The Chicago Blackhawks will play the first of two preseason games that are as close to a dress rehearsal for the regular season as possible when they travel up I-94 to face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.
Coach Luke Richardson said earlier this week that the Blackhawks would ice lineups similar to what they’ll unveil for next week’s regular season opener in this game and again at the United Center on Friday night in the rematch between these two teams. That certainly appeared to be the case based on Tuesday’s morning skate:
Goalie is the one exception here, as Drew Commesso is destined for Rockford by next week. With Petr Mrazek playing well earlier this week, though, the veteran netminder probably won’t need much more preseason ice time and any NHL-adjacent exposure should help Commesso’s long-term development, so here we are.
There was one other curious piece of news that emerged from Tuesday’s morning media sessions centered on young blue-liner Wyatt Kaiser. He hasn’t been on the ice for about a week, for reasons unveiled by Richardson:
Richardson did not go into any more detail on that “unexpected issue” which required a closer look and perhaps Kaiser will get the chance to reveal that himself the first time he’s behind a microphone now that he’s been given the full go to return to practice. Still a touch weird overall, but it seems to be over now.
Tuesday’s morning practices also brought a glimpse of what Chicago’s power-play units will look like:
Minnesota’s throwing out a lineup full of its probable NHLers as well:
One key absence for Minnesota, though, is top-six forward Matt Boldy, who’s been out with a lower-body injury suffered last week and is approaching a return but not quite there yet.
This game will also give Chicago another up-close look on possible future free-agent signing Kirill Kaprizov, based on some of internet chatter from late last month.
Guess Kaprizov hopes to one day discover what life is like beyond the first round of the NHL playoffs before he retires.
We’ll worry about that later. The present is more important this evening.
Let’s go Hawks.
How to Watch
When: 7 p.m. CT
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul
TV: CHSN — Yes, the new TV network launched on Oct. 1, aka today. A quick Google search says DirecTV subscribers can find it on Channel 665 while it’s 741 (Standard Definition) or 1741 (High Definition) on U-Verse. The other option is WJYS Channel 62, which is accessible via TV antenna. Yes, you read that correctly. The network is currently not available to Xfinity TV subscribers.
Webstream: N/A
Radio: WGN 720