Young Blackhawks Continue Stretch Of Overtime Battles

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Everyone takes March Madness to heart.

Whether it’s Tyler Tanner of Vanderbilt nearly sinking a game-winning heave, the Blackhawks taking every game to overtime, the Bulls nearly coming back from a 29 point deficit, or Venezuela winning the World Baseball Classic, there were plenty of intense moments this past week!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - WILD 4 BLACKHAWKS 3 (F/OT)

CAPTAIN FLIGGY: HOMECOMING

• Hawks honored Nick Foligno in the captain’s return to Chicago, and he lined up for the opening faceoff against Connor Bedard!

• Wild scored 3 1st period goals and led 10-0 in high danger chances that period

• Frank Nazar tied the game at the end of regulation thanks to great feeds from Bedard and Artyom Levshunov (who was on the ice for 26:29!)

W - BLACKHAWKS 2 WILD 1

THE TURNING TIDE

• Hawks’ 1st regulation win vs. the Wild since 2019 (20 games ago!) and 1st win vs. the Wild this season after three consecutive 4-3 OT/SO finishes

• A Bedard takeaway and breakaway backhand goal in the 2nd period was the game-winner

• Ryan Greene and Tyler Bertuzzi were each inches away from scoring and extending the 3rd period lead

L - AVALANCHE 4 BLACKHAWKS 1

PLAYING PEPPER

• Arvid Soderblom was bombarded with an absurd 49 shots on goal and somehow kept 45 of them out of the net

• Wyatt Kaiser scored the only Hawks goal on a nice pass from Greene

• Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas each had 3 points for the NHL-best Avs

L - PREDATORS 3 BLACKHAWKS 2 (F/OT)

BURAK-OFF THE PUCK

• Andre Burakovsky was bullied off the puck behind the net in overtime, leading to a Filip Forsberg game-winner

• Matt Grzelcyk left the game early due to injury, so the other 5 defensemen racked up a ton of ice time (Alex Vlasic led the team with 26:34!)

• Nick Lardis and Bedard each scored a goal

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Connor Bedard

2 goals and 2 assists (4 points) on 14 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Alex Vlasic save at the buzzer

Signed Sacha Boisvert, their 2024 18th overall pick, to a 3-year entry-level contract ($974K cap hit). It’s official!! His visa issues still need to be squared away, but he should debut for the Hawks this week.

Anton Frondell, their 2025 3rd overall pick, will also debut for the Hawks this week! His Swedish Hockey League team, Djurgården, was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Roman Kantserov finished his KHL season with 36 goals in 63 games

Reports keep circulating that the Blackhawks have kicked the tires on acquiring a star player via trade. Matthew Knies was discussed at the trade deadline, and they also had interest in Robert Thomas. Kyle Davidson has openly stated they are interested in adding talent to their young core when they find the right opportunity.

Louis Crevier recorded the hardest shot of the season that resulted in a goal at 102.54 mph!

Called up Dominic Toninato from the AHL

65 points already surpassed last season’s 61-point mark and is actually their highest total since 2021-2022 (68 points) 🙄

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/F/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

W - BULLS 132 GRIZZLIES 107

THE BUZI GIDDEY SHOW

• Matas Buzelis scored 18 points in the 3rd quarter and finished with 29p/7r

• Josh Giddey had another impressive triple-double (16p/15r/13a)

• An opponent finally had more turnovers than the Bulls!! (18-17 Grizzlies)

L - RAPTORS 139 BULLS 109

SLOP ANOMALY

• Raptors started fast with a 32-17 1st quarter and eventually led by 38 points

• Giddey finished with 0 rebounds, Smith/Richards/Yabusele combined for only 13 rebounds

• Raptors scored 26 points off of 19 Bulls turnovers

L - CAVALIERS 115 BULLS 110

BENCH MOB RALLY

• On the same day March Madness began, the Bulls came back from a 29 point deficit to pull within 1

• Leonard Miller and Yabusele each scored all 10 of their points in the 4th quarter

• Giddey had a career-high 19 assists, which is the most by a Bull since Ennis Whatley in 1985!

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Matas Buzelis

20.3p/6.3r per game, 7 blocks, 5 steals

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Tre Jones buzzer beater block

Matas Buzelis reached 100 blocks on the season and etched himself into the record books!

• 1 of 2 players this season to have 100 blocks and 100 3PT (Victor Wembanyama)

• Only player in Bulls history and 6th in NBA history to have 100 blocks and 150 3PT in a single season

SCHEDULE 📅 M/W/F/SAT

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

FREE AGENCY

Signed LB Jack Sanborn

• Lake Zurich represent! The Sandman, The Jackhammer, Jack Attack is back with the Bears after 1 season in Dallas. I bet he’s excited to play for a coach not named Matt Eberflus!

Signed DT James Lynch

• Vikings draft pick who most recently played for the Titans

Andrew Billings signed with the Arizona Cardinals

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

SPRING TRAINING & WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

• Daniel Palencia is a champion! Palencia and Venezuela beat USA 3-2 to take home the gold. He threw 5 near-perfect innings in the tournament (3 saves, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K)

• Cade Horton recorded 10 Ks and 21 whiffs in a 5-inning start last Monday

• Shota Imanaga recorded 8 Ks and 25 whiffs in a 4.2-inning start last Tuesday

• Seiya Suzuki strained his PCL at the World Baseball Classic and has a chance to start the season on the IL

• Michael Conforto will be on the Opening Day Roster! Since Seiya will be out due to injury, does that make Conforto the replacement or the 4th OF? We still need to find out who will take the last bench spot!

• Spring Breakout Game: Cubs beat the Padres 7-5

  • Prospects Owen Ayers, Kade Snell, Ariel Armas, and Carter Trice all hit HRs!

• Team is 13-16 with 2 Spring Training games remaining

SEASON PREDICTION

90-72, 2nd in NL Central, Wild Card

The Cubs won 92 games in 2025 and still couldn’t win the division.

PCA had ridiculous numbers despite a difficult second half. Suzuki, Busch, and Kelly all had career years at the plate. Matthew Boyd was lights out, Cade Horton was the best pitcher in baseball in the second half, and they somehow got a billion scoreless innings out of Drew Pomeranz and Chris Flexen.

There were injuries and times of struggle, but overall, the 2025 squad exceeded expectations.

In order to take the next step, they replaced Kyle Tucker with Alex Bregman, did a line change in the bullpen, and traded for Edward Cabrera…?

I still think PCA is the star of this team and will improve again this year. How much better will he be after a 31 HR and 35 SB season? I bet his OPS will jump from .768 to .850.

In a perfect world, Busch, Bregman, and Seiya would provide consistent offense for a group that will probably be solid yet unspectacular most of the time. Ballesteros would be the key to an elite offense featuring 6 25+ HR players, and the younger guys would raise the floor of the entire group. With Daniel Palencia excelling in the closer role, the bullpen would stabilize early with newcomers setting the table.

The Cubs could explode for a huge season, but I still can’t pick them to win the division until they win the division.

The rotation is full of question marks with Steele returning from injury, Taillon struggling in the spring, Shota trying to bounce back from a down year, and Cabrera trying to stay healthy. With Tucker gone, they lose a superstar hitter without truly replacing him in a league that requires otherworldly hitters to beat the best in October.

It will be another electric summer at Wrigley Field and another year of October baseball. I’m just sick of saying the Brewers will probably win 91 games.

Opening Day ➡️ Thursday @ 1:20pm vs. Nationals!

SCHEDULE 📅 TH/SAT/SUN

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Nick Foligno

Foligno returned to Chicago and made sure to treat his former teammates who he considers his “kids” to dinner. He has only spoken fondly of the Blackhawks organization and clearly loved his time in Chicago!

MILD TAKE

Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis are a good duo.

There were plenty of frustrated fans when the Bulls traded Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey and ultimately decided to re-sign Giddey for $25M/year. The focus on acquiring experienced young players never really made sense, and Giddey was very unproven when he arrived in Chicago.

Now that the original Arturas Karnisovas squad has moved on, this “new” iteration of the Bulls still lacks a star. Fortunately, this season has cemented two players as part of their core for the future.

Giddey and Buzelis have carried this team when healthy and are dominating the league this month.

In March (as of 3/22):

Josh Giddey - 16.8p/9.8r/11.8a per game, 5 triple-doubles, 39.4 3PT%

Matas Buzelis - 21.4p/6.9r/1.9b per game

Buzelis still has a ton of development ahead of him, and Giddey hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. Honestly, either player could become a legitimate star. And even if they don’t, both players fit the new identity of the Bulls. Whether or not the rest of the team will be built to suit is up in the air, but Giddey and Buzelis are a very good place to start.

HITTING THE LINKS

Patrick Mooney - Should the Cubs be concerned about Jameson Taillon’s spring training? (The Athletic)

Scott Powers - Anton Frondell has more to accomplish in Sweden before joining Blackhawks (The Athletic)

Gabby Hajduk - Fast Facts: Kalif Raymond (chicagobears.com)

Ben Pope - How Artyom Levshunov has improved his defensive play along with the Blackhawks (Chicago Sun-Times)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Change all your clocks to 1:20pm - baseball is back!