We’re just over a week into the Chicago Blackhawks 2021 training camp and the first round of cuts were announced on Friday to trim the roster from 63 players down to 49.
Fourteen players were assigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL, with no surprises on the list:
Forwards: D.J. Buskeder, Liam Folkes, Carson Gicewicz, Riley McKay, Dylan McLaughlin, Garrett Mitchell, Chris Wilkie, Chad Yetman and Kale Howarth
Defenseman: Ryan Stanton
Goaltenders: Tom Aubrun and Cale Morris
Chicago now has 28 forwards, 16 defensemen and five goaltenders remaining in camp.
Saturday’s practice appeared to be a low-key affair, with Jonathan Toews receiving a “maintenance day” off after playing in both preseason games and attending every practice thus far.
Of course, that didn’t stop the budding practice rivalry that is Patrick Kane vs. Marc-Andre Fleury:
Marc-Andre Fleury is the goalie for Two Puck today and he gets the best of Patrick Kane. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/m7LNvQr0hV
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 2, 2021
Marc-Andre Fleury is 2-for-2 against Patrick Kane. Heated competition going on here. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/9wsPoJBCFn
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 2, 2021
There is Blackhawks preseason hockey happening on Saturday night: they’re playing the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Mo. Having played at home on Friday night, Chicago’s lineup is missing most of the team’s noticeable names:
Forwards: Dominik Kubalik, Adam Gaudette, Henrik Borgstrom, Jujhar Khaira, Dylan Strome, Brett Connolly, Philipp Kurashev, Colton Dach, Reese Johnson, MacKenzie Entwistle, Kirby Dach, Mike Hardman
Defenseman: Isaak Phillips, Nolan Allan, Louis Crevier, Wyatt Kalynuk, Riley Stillman, Nicolas Beaudin, Jakub Galvas
Goaltenders: Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia
Perhaps the Dach brothers will get some chances to skate as linemates in this game.
With this being a “home” game for the Blues, they’re sending out a lineup with more NHLers in it:
#stlblues projected lineup tonight vs. Chicago …
Kyrou-O’Reilly-Perron
Saad-Bozak-Neal
Frolik-Alexandrov-Kostin
MacEachern-Joshua-AnasKrug-Parayko
Rosen-Mikkola
Tucker-CrossHusso
Hofer— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) October 2, 2021
The only broadcasts of the game appear to be in the St. Louis area, with a stream available at the Blues’ official website.
[UPDATE] That link above appears to be working, even for those outside of the St. Louis area.