CEO Danny Wirtz Talks Blackhawks Rebuild, Future & 100-Year Celebration! | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

CEO Danny Wirtz Talks Blackhawks Rebuild, Future & 100-Year Celebration! | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny WZ joins us next on CHGO Blackhawks. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Happy Tuesday. Welcome in to the CHGO Blackhawks podcast presented by Bet365. Download the Bet365 app. Use our code CHGO365 when you sign up. Whatever the moment, it’s never ordinary at Bet 365. Thanks for being here. We’re going to get right to it. Danny WS, we spoke to him yesterday afternoon. Pre-recorded the interview. It’s about 33 minutes. Before we hit play on that, do us a favor. Hit that like button. Make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube page as well. If you’re listening on the podcast, follow, subscribe, like, review, all that great stuff. Here he is, Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wartz. Joining us now on CHDO Blackhawks is Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Warts. Danny, we appreciate you taking some time out of your day for us here. I know it’s a busy time of year for you. Welcome to the show. Oh, thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it. Uh I think we want to start with uh we’re fresh on the heels of the home opener and uh despite the result of that game, what a fantastic night uh start to finish, top to bottom. Uh, can you tell us like how much planning went into that and and what and when you saw it all come to fruition, how did that feel to pull it off? You know, a lot of planning. I mean, this centennial has probably been a couple years in the making, you know, in terms of just even high level and then of course within the last year it got more specific. All summer the team was working really hard and they wanted to make home opener a real statement to how the season was going to be. Um, and I got up to date along the way, but up to a certain point then I kind of wanted just to like I’ll just wait and see how it all comes together because at that point I trust the team is going to make a a great a great do a great job. So I was actually s surprised and I first time I saw like especially the kind of opening presentation on the ice uh was all the first time I had seen it and I was just tremendously proud of the team for for the effort they put into it and the care and and just the emotion that those videos and the music and the imagery and the way the whole program kind of came together. I was very very proud. Yeah, the uh the first couple video packages uh of the new season I think uh hit hit pretty good. I know for me personally the uh use of Rush and Rise Against in the in the in the presentation was was pretty good. But I mean as as as far as the red carpet event go went um you know the the opening night celebration and everything. The game itself was actually really entertaining as well. Um first kind of iteration of seeing this team on home ice and in front of the the home crowd. What was your uh takeaway from just the atmosphere and and so far through a handful of games what the team on the ice has uh has been able to present so far? You know, you can look at sort of things on paper and you can kind of just follow your gut and and and my gut is telling me that, you know, this is a different season and this is a different team. The way they’re approaching the games, um the way they’re being coached, like everything about this feels like they are coming to compete at a really high level every night. Um, and that’s been really exciting. Saturday, I mean, from the opening ceremonies straight into the game, there was that great intensity. Um, that little extra spark you get on a Saturday night at the UC versus a Monday night, it just everything seemed to click. And the way they played that game and how hard they played, um, you know, we got ourselves in penalty trouble, of course, but even with despite that, the crowd was into it. I think the crowd is and the fans are just responding to seeing these players start to pop and uh this is this is this is fun stuff. Does seeing a crowd react that way um you know despite the loss, despite a couple tough years of you know intentional rebuilding, we know that what the end product was going to be. Um does that kind of get the the bug for you a little bit? Does that start to make you a little impatient when you see the fans because it to us it feels like this is a cauldron waiting to boil over is is these Hawks fans just waiting to jump onto this thing and really embrace this team. Well, I’m glad you said that because that that’s that’s what it does feel like for me and I and I can sense that from the fans that they they want to see this successful. They’re they’re wanting to see that player uh kind of take the big step this year. Um they’re obviously wanting to see wins too on the board and that’s going to come uh in time here for sure. So yeah, I mean it I don’t know if impatience is the wrong other than just sort of exciting to see us take this next step forward really. I mean coming with those expectations and and excitement is a is a raised level of uh standard that I think fans want to see the team perform at and as owner like how do you view those expectations and how do you kind of evaluate how the team does? like let’s say if they finish in the standings again in the bottom three, how do you evaluate that from your position being uh you know within ownership and knowing that it’s been a few seasons of of finishes like that you know I try to take the approach of you know focus on the things that we can control and I think for for what I expect is for this season and for every season really to see progress and progress changes from I mean we were talking a couple years ago it was about asset at acquisition. Um, in the last couple years it’s been maybe more about development. Um, and now we’re moving into performance. And I think, you know, you just want to continue to see steps being made, significant steps, right? And that’s not that I can’t mandate what those three steps are. It’s sort of at the mercy of how these players develop. And as we know, every player’s development plan is sort of very unique and sort of on their timetable in many ways. So, as much as I would love to master plan how this all pans out, we are sort of at the mercy of how these players um and which means we do everything we can to provide the resources and the system and the coaching to make sure that this development process is moving at the right pace. And so, um so as of today, I’m I’m I’m very pleased that it seems like we’re going to take another step this this season. And um and and that’s that’s kind of where we hope to to hope to be. That sounds like a pretty full vote of confidence for Kyle Davidson then. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Kyle is is somebody who um backs up what he says he’s going to do. I think he’s very clear about his expectations and um and then, you know, he is willing to do what he needs to if when circumstances present themselves, he will do what he needs to do to improve the team internally or externally. So, um I’m very happy with what Kyle’s been doing and I think, um, you know, we’re starting to see some of the fruits of a lot of his labor and tough decisions that he’s had to make over the years. You know, you start to see some of the the benefits of that, you know, start to show up on our roster. Well, I know you as a uh chairman and CEO let the hockey operations people operate on their own for the most. of course you’re going to have say if something substantial has to be done but as you look at the current landscape of the NHL and some of these new deals being signed and the salary cap going up um and maybe the possibility of adding that this generation’s Marian Hosa becomes less and less likely. How do how do things change for you in that regard? You know I think um there’s a bit of we have to wait and see how the league pans out. I mean, some of those opportunities sort of sometimes present themselves, sometimes they don’t. We’re also seeing a lot of players resigning, so that could change everything. The the one thing I will know is that, again, as I said, if there is an opportunity to improve the team and the and the timing is right, too. And of course, at any time, you can improve the team by just, you know, signing a player or doing something. But we’re not going to sacrifice the plan. We’re not going to sacrifice the long term for something. um when that timing is right and we will know that at the time and I trust Kyle, you know, he’ll he’ll do what he needs to do. And so that’s that’s the most like kind of freedom I can give him. And I have to trust that Kyle and his team will continue to, you know, most importantly develop the talent that we have, you know, in our system right now, which I think is is panning out to be, you know, quite promising. Do you put more of a a closer eye on the job Kyle Davidson does throughout this season now moving forward knowing that through the rebuild plan this is kind of the first true wave of what it should look like with all these young players coming up. Do you start to kind of maybe I don’t want to say scrutinize him more but do you kind of look at it in a different lens of like this should be the next step so how does he operate within that? Uh, I don’t think it’s a it’s it’s not a dialed up level of scrutiny. I mean, I hold Kyle accountable as a leader of the organization and and on a yearly basis, he’s got things that he has to get done and we kind of look at it that way and it’s all in service of the long-term goal. But like I think, you know, the standard of accountability is there whether it was his first year in the job or the or he is right now. Um, and what’s in his control to be able to improve our team. And so luckily, you know, every step of the way, Kyle has delivered and in many cases exceeded, you know, what I had hoped. I want to talk to you about some of the young players on a team. And you know, when when the Hawks win the draft lottery to get Connor Bard, I’m sure from a business standpoint, like, oh, this is not only are we getting a potentially generationally great player, we’re getting someone that is massively marketable, but now you have this pretty quick emergence of Frank Nazar, uh, from, you know, joins the team last year on a full-time basis, starts to get some notoriety, gets a big contract that gets some scrutiny, and he starts a season the way he has, and he’s become kind of a social media star that unexpected stardom from Frra Nazar. How does that make you feel as a as a CEO and chairman and what do you see in his future here in Chicago? Well, first and foremost, he’s a great person. Um he is he is an incredibly dedicated kid that comes to the rink every day with a level of enthusiasm, commitment. He’s a great teammate. Um he has worked really hard to get to where he’s at. um he takes nothing for granted and that’s the kind like that’s a Blackhawk, right? And that’s what makes me most proud. Um the fact that he has a personality that is so um magnetic, I think is just an amazing, you know, bonus for us as we start to introduce this next generation of players to our fans. And he’s the kind of he’s exactly the kind of player that I know our fans love and and those that will get to know him are, you know, he’s going to be a lot of people’s favorite player. And I would imagine 91 jerseys are are starting to sell over at the store. Well, it’s funny because the I always the the red carpets are always fun because so many of the guys are just so uncomfortable with the individual hockey is such a team team thing. And then and Nazar walks out and he’s like, “Let’s go.” He’s like high-fiving everybody and he just he really leaned into it. Mom. She actually his mom was right next to us. Uh so that was very cool to see uh and experience. But yeah, he’s he is just really taken to the city and he’s taken the star of me. He’s just he’s just such a natural people. I you’re right. I noticed at the game I was actually I was thinking of the social media idea, what’s the most obscure jersey I can find outside the building and there weren’t many, but there were a ton of Frank Nazar jerseys in the Centennial style which was like, okay, people are in purchases. Absolutely. What was the most obscure jersey you saw on Saturday? They I I was actually a little bit disappointed because there were a lot of like just kind of the standard. I did see a um Dave Boland which you didn’t see a lot during the Dynasty days. You should have but you didn’t just cuz there were so many other options but I think that might have been the most obscure I saw. I saw the the like 2000 might have been 2002 Team USA Olympic Jeremy Ronic jersey. That one was a good throwback. A great one. Um but yeah, there weren’t weren’t a lot of obscure ones. I should have brought my uh my Steve Pop jersey, which I do have. Pop jersey would have that would have won won the uh my friend’s son came in his in his dad’s Mike Paluso number 44 CCM jersey. That was mint. That was beautiful. So, I’m always on the hunt for the most random Blackhawk jerseys out there. So, um Well, that that’s a pretty good one. Yeah, Palo was a good one, you know. Yeah, it’s a it’s a good it’s a good game on uh social media that Bruce Miles uh does. He usually walks the concourse and tries to find some some good obscure ones. So how he finds these it’s it’s amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I want to ask you sort of in that Go ahead. Well, I just I just wanted to ask maybe we’re on the same wavelength here, but when you talk about you know Frank Nazar and Conor Bard and these these young players coming up. Um, from I guess maybe more of a off ice more marketing standpoint, when do you feel like you feel like it’s right to push a lot of these guys? Because I I I think there’s obviously this changeover going on in the organization with this new generation of of guys coming through. But I think what we saw with Connor Bard was through his first, especially in his rookie year, but maybe his first two years, there was a lot on his plate, not only on but also off the ice. So, how do you feel like you kind of manage being excited about these young players coming up, but maybe not necessarily putting them too far out into the into the forefront? Yeah. So, I think that comes down to, I think, the partnership between, you know, our marketing and business folks and the hockey ops. So, we they work very closely to make sure that, you know, we have the confidence that someone is kind of entering that stage where they’re going to become an NHL player and we’re not overhyping someone before they’ve had a chance to kind of get settled in. Um, and really also work with these players as to what they’re comfortable with. Um, you know, you mentioned Frank’s personality. Not everyone’s going to be like Frank. And so, we just want to make sure when we the way in which we introduce these players to our fans. Um, we’re doing everything we can to show their personalities and their their unique personalities, but we don’t put them in a position that they’re not. So, um, you know, the more extroverted guys, they’re going to be likely to be on our TikTok a lot, and the other guys will find other roles and ways for them to show up, whether it’s in the community or through other initiatives. So, um I’d say that’s an area that we’re spending a lot of time thinking about because it is so important, especially in these early stages, um for our fans to get to know these players, uh at a different level. Um and obviously fans are following these players much earlier in their careers than ever before. Um I mean, people are following, you know, Roman cancer off in the KHL right now. Um that used to just be sort of an obscure thing and we just get to know a guy when he shows up on the doorstep. Now, we’re seeing the pipeline much more. So, a little bit happens organically and then once they kind of come into our care, we make sure that we’re we’re do everything we can to, you know, give them the right support and not not put them in a position where they’re being exposed too quickly. I think this generation of player though is probably a little more prepared for it. They’ve had social media training in junior or in college or in whatever it may have been. It just feels like the Nazar Badard generation is just a lot more comfortable and willing to participate in those things without having it look like, oh, you’re you’re a MI guy or whatever, which may have happened 10, 15 years ago. You’re totally right. and and obviously the everything’s changed on people’s personal brands, their own social media, but you know, it’s it’s it’s like one of the great things about our sport is how selfless these players are and how much they care about the team and not stepping out, but at the same time, how do we find that right tension between, you know, doing what we need to do to promote them as players and they’re a big piece of promoting the team and the league and the sport. So, um I think we’re at a really good spot for that across the league right now and I hope that, you know, our our players will be a big piece of that. That’s what I want to ask you about because what, you know, wi with the cap rising, I heard Elliot Freeman talking about today that the players are actually going to get some money back because of the uh escrow balance. I don’t know how that stuff works, but they’re getting money back for the first time. Um, so the league seems to be in a really healthy spot. What do you attribute that to most? Look, I mean, I think, you know, across all the kind of revenue indicators, you know, our media deals are continuing to increase in value. That’s the biggest piece at the national level. And then of course you know all the sponsorship and all the things the league is doing to create league revenue. And then I think the teams you know I think back at the local level um you know across the board teams have taken probably a bit of a hit around um the local media deals but at the same time you know I think all the other things are are kind of growing with the sport. It is a good sport in terms of overall growth. Um we have to continue to harness that and and and get more for it so it keeps pace with those salaries. Um, speaking of the the the local media setup, um, now that we’ve kind of had some time for things to to play out and progress, how do you feel about how the first year plus of, uh, the CHSN network has has gone and, um, how that’s kind of impacted the the local market? I know it had its its hiccups, but now it seems like it’s mostly resolved and in the spot you want. Well, clearly, you know, talking to you guys today, we are in a much better place than we were a year ago. For sure. No, no question. Um, I think one of the one of the better parts of it is that I do believe even from the day we launched, which was a really remarkable um, feat to sort of get the station up and running and producing games in such a short period of time. Um, I think our product’s been really good. Um, we obviously have great talent on the air. Um, but the way we’re producing our games, the stories we’re telling, I mean, even in preeason, you know, we’re using clips from social media to start talk about what’s happening around the team and kind of off ice, like really using the broadcast to tell the story, especially where we’re at right now, I think is um has been really great. And obviously when when when Darren and Rick get on the air, they can really bring it to life for our fans. So, the good news is for the last year, it’s been I think the product’s been great. um the distribution pieces was de definitely disappointing last year. I think we’re in a much better spot now and more of our fans can watch our games across the cable providers and as well as the app. So um I think we’re going to see some some better ratings and results and and more fans watching our games frankly. Looking back on the whole CHSN situation, is there anything you you maybe would have done differently if you could hit the uh jump in the Delorean and and go back three, four years and anything you would change about how that went down? you know, this the the world of of sports media is changing so fast. You know, you deal with what you have in front of us, the options you have in front of you. Um, if I’m being completely honest, I think, you know, I I thought that the antenna was a solution to sort of open up and and sort of democratize access to to to the games. Um, of course, logistically and technically that was much harder and it didn’t take off the way we hoped for, but I know the intention was good. I mean, it was it was the right idea. It just the execution didn’t didn’t work out. Um and so we had to pivot and we had to go to where we know our fans are and that that is that is through kind of the core cable providers and our partners at in the cable networks and um while opening up a new channel in in direct to consumer through the app which we know a lot of people are also very interested in. So um again uh hard hard to say what we would have done better other than just um you know um our commitment to making sure we put a great broadcast on the air and and and try to get our games into as many homes as possible. That’s always the goal. I know we talked a a little bit about the centennial celebration to uh to start our our our conversation, but wanted to kind of uh bring it back. Um, I think one of the fun things that was different than in other home openers, uh, and red carpet events that we that we’ve had in the last few seasons, especially for the Centennial season, was the bringing back all the former players, especially, you know, not only the the highlight players that a lot of fans know, but a lot of the more foundational Blackhawks players that played in the 50s and 60s. How did that process go of of getting the alumni together? um you know the idea of like the jackets with all the patches like I think that was executed really well. Like how did that all come to uh come together with those alumni players? Yeah. So we’ve been over the last couple years um you know kind of reinvigorating our relationship um with with the alumni. Um I think and it starts actually very tactically around you know who’s got contact information for this you know lists and lists of players. Um, so it does become this sort of tracking people down and of course you know the Blackhawk Alumni Association is obviously the first step and their their database and then it becomes a little bit of well I tracked down this guy’s phone number and so it literally is just working the list and trying to get in touch with as many people. We also knew that, you know, we didn’t want to create tears and and sort of, you know, if you played for the Blackhawks, we want you to come back. And that’s why you had players that sort of had a short career with us and you had sort of long-term legendary players um represented on that red carpet. And so, um, it became, you know, really a series of outreach and invitation and welcoming people back to the United Center and back to Chicago. And um it it even seeing the list on paper, it it didn’t even hit me until I saw everybody in person of how special it is. Um if you’re a fan, how special it is for them to see their teammates and friends that they hadn’t seen in years. And any kind of reunion like that is really cool. And then to hear from them how much this team means to them. I mean, you know, the Blackhawks Chicago, it leaves a mark on people. And I I don’t think I I I kind of underestimated that until I saw it in action over the weekend and was really special. Was there uh anyone that was at the event that was particularly uh hard to initially get a get a hold of? Um say his name twice and he’ll pop in here. Uh uh no uh I’m trying to think who and you know and there’s still and look for a lot of reasons like you know people have their own lives too and there’s lots of people who wanted to be there that couldn’t be there. Um I’m trying to think if there’s any specifics. I can’t think of any off top of my head but you know I know that is um it’s a series of just getting in touch and then making people feel comfortable and welcome back here. And so hopefully we’ve opened up some new channels of communication. So, uh, I know a lot of folks live outside of town, obviously, but, you know, any excuse to get to Chicago and come to a game. I think we we’ve opened up, uh, some some new, uh, new alumni to come in for visits. Well, there’s been a lot of attention on the jackets and we shared some photos actually uh, out of nowhere yesterday on Facebook, and this is a bit of a flex by me, so I’m just going to do it. Uh, Stam Makita’s daughter, Jane, wrote me on, uh, Facebook and sent me pictures of his jacket. So with those, are they being kind of sent to everybody or is it just the people that show up? Like how is that how is that whole process playing out? So we actually um we had a dinner on Friday night and as as as they entered the restaurant, we actually did like a private fitting for everybody to get the right size and that’s where they were able to actually customize with those patches and we were able to tell them a little bit more about why we’re doing this and all this kind of stuff. then because we just didn’t want anybody to forget their jacket, we took all the jackets back and then gave it back to them when they came to the red carpet. Um, but that was for this group. But, uh, the goal would be as as alumni come to Chicago and they come to the game and we will now provide them with this jacket as sort of our sort of welcome to the alumni world here at the at the United Center and um and and kind of repeat that ritual as as folks come back into the fold. Are they going to be uh available at the Mad House store? Because those are some sick jackins. You know, I think part of the cool thing is that it actually is it’s it’s just for them, right? Um it’s only for them. Um so when you see someone wearing that, um it well, it should be an alumni. Um and sort of the joke was sort of, you know, if we just give them another jersey, it’s just another old guy walking around with a jersey on. Um and sometimes it’s hard to tell if that was an ex player or not. So we wanted something that that gave them that sign that that signifier of being an alumni. um that hopefully you could see as they hopefully spend more time in the in the arena and walking around and seeing fans and stuff. Yeah, there’s there’s Steve Dubinsk’s incentive to get to the United Center this year as you get a jacket on. But if you could do the fan version and just have on a sleeve like zero games played, zero Stanley Cups, you know, just just to separate the fan jacket from Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Uh 697 negative tweets, something, you know, you could you could really customize these things. Uh, but I I’m trying to think of the ones that I the patches I saw was Chicago Stadium, United Center, the years they played. I saw there’s a 500 games one, and then every cup you win, there’s a different patch for. So, I saw Cory Carenders. Okay. Yeah, shut out. Yep. So, is it one shutout? Is that what the I think shut out was if you got a shut out, but then I remember having a conversation with Jocelyn Tibo who and you guys have the stats and I’m going to mess it up. I want to say he had one year he had like seven shutouts or something pretty remarkable. Um anyways, we were joking about like should he put all of them on, you know, uh or just one representing all of them. So there was a lot of fun stuff like that. But um yeah, yeah, the patches were a lot of fun for the guys to play around with. Uh 2002 2003 he had eight shutouts. Eight shutouts and six in each of the uh two years prior to that, too. I mean that’s it’s impressive. Darren Pang said he didn’t have any shutouts. So, I talked to Panger about that, too. And I didn’t want to push the shut out, you know, patch with him. Didn’t want to shame him. But, yeah, you should have just given it to him like, “Oh, wait.” And just rip that one right off. See that, but that’s the I think that’s what’s cool about the the Centennial thing is, and we talk about our our listeners about this all the time. Like, honestly, a lot of the people that watch our show jumped on board in ‘ 08, 09, were there through the cup run. So the name Jocelyn Tibo, the name Tony Ammani, who to me I was like, “That’s Tony Ammani.” You know, half the people there are like, “Who’s Tony Ammani?” And I get mad about it, but this is just a great way for people to learn. I’ve heard the name Jocelyn Tibo, but wasn’t any good? Yes, he was an all-star. He had eight shutouts one year. Like he was a really good player on a team that was not great. Uh, and these guys deserve Because I feel like sometimes I always wonder about this in music, too. And I know you’re a big music guy, Danny. Okay, so we grew up like we listen to the music of the 60s and 70s like the Stones and the Who and like Led Zeppelin and all the greats, but who are the bands that like kind of time forgot? Like there has to be hundreds of bands that were great that time forgot. It’s the same with athletes. These guys who are kind of in the middle like I think about the Cubs, like a like a guy like Derek Lee, not a Hall of Famer, didn’t win a championship, but just really good. I’m glad that this centennial gives players like that the opportunity to get remembered again. And you just see Joselyn Tibo walk by with all those patches and say that he must be somebody. Yeah, that’s an that’s an important jacket, right? And as you know, like for if if you’re in like your prime, you know, years as a kid or something and that’s whatever team is in front of you is the team you’re probably going to remember the rest of your life if you’re between the ages of 13 and 18, right? Like whatever that. And so for us it might have been yeah like Joselyn Tibo or Joselyn Lemieux or Michelle Goule and those players mean just as much as you know um you know high-fiving when we won three cups with Kane Taves and all those guys. So I mean it that’s what’s so cool about our history is that we have these great players, great moments um both at the highest level of the mountain and sometimes the lower end of the standings, but still some great times. Well, and the the Hall of Fame uh that you guys are are establishing is I think another good um opportunity to remember a lot of those players who may not be in the hockey hall of fame or have their jersey retired, but it’s also a way to um you know remember remember that history and the fifth arena going to have that physical uh uh exhibit as well. Keep taking your questions. No, apologies. But how have things uh been going with with the expansion of the Fifth Third? And is is you know is the excitement for when it opens in January still uh on track? Oh, absolutely. It’s going to be great. Um I think that that you know the Hall of Fame for sure that there’s now a physical space to go and uh celebrate our history and we can have kind of rotating installations. We can do different themes and stories and all sorts of stuff there. Um, and across the board, I think the way we tell our story, it’s going to be very kind of amenity focused. Um, obviously the the rinks are the rinks and they’re great and be the home of the Chicago Steel and all those kinds of things. But, um, but I think a chance for our fans to sort of spend more time in and around our brand. That’s going to be sort of our our home base, uh, that people can go to every day, you know, at all hours. So, um, really excited to open the doors to that. Um, we’re going to have great food, great drinks, um, we’re going to, you know, all the things that you’d expect. But, um, I think we we learned a lot from the first phase and now we can get a lot of these other things right, you know, as we open up the doors in January. All right. Well, we look forward to the 2035 podcaster wing opening um, at the Hall of Fame. I think we Yeah, we did talk about like a podcast studio or at least there’s now like, you know, more spaces to do these kind of things. You can do remotes. We’re going to have an outdoor balcony. There’s a bunch of stuff where I could definitely see a CHGO um event or live remote at some point. I I I did think I saw that somewhere in the project 1901 plans. It was it was at the bottom. You’ll eventually get there, but yeah, I think I did see something about that. Um did want to ask, we did see the uh the renovations done to the 400 level um and and how the suites have have changed. uh the updates to the United Center that we’ve that we’ve been able to see over the last few years. Um I did want to ask specifically with so many professional teams now kind of changing venues and looking to build something completely new and state-of-the-art and control everything around it and and and whatnot. Um, is there a sense of of pride with with yourself and with the organization that even after 30 plus years, the United Center is still a hub for the Blackhawks and still uh a hub for, you know, the the community around it on the on the west side of town and everything that’s going to be going into the 1901 project that, you know, the Blackhawks and Bulls um aren’t really looking to just say, “Oh, we want something completely new.” Um, but it’s going to stay within the United Center. Yeah. So, I think from when we built the United Center, we’ve actually so the bu the building costs about 175 million to build a little over 30 years ago, we put almost a billion dollars into literally the bu the building, the atrium, all the things. So, we’ve spent more on this building and because you don’t even realize that every year there’s something new. We’re updating spaces. We’re refreshing levels. Um, and I have to say I think it’s probably the cleanest building in in in professional sports. It’s it’s immaculate. And so those things will never change. I think the building has to stay in a state of reinvention at all times, especially now that we’re we’re building so much more around us with the 1901 project. It also changes a lot of like what you need from the building. Right now, all of our amenities are inside the four walls of the United Center and then the rest is parking lots. Well, when you start to have an outdoor plaza and you have bars and restaurants kind of around there, you have a hotel and you have a music venue, you have some retail, it it takes some of the pressure of everything having to be in the building. And so, we can start to play around with spaces. There’s still a tremendous amount of building to work with at the United Center. So, I think this is going to be a building that just kind of continually reinvents itself and keeps in sync with all the other great things that are happening with the 1901 project. So, um I’m I’m really excited about this. I think, you know, if you fast forward a few years to when this project is done and hopefully where we’re at in terms of uh uh you know, in the playoffs and you think about a plaza, you think about outdoor, you think about playing hockey in the spring. Um it’s going to be pretty exciting. All right. You’ve been super generous with your time, Danny, and we appreciate it. But, you know, we cannot interview you without asking you about the return of the black jersey. Yes. And we ruined our big mouth in this podcast two years ago about it. And uh yes, yes, I know. I know. I know we we are pre-recording, but I can feel people yelling at me, “Ask about the black.” Okay, now I don’t know if you saw this, but something leaked on Reddit a couple weeks ago. Looked legit. We don’t know. We’ve been seeing the LA Kings reveal jerseys secretly and the Pittsburgh Penguins did it secretly. Blink twice if we’re going to get the black jerseys this year or if you’re, you know, what just what can you say about the black jersey? I’ll I’ll keep it simple. Yeah, look, we love the black jersey. Uh we’ve talked to you guys about the black jersey before. You know, our conversations are ongoing about designing this thing. You know, when you’re in a you’re it’s an active process. It takes a long time. And so, yeah, I mean, it’s like an active conversation, but this year it was all about the Centennial. We had to get the Centennial right. We had to get the Centennial jersey right, which I think we did. So, um what that leak is, I have no idea. There’s always there’s always all sorts of prototypes floating around for all sorts of designs. whether they actually see the light of day or not. So, that’s probably what it was. But, um, look, we have not forgotten the black jersey. Uh, we we will get to it at some point. Um, and this year we’re just kind of focused on getting, you know, and I do believe that I think we did a nice job with with Centennial jersey. People seem to like it and it looked great on the ice on Saturday. Well, whether we’re talking with with you or Jamie, we are um contractually obligated to either ask about the black jerseys or cup holders. It’s one of the two. So, we went with black jerseys. Next time we’ll get you on cup holders. I if and if and when these black jerseys ever appear, you know, uh I will run one over down Madison to you guys uh as soon as I can. There also black jerseys from like there’s like the Mitchell and Nest ones I just saw in the window, too. So like there are black jerseys floating around through other kind of releases and stuff. So um yes. Well, the good news is that we know that people want it and so now it’s just a question of of how we can get it off the ground some. All right. Well, here here’s here’s this is a free idea for you. And if you want to hire me to work in your marketing department, if you really want to blow Hawks fans minds, you put black jerseys in the brand new cup holders. Boom. And it’s just mayhem. There you go. Give the fans what they want. Exactly. All right, Danny, we appreciate it very much. I’m sure we’ll see you soon. Uh, but great job on Centennial. Uh, and we look forward to what’s coming the rest of the year. Thanks for being with us. Thank you guys so much. Appreciate all the support and uh, we’ll see you at the United Center soon, I’m sure. All right, that’s Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny WZ here on the CHGO Blackhawks podcast. All right, great stuff. We’re going to go directly to the break zone. We’ll be back in two minutes. Hit that like button for us. We’ll react on the other side. Whatever the sport, the app to bet it is Circus Sports Illinois. Circus Sports, it’s sports betting the way that it should be. Circus Sports Illinois has high betting limits, low holds, and exceptional customer service. some of the best that I’ve been told. You can bet on all of your favorite teams in every game this season. And you can hate bet on all the teams that you hate this season. Whether it’s spreads, props, futures, or in-game, Circa Sports has it all. Fund and bet like a pro from anywhere, anytime in Illinois. If you want to bet on the Dodgers to win the NLCS, you can do it. If you want to bet on the Bears to win over the Saints on Sunday, you can do that. If you want to bet on the Blackhawks to beat the Blues tomorrow night, I’m going to. You can also do it on Circus Sports Illinois. Download your new bookie today at circusports.com. Must be 21 or older. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, you or someone you know can call 1800 gambler. Yes. 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And Taking the Temp is presented by your trusted local experts at Four Seasons Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, and Electric. Visit Four Seasons Heatingcooling.com for all their special offers and money-saving coupons. That’s four seasonasons heatingcooling.com. And we’ve got some suspicious Hawks fans in this in the chat saying, “I don’t believe him. That was a fanatics authentic pro black jersey, Windy City Hockey. Bunch of PE Jay Straw says I could smell a lie like a fart in a car.” Guess what? I don’t have an actual foil hat. I’m going to put it on. I said, “Are the black jerseys coming this year?” And he said, “The black jerseys are not coming this year.” I did not say season, and he did not say season. Perhaps they’re coming in the new year. Split hairs. I like it. Yeah. Yeah. He’s not lying. I Yeah, if it’s January 1st, he’s not lying. That’s That’s true. Um Yeah. Yeah. I I I uh I I don’t think there’s nothing to the fact that it was a Fanatics black jersey. Even if it is a prototype, someone doesn’t see that on the warehouse floor of Fanatics and say just stuff it in a box and send it out and say, “Yep, well, job well done.” I mean, if anywhere that’s going to happen, it might be Fanatics. That’s true. Yeah. I mean, Fanatics has been pretty good. Oh, you ordered an Eric Lindros Flyers jersey. Here is a Lionel Messi. uh Miami jersey. Yeah. Whoops. I I mean, Fanatics has been good with NHL stuff at least at least since they’ve taken over, but it’s I I think primarily because they just took over of Adidas and said, “Don’t change anything.” Um, but as far as like, you know, having to having talked with Danny Wor and just kind of getting the, uh, taking the temp of him, um, going into this season, uh, he’s a guy that I, I think when we talk about, you know, evaluating the team, where they’re at. Um, he is he is giving the the green light to what Kyle Davidson is has has put forth over the last few years, uh, with the rebuilding plan. And if he had any qualms about the way that it was going or if he didn’t believe what Davidson was saying, I’m I don’t think that he would hesitate to speak up and and say like, “Hey, like I don’t I’m not liking what I’m what I’m seeing here.” But I I think, you know, from what what we’ve seen in the grand scheme of the organization, I I I think Davidson has has stuck to his plan. I think as far as the grand scheme of things go in the rebuild, things are going the right way. And and I think, you know, Danny Wartz sees that as well and knows, you know, the nuance and the context of what is expected in in a rebuild. And and I think this year as the season goes on, we’ll we’ll get a little bit more of an indication of how he feels the plan is going with Kyle Davidson and, you know, how Davidson operates as this season progresses. Yeah, I think this season is the first time that you can really start evaluating what’s happening on the NHL ice. You need to see some forward progress from these young players like and I think we’ve seen it from like Betard looks better. Nazar has more than a point per game right now. Um Lechnov has had his ups and downs but has as many points as Ivan Demidov currently. Um you know Wyatt Kaiser has grown into what I said last night. Currently, I think the team’s best defenseman. He’s been awesome. Spencer Knight’s been really good. So, as you go through things, can you find a couple things that maybe you’d like to do over again? Sure. People are still mad about the Brandon Hegel trade. I heard about them heard about it the other day, but we still need to see what Oliver Moore and Sasha Bu turn into before you can truly judge that trade because those are the two first round picks you got in that deal. So, you got to let that thing play out. You’ve got to see what um you know what cancer is, what Oliver Moore turns into. But so far the returns on these draft picks, especially the high draft picks, has been very very positive. And I guess I guess the easy part is the tear it down, get all the draft picks and pick guys. The development’s a little bit harder. And then beyond that, it’s okay, here’s what we got. Here’s what we need to fill. How is Kyle Davidson going to fill those holes? And it’s going to be a bigger challenge than it’s ever been with the rising cap and fewer and fewer superstar players reaching free agency than ever. Maybe he was, let’s glass half full. Maybe Kyle Davidson saw this coming and that’s why he was so reluctant to deal draft picks because he knew his only way back to the top would be through top picks. Uh or if you want to be cynical and say he’s an idiot and didn’t know and just looked into this, fine. Whatever the scenario is, hey, sometimes you need luck. Well, right. And whatever the scenario might be, he does have all those picks and he does have draft capital and that is now becoming a bigger premium than anything because like we’ve seen the last couple years, the big names don’t reach free agency. Yeah. They just don’t. And now you have to build your team through draft picks. And if there is a time where he has to say, “All right, you know what? I need to add an established player,” then you can make a trade for somebody because of your draft assets. So, yeah, but that that’s me as the final piece, but that’s also the biggest piece. Yeah. Or if you know, if we do get to a point where, you know, the big fish hits the free agent market and as a salary cap goes up, it it really does feel like Danny WZ is a guy that’s going to say, “Hey, go do what you need to do, Kyle Davidson.” Um, to to make make things work, to make the team competitive. and and it really feels like he’s he has the Davidson has the trust of the front office and the ownership group to go out and and execute his plan. And and with the salary cap going up, you know, we we talked about it on the the mini mini pot a couple of days ago about how free agency might be what it used to be might be dead or the frenzy of everyone moving and shaking and all that stuff. doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case. But if someone does get out there, it it does feel like if it if it fits the timeline and the the right player is out there and the Blackhawks have the money, it’s not going to be a, you know, penny pinching, you know, old, you know, Bill Wartz approach of like, ah, well, I don’t know if we want to spend all, it seems like they’re they’re they just got the green light to use the money that you need to make a team that can win the Stanley Cup. I have no there’s no doubt in my mind that Danny WZ will spend to the cap. I don’t think there’s any question about that when it’s time. There is no need to do it right now because then all you’re doing is blocking spots for young players to come and take. And I think there’s already a little bit of frustration of like, what, you know, what is Sam Lafery doing here? He’s just taking a spot away from Oliver Moore, whoever it might be, right? Like there’s already that sentiment. So unless you’re adding a legitimate superstar and we’re talking about like guys available over the last few years Marner right like like uh that that level like if Mico Ren had a reach for a that’s the kind of like a franchise altering level of player like nothing against guys like Nikolai Elers or Brock Besser or some of those like second tier guys bringing them here doesn’t really move the needle much at this point in three four years. Yes. Well, I mean, for right now, no. Think about a number of years ago when when John Tvarez hit the market and went to Toronto. Like at that time, right, he was peak John Tavvarz. Like that’s a a top tier player um getting to free agency and then going somewhere else and and Steven Stamos around that same time was also hit free agency but stayed with with with with Tampa. and um you know it’s it’s not often that those types of that tier of player ever really hits the market and is is is open for bidding. So when it does happen if it does happen in the in the future it feels like Davidson if it fits his if it fits the plan that you know moving forward needs to happen could be that that piece um that puts his team over the top. I think it’s it still seems like the way to go is is the internal market and and I think what we’ve seen so far is is is positive. There’s still a lot to figure out, but so far um a lot of the pieces that you hope to be those building blocks are are getting put into the right spots. Yeah. All right. Uh no solution, no answer on cup holders. We’re sorry, everybody. Um I am going to do a little experiment next game. I’m gonna go into the seating bowl. I’m going to bring a tape measure with me because the cup holders on the chair in front of you like at Wrigley is not an option. If they’re going to put cup holders in at United Center, it has to be on the arm of your chair. So, I want to see how far it would stick out if it was roughly a cup this size, right? How far would it stick out into the aisle and would it be able to pass through if there’s cup holders there? Because, as Danny Wart said, they have put a billion with a B dollars into renovating and updating the United Center. And if you’ve been there, you know that despite its age, it is still one of the best arenas in hockey. Um, I’m sure that the concept of cup holders has crossed your mind before. I just don’t know if it’s I don’t know if it’s feasible the way the building is built. I think if there’s a will, there’s a way. All right. I don’t know, man. I I’m going to I’m going to do the math. Okay. You do the math. Yeah, I’m going to do that. All right. We’re going to hit the break zone one more time. We do have a little bit of uh good stuff from practice today from Jeff Flashel. So, uh stick around. We’ll share that next on CHDL Blackhawks presented by Bet365. Hey, if you like betting on football, why not check out our friends at Bet 365. They have their early payout offer going on where you are a winner if your team goes up by 17 points with an instant payout on straight bets and parlay selections marked as winners. If you like uh the Bears, their chances against the Saints on Sunday, you can bet uh in that game and be part of the $365,000 jackpot where you place a $10 bet on the first touchdown score of the Sunday night game and get a split of $365,000 in bonus bets if your player scores the final touchdown of the game. Download the app. Use the code cho365. And if you’re a new customer, you’re going to get $200 in bonus bets when you bet $5. Win or lose. Sign up. Use the code. Deposit 10 bucks. Place a $5 bet. Win or lose $200 of bonus bets in your account. Must be 21 or older. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1800 gambler. Offer inapp only. And the United Center has been off the hook so far this season for Hawks games. 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And we got to tell you about, by the way, about our dieh hard sale. We’ve had so much going on today, we we missed it. We hit 90,000 YouTube subscribers uh yesterday or two days ago, whatever it was. Yes. Yeah. So, to celebrate, was yesterday morning, we are offering our biggest Die Hard deal ever. $27 for your first year of Die Hard membership. So, if you’ve never been a Die Hard before, you can do it right now for $27. And yes, it includes the shirt. It includes the 20% off events, takeovers, watch parties, all that jazz. 20% off all the merch, all the perks, $27 for a year. That’s if you’re a new dieard. But you’re like, Jay, I’m a current dieard. I’ve already paid the full price, $80 a year. What do I get? Well, you get 50% off all CHGO merch until midnight tonight. So, jump on that deal. Here’s the link. You want to go to all CHGO.com/90K. That’s the number 90 and the letter K. All chggo.com/90K. It is a 24-hour flash sale done tonight at midnight. 50% off all merch or $27 for your first year of CHGO Die Hard membership. We would love to have you as part of what we do here and it has never been more affordable to do so. So, thank you for getting us to 90K and uh who knows what the deal will be when we get to 100K. Look at those low rates. That’s right. Uh, speaking of reaching milestones with subscribers and followers, the chgo Blackhawks uh, Twitter account is just short of 17,000. So, if you want to be the lucky 17,000th follower on that account, go do it now and your prize will be in the mail. Yes. With an asterisk. you in a date with a with a CHDO producer. We don’t know which one yet. This has not been approved by HR. Yeah, but one of them will say yes. You you you can be you can be the 17,000th follower. Uh if you try real hard, so go do it now. You win one of Luke Stucker’s unbranded hats. You get one of the leftover uh rally cakes that Portillo sent around. There’s a hundred of them. There’s nine rally cakes all with one slice taken out of them. Yeah. Anyway, Portillos thought there’d be more rallies needed, but yes. All right, let’s get to uh the news from practice today. Here are your lines. Uh Bard, Doc, Burkovski, Nazar, Terravine, and Bertusi, Dickinson, Donado, McKv, Green, Felino, and Riel. Slagert, Laferdy rotating in. You’d probably throw Richel into the rotating in category as well. Your D pairs were Vlazic, Grenzelle, Grizzlick, Murphy, Kaiser, Krevier, and Levchenov rotating in. It really feels like this 117 thing is the way things are going to go at least in the short term here. Yeah, it’s it it feels that it’s going to be I know we talked about it last night, but it really does feel like it’s going to be more of a thing than uh I think we’d be normally used to seeing. And I I liked it’s it’s a uh it’s a non-traditional look. um you’d like to just be able to go 12 and six just with how things match up, how roles play out, how responsibilities uh are are divvied out, but with the group that the Blackhawks have where you have kind of more defenseman than you can play in a traditional uh 12 and six look, um you get seven guys in there, you get four right shot defenseman, so you’re able to play all of Renzel, Levanov, Krevier, and Murphy. And on the right side, you have two power play guys, two penalty kill guys. It it just feels like what Blash’s attempt to do is make sure everything’s even. Um and then offensively, you get to rotate in um most mostly Conor Bard into different matchups. So, you kind of create create some new things there. So, it’s it’s going to be talked about it with with some detail today. Okay. So, why don’t we hear it from the horse’s mouth right now? Here’s Jeff Lash after practice today. What did you learn about going 117 in Tampa? Obviously, that’s a thing you guys did there a fair bit. Yeah, I mean I I had done it before um in Detroit a bit too. Um did it a decent amount in Tampa. I think I think some teams it works, some teams it doesn’t. You know, I think if you go um you know, Coop and I coached against each other in junior and so I think in junior hockey we both probably at times went 11 and seven. I think uh again to me it’s a fit for your team. I think if you look through there are years where we didn’t much and years where we did. Um I think you know in this particular team it it kind of evens out responsibilities. Um and also at times makes uh matchups harder for the opponent because you’re able to like move guys like Connor around um and so he’s not just on one line so it makes it harder to match. So those are kind of some different ways that that reasons why we do it. Do you feel like having that experience makes it easier for you to roll the lines because it can be tricky sometimes? Yeah, it can be. I think the fact I’ve done it and I’ve watched Coupe do it and uh you know, like you get a feel for it a little bit and you know, I think again sometimes it depends what your maybe your line that you’re leaving open, what what the players are. Um, you know, like a guy like Greener, I I like to see uh, you know, Connor have some ice time with him or Frankie have some ice time with him because he’s a a guy who eventually, you know, has skill and can make some plays and, um, so it it kind of made sense that way. But yeah, I think you have to really uh, make sure that you you have kind of a plan going in and um, you can’t get too stuck on on matchups yourself because it it gets a little bit difficult. I’m surprised how much I uh sort of understand this especially with the way the Hawks roster is now. Not really. Um like okay, you want to play 12 and six just cuz that’s the standard. Okay. But I don’t know what he said about Louis Creier. Uh he likes he’s playing well. He said, we’ll put the whole thing on YouTube coming up this afternoon, but he says like Lou Krevy really improved his skating this year and he’s become a really dependable penalty killer and it just eases the burden for a lot of the other guys, eases the minutes and and I really like what he said about with young players, you don’t know what you’re getting every day and you’ve got to be, hey, you’re going to take the ice and maybe Leave is going to be great. Maybe Lefch’s going to struggle or Sam Renzel might struggle who he talked about today as well. So check that out. Um he said for Renzel, game one and four not so good. Game two and three really good. Yeah. So when you have 7D, you’re kind of insulating yourself against a guy having an off night, a young player having an off night. And I don’t need to shoehorn Lucas Reichel or Sam Waerty into the lineup just because that’s the other part of it is I I think you probably look at it and you say we would rather play these seven defenseman than put a forward in there that we’re not sold on what he’s bringing to to the lineup. Um and you could feel however you want about that about one specific guy out of those two. Um, but I think the re I think the reality is like the way that Jeff Blashel is setting up this team, the style that he’s trying to play, the style of players he has to work with. I think he’s finding the right guys to go into a game like last night where you’re not getting a ton going offensively. you’re relying on having to kind of play a little bit more of a mucky style, having to rely more on your defensive uh assignments and responsibilities to try and create the offense. You need the right mix of group uh the right mix in the group to get that uh to happen. And I think you saw with the game against Montreal where you had 10 penalty kills that you had to go off of. Imagine if you only if you were if you didn’t have that extra uh you know, they didn’t have that extra defenseman there. So you’re talking about Murphy and Crevier uh having to kill all those penalties and and Krevier was in the box for for you know a chunk of that game. So then you’re throwing you know Renzel onto the penalty kill which is not his 27 28 minutes or something. Yeah. Yeah. So I I I think especially because it’s the right side guys you don’t really worry about the last I’m not worried about. Kaiser, as we said, was like he’s through the four games, he’s been the most effective, most reliable defenseman that they’ve had. Matt Grizzlick is a veteran. He’s Matt Grizzlick. Fine, whatever. Um, not derogatory, just like, yeah, he’s fine. Um, so that right side is kind of where you, you know, you have two rookies and you have Creier who’s like a seventh defenseman, but you’re giving him more opportunity. Uh, and then you have Murphy who you who you trust more often than not. So, I I think using it to use that to use the most that you have on the right side defensively is is a is a good way to go about it. Even though I’m more of like I’d rather just one of Krevier or Lefchov or Renzel just say I can handle all of this 20 minutes a night or whatever. It’s coming. Um, I as much as I would rather that be the case, I I fully understand where Jeff Blashel is coming from in saying like these guys, you don’t want to overload them and then have someone sink. And the other part of it too is realistically the Hawks do not have a ton of offensive weapons. So it does give him the opportunity to say look if this team’s going to match up against us and you know this especially on the road if a team’s going to really focus on stopping the counterbard line or the Frank Nazar line they can say well we’re going to throw Franker Connor out with this third with this fourth line too and get those guys you know a couple double shifts you could probably throw Burakovski Terravine into that category too of guys who you can give a few extra shifts per game even if it’s all four of those guys they’re going to do more. I don’t want this to become the CHDL Blackhawks podcast, aka ripping Sam Laferty, because it’s not Sam Lafert’s fault. Sam Laughaferty plays a role. Uh it’s just not a great fit at the moment. Um but I’d much rather see those guys get extra shifts even if it’s not just just Bard or just Nazar. Hey, you know what? Burkovski had a couple nice shifts. Throw him out there for an extra one right here and make things complicated for the opponent. I think it as the Hawks are currently designed, the 117 thing makes some sense. Yeah. So, I’m here for it. I’m I’m got nothing against it. All right. Yeah. Anything else? Oh, I was just going to say I’m I’m I’m open to seeing it work. Yes. And I and I think Jeff Blash is in a spot where uh me personally, I’m I’m I’m good with letting him try some stuff. uh because I I like how the team has responded to different things that he has done and different things that he is trying to do and implement. Uh I think the team response is what gives me that like okay go for it. The team is responding to what he’s doing. Not that they didn’t necessarily respond to Sorenson and Richardson, but it it’s felt different at least through four games than it did all two three years ago. And it doesn’t just feel different, it looks different. So yes, that’s important. Real evidence of it. Yeah. All right. Tomorrow, Hawks in St. Louis. That puck drop, get ready for this, is 8:30. St. Louis time. Yes. Okay. St. Louis time. So, it’s a TNT game. We will be here so Fubar Total can watch the game. He doesn’t have to yell about CHSN on the chat. Hopefully, you get uh TNT, too. Yes, that’d be great. Uh, we will have pregame at 8:00. You’ll hear from Jeff Blau and maybe some players. We’ll see. And then we’ll have the postgame as soon as Hawks and Blues wrap up. So, join us tomorrow night right here on the CHGL Blackhawks podcast presented by Bet 365. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Chicago Blackhawks Chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz joins the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast for an exclusive interview on the team’s rebuild, future vision, and the 100-year Centennial Celebration. Wirtz shares insight into the organization’s commitment to developing young stars like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar while building a foundation for long-term success. Jay Zawaski and Mario Tirabassi react to Wirtz’s comments and what they reveal about the next era of Blackhawks hockey. Don’t miss this in-depth look at the future of the Chicago Blackhawks straight from the top.

00:00 Start
01:30 Danny Wirtz Interview
37:00 Blackhawk black jerseys
39:00 Danny Wirtz & Kyle Davidson
51:40 Practice updates
53:00 Jeff Blashill interview

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