No rest for the wicked! The Chicago Blackhawks are right back at it tonight, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before you get your day started, get caught up on the organizational sweep of the Stars, another big World Juniors game for a Blackhawks prospect, and a busy night in the NHL.
Blackhawks ChirpsThe Blackhawks weren’t given much of a chance to beat the Dallas Stars last night, but they pulled off a big shootout upset thanks to another huge road game from Tyler Bertuzzi and a great effort from Arvid Soderblom. The Rockford IceHogs completed the organizational sweep on Saturday by beating the Texas Stars 8-4 in front of a sold-out crowd at the BMO Center. The new LED dashboards were broken in with grand style. Gavin Hayes had a career night with two goals and four points. Veterans Kevin Lombardi and Jamie Engelbert both scored twice, while Josh Lopina and Dmitry Kuzmin rounded out the scoring. Team USA improved to 2-0-0 at the World Junior Championship by beating Switzerland 2-1. Will Zellers scored this third goal of the tournament, while A.J. Spellacy was held off the scoresheet. The scariest moment of the day game with Cole Hutson had to be stretchered off the ice after being hit in the back of the head with a shot. Head coach Bob Motzko told Jon Morosi that Hutson was released from the hospital and will be evaluated later today.
Cole Hutson had to be stretchered off the ice after taking a puck to the head vs. Switzerland. 🙏 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/JDEx3oECTB
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2025We saw a no-look assist by Vasclav Nestrasil on Friday, then we got the no-look power-play goal on Saturday. Nestrasil had his second straight multi-point game, including the game-winning goal, in Czechia’s 7-2 win over Denmark. Czechia is now 1-1-0 in group play and will play Finland on Monday afternoon.
VACLAV NESTRASIL WITH THE NO-LOOK SNIPE! OH MY GOODNESS! 😱 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/bIPNVvavf4
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2025In the other two matchups of the day, Slovakia beat Germany 4-1 to improve to 1-1-0, while Canada needed overtime to beat Latvia 2-1. Sunday’s schedule will feature Sweden vs. Switzerland at 1 pm, followed by Finland vs. Latvia at 3:30 pm. As 2025 comes to an end, we’ll be looking back at the top 25 Blackhawks of the past quarter-century. Our first five include two Stanley Cup winners and three players who helped bridge the gap between the dark times and glory years. Heading into the season, the Blackhawks were not expecting to be in the discussion for the number one overall pick. But, as Ty Glenn writes, with the recent slide down the standings, the possibility of landing Gavin McKenna is getting greater. The recent injuries to Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar may also have changed how general manager Kyle Davidson approaches the trade deadline. As Nestor Quixtan points out, one veteran is already catching the eye of a couple of contenders. On this date in 1974, Dennis Hull became the fifth player in franchise history to score 250 goals by finding the back of the net in a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 28: Tomas Jurco.NHL ChirpsAccording to Anthony DiMarco of Daily Faceoff, the Minnesota Wild attempted to trade forward Ryan Hartman to the Flyers ahead of acquiring Quinn Hughes. The former Blackhawk has a 15-team no-trade list, so it will be interesting to see if he eventually gets traded. The Tampa Bay Lightning locked up another one of their young players. They signed defenseman J.J. Moser to an eight-year, $54 million contract extension. The 25-year-old was part of the return from the Utah Mammoth in the Mikhail Sergachev trade. The Buffalo Sabres won their eighth straight game by beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 last night. Their recent run has them tied with the Florida Panthers for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have the tiebreaker because they have more wins in regulation.The St. Louis Blues snapped the Nashville Predators’ three-game winning streak by knocking them off 3-2. Captain Brayden Schenn scored the game’s opening goal for his 700th career point.
700 career points, 3 different angles 🤩 pic.twitter.com/pmsMiqTSaB
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 28, 2025The ECHL player strike looks to have lasted only two days after a tentative deal was reached on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The Professional Hockey Players’ Association and the @ECHL announced today that a tentative deal has been reached on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The tentative agreement remains subject to ratification by the PHPA’s ECHL membership and approval by the ECHL Board of… pic.twitter.com/AJ73O1Ot0H
— PHPA (@thephpa) December 28, 2025NHL Birthday Roll Call, Dec. 28: Eddie Wiseman, Terry Sawchuk, Harry Howell, Dave Hudson, Ray Bourque, Rob Niedermayer, Dave Moss, and Curtis Glengross.