A Chicago Blackhawks legend took in some hockey in his home country and met up with an old friend. A Central Division rival might be looking to lock up a young star, while a veteran defenseman calls it a career. It’s time for your Hump Day Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is currently going on in Czechia and Slovakia. The tournament features some of the best U18 prospects in the world, which has most of the NHL general managers in attendance. Kyle Davidson made the trip and met up with Blackhawks legend Marian Hossa, who posted this picture to his Instagram account.

Bleacher Report is putting together its quarter-century Mount Rushmore for all 32 teams. For the Blackhawks, they chose Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook. No major surprise there.

On this date in 2020, the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-0 series lead by beating the Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime. Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalik scored in the second period to erase a 2-0 Vegas lead. Mark Stone gave the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead, but was quickly answered by Dylan Strome. Reilly Smith followed up his two-goal performance in Game 1 by lighting the lamp seven minutes into extra time.

Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, August 13: Marty Turco and Jujhar Khaira.

NHL Chirps

Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley can sign a contract extension this summer. It’s the last offseason where eight-year deals are possible before the next CBA kicks in. Many feel that Utah should lock him up to a max deal this summer, but Brogan Houston of the Deseret News argues otherwise. He feels another big year could drive up his salary next summer as the cap rises.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that an arbitrator has ruled in favor of the Philadelphia Flyers in a grievance filed by Ryan Johansen over the team’s termination of his contract before the 2024-25 season.

Former Rockford IceHogs forward Rocco Grimaldi signed with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, per Pavel Panyshev of Russia’s Championat. He has 30 goals and 67 points in 203 NHL games. In 499 AHL games, he’s scored 192 goals and 428 points. Grimaldi had six goals and 17 points in 16 games for the IceHogs during the 2022-23 season. He spent the following season with the Chicago Wolves.

Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has announced his retirement. He played 369 games over 13 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers. He got his name on the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2017.

Chad Ruhwedel is officially calling it a career after going from undrafted to 369 NHL career games 👏
 
Wishing nothing but the best to Chad in his next chapter! pic.twitter.com/xkF9kqtZdw

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) August 12, 2025

NHL Birthday Roll Call, August 13: Joe Simpson, Bobby Clarke, Mark Osbourne, Shayne Corson, Marcus Ragnarsson, Ales Hemsky, Casey DeSmith, Cedric Paquette, Johnny Gaudreau, Filip Forsberg, Kyle Capobianco, and Leevi Merlainen.