season-long struggles. But that would be far too generous to their season overall. They weren't inches away from success; they were miles away. On Thursday, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Kings tacked one more defeat — albeit a more-entertaining-than-usual defeat — onto their final record of 23-53-6. Those 53 ..read more

Connor Bedard isn’t completely pleased with his rookie season. Michael Reaves/Getty Images LOS ANGELES — Connor Bedard's standards are high. So when he looks back on his first Blackhawks season, he's not entirely pleased with how it went, even though he led all rookies in scoring by a long shot and will likely take home the Calder Trophy. "Personally, I think I was OK a lot, but maybe not as good as I hoped," Bedard said Thursday. "But that's part of it. [I'm] just learning. I feel like I improved throughout the year, which is big. But for this summer, I've got a lot of areas to imp ..read more

Taylor Hall missed all but 10 games of the Blackhawks’ season. Michael Reaves/Getty Images LOS ANGELES — As the Blackhawks trickled onto the ice for their final morning skate of the season Thursday at Crypto.com Arena, Taylor Hall appeared seemingly out of thin air. The veteran forward, sidelined since November while recovering from ACL surgery in his right knee, reached the stage of his recovery where he could safely participate in light, non-contact drills with the team just in time. "For me to come on this road trip at the end of the year [and] get some sun, it’s a little reward ..read more

Coyotes fans sit in their seats long after the team’s final game in Arizona ended Wednesday. The Coyotes won 5-2. Team owner Alex Meruelo agreed to sell franchise’s hockey operations to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who intends to move the team to Salt Lake City. Ross D. Franklin/AP TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes are officially headed to Salt Lake City. The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 billion sale from Alex Meruelo to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, clearing the way for the franchise's move to Utah next season. The deal includes a provisi ..read more

Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson quietly enjoyed a solid season. Amber Bracken/AP Photos LOS ANGELES — Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson has enjoyed the best season of his career by not obsessing about his career, achieving success in a roundabout way. "It sounds funny to say it like this, but I think I've matured, just in my life," Anderson said. "I haven't been so gung-ho about where I'm at. I've done a much better job this year of just taking things day-by-day. "My identity hasn't been so stuck on being a hockey player, especially this year. I just take so much pride in my stuff a ..read more

Lukas Reichel’s production has been minimal this season for the Blackhawks. Scott Kane/AP LAS VEGAS — If Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel hadn’t learned this season how to move on from blunders and avoid dwelling on the past, he easily could’ve gotten buried under the weight of his many miscues. He did learn, though, and that represents one positive coming out of this severely disappointing season: his mindset has gotten healthier. “In this league, it’s tough to score or have chances,” Reichel said. “Even little plays, it’s not going to be perfect. It’s about how you react to mistakes. E ..read more

Stadium has evolved into an interactive platform, but it hasn’t lived up to initial expectations. Stadium There are staff members at NBC Sports Chicago who have been with the network through all of its rebrandings, from SportsChannel to Fox Sports Net to Comcast SportsNet to its current form. That pattern is expected to continue when the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks make their anticipated move to multiplatform sports network Stadium, the Sun-Times has learned. Maintaining continuity and institutional knowledge with the personnel who have helped produce game and shoulder programming fo ..read more