Cubs Win Five Straight As Sacramento Ignites The Offense

Good morning Chicago fans! The Home Opener at Wrigley is a special day every year. I’m grateful for every Cubs season I’ve watched since I was a little kid, and I’m grateful for all of you who have joined me in our family of fandom. Your stories of how you became Chicago sports fans amaze me, and I appreciate you all!

And to you White Sox fans - it was a fun 2-2 start. Now they’re on pace to set another record with 36 wins!!!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - Avalanche 3, Blackhawks 2 (SO)

Heartbreak with 10 seconds on the clock

• Martin Necas scored with 10 seconds left to tie the game after the Hawks started the 3rd period with a 2-0 lead

• Hawks PK was dominant all night (4/4). Ilya Mikheyev even scored a sweet shorthanded goal!

• Scott Wedgewood followed up his ridiculous shutout performance vs. the Hawks on March 10th with some athletic saves and the shootout clincher

L - Capitals 5, Blackhawks 3

Another blown lead as Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky

• Ovechkin scored 2 goals to tie Gretzky’s NHL record with 894 career goals

• Capitals owned the 3rd period and turned a 3-2 Hawks lead into a 5-3 victory

• Oliver Moore recorded his first 2 NHL points with 2 assists 🎉

W - Blackhawks 3, Penguins 1

Spencer Knight ends the losing streak!

• Knight rediscovered his mojo and shut down the Penguins with 28 saves

• Another shorthanded goal for the Hawks PK! Frank Nazar this time

• Sam Rinzel recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Mikheyev’s 1st of 2 goals

Star of the Week ⭐ Frank Nazar

2 goals, 2 assists (4 points) on 8 shots

Play of the Week 🎥 Connor Murphy goal

Signed D Taige Harding to a 2-year, entry-level contract ($867,500 cap hit). He was a 3rd round pick in 2021 and will play at Rockford on an amateur tryout for the rest of this season.

Lukas Reichel was scratched for the Capitals game because he missed a team meeting 🙄

Prospect Sacha Boisvert is transferring from the University of North Dakota to Boston University after an impressive freshman year (18g/14a in 37 games)

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/SAT (5 games left in the season!)

CHICAGO BULLS

L - Thunder 145, Bulls 117

Relentless defense from the 63-win Thunder

• Thunder outshot the Bulls (53.1 to 44.9 FG% and 53.5 to 31.4 3PT%), forced 20 turnovers, and built a comical 43 point lead in the 3rd quarter

• Josh Giddey had a 15p/10a/8r double-double in his revenge game

• Jevon Carter led the Bulls in scoring with 17 points 🤔

W - Bulls 137, Raptors 118

Shorthanded Bulls step on the gas

• Talen Horton-Tucker scored a season-high 27 points as the Bulls used an 8-man rotation due to injuries

• Bulls shot 56.8% from the field and scored 70 points in the paint!

• Giddey (17p/12a) and Nikola Vucevic (22p/10r) each had a double-double

W - Bulls 118, Trailblazers 113

Near-collapse against injured Blazers

• A 15-2 run by the Blazers in the 4th quarter made it a tight game

• Giddey joined Russell Westbrook and Luka Doncic as the only modern era players to have a 15p/19r/12a game

• Vucevic had 31p/12r, Matas Buzelis (12p/12r) had his first career double-double, and Coby White was his usual sub-zero self (31p)

W - Bulls 131, Hornets 117

Coby’s homecoming beatdown!

• Coby scored 37 points on 12/16 shooting in his home state!

• Bulls had 26 fastbreak points compared to the Hornets’ 5 😂

• Bulls shot 60% from 3PT in a 75-point 1st half

Star of the Week ⭐ Josh Giddey

17.5p/10.5a/11r per game, 3 double-doubles, 1 triple-double

Play of the Week 🎥 Matas Buzelis blocks 7’1” Chet Holmgren

Coby White was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March 🥇 Only Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan have ever won the award for the Bulls

Billy Donovan was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame!

Coby’s streak of 20+ point games ended at 15 in the Thunder game 😢

Coby broke his own franchise record for 3-pointers made in a single season with 210!

Clinched their inevitable appearance in the Play-In Tournament. They are currently the 9th seed and only 1 game back of the Hawks for the 8th seed.

SCHEDULE 📅 T/W/F/SUN (Last 4 games of the season!)

CHICAGO CUBS

W - Cubs 18, Athletics 3

Welcome to Sacramento, MLB!

• Cubs bats EXPLODED on Sutter Health Park’s Opening Day, the temporary minor league home of the A’s, with 18 runs on 21 hits and 4 HRs

• Carson Kelly hit for the cycle out of the 9-hole! He’s the first Cub to accomplish the feat since Mark Grace in 1993. He also drew 2 walks in the game!

W - Cubs 7, Athletics 4

Offense continues to shine!

• Seiya Suzuki started the fun with a 1st inning 3-R HR, Kyle Tucker homered in his FOURTH straight game

• Justin Steele gutted his way through 6.2 IP despite giving up two 2-R HRs

• Porter Hodge and Ryan Pressly had a much calmer 8th and 9th inning to close out the win

W - Cubs 10, Athletics 2

Seiya’s Sacramento sweep!!! 🧹

• 2 HRs and 5 RBI from Seiya carried the offense as the Cubs finished the 3-game series with 35 runs, 41 hits, and 8 HRs

• Jameson Taillon earned the win (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), and the bullpen threw 3 scoreless innings to finish off a flawless series where they allowed 0 ER

W - Cubs 3, Padres 1

Home Opener W over the undefeated Padres!

• Shota Imanaga dominated in his 2nd consecutive home opener (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

• The wind was blowing in, so the Cubs eeked out runs on a bases loaded walk, Seiya beating out a force play at 2nd, and a bobbled grounder by Manny Machado

• Defense won the game! PCA, Shaw, Nico, and others all made huge plays with the glove.

W - Cubs 7, Padres 1

Baby Blues Slugfest!

• Cubs donned their new alternate jerseys and dominated EVERY aspect of the game - defense continued to run laps around the Padres’ defense

• Carson Kelly is inhuman! A big 4 RBI day!

• Matthew Boyd threw 6 shutout innings to continue his strong start to the season

L - Padres 8, Cubs 7

Sweep slips through Justin Turner’s glove

• Turner dropped the ball on a would-be double play that scored the winning run in the 9th inning

• Cubs scored 5 runs in the 1st inning on 4 walks and 2 balks. Starter Kyle Hart didn’t even make it out of the inning.

• Ben Brown settled down after a rough 3-run 1st, but the bullpen let another big lead slip away

Star of the Week ⭐ Kyle Tucker

9-for-23 (.391 AVG), 3 HR, 8 RBI

Play of the Week 🎥 Ian Happ diving catch

Cubs had 2 players hit 4+ HRs in the first 9 games of the season (Tucker and Seiya) for the first time since 1954 (Gene Baker, Hank Sauer, Randy Jackson)

Ian Happ played in his 1,000th career game on Saturday - all as a Chicago Cub! He is 1 of 8 active players to play 1,000 games with one team. He received a “1000” jersey signed by all of his teammates as a gift!

Kyle Tucker is ON FIRE to start his Cubs career. This is what a superstar hitter looks like! His 1.0 fWAR is tied for 1st in MLB with Aaron Judge. He has 12 walks to 6 strikeouts, a 1.203 OPS, and 5 HRs and 15 RBI in 12 games. I already trust him every single time he’s at the plate. It’s been too long since the Cubs had someone like that in the lineup.

SCHEDULE 📅 M/T/W/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

Signed QB Case Keenum to a 1-year, $3M contract

• Caleb Williams has a new veteran mentor! The 37 year old is a GREAT dude with a ton of experience in the NFL. He most recently spent two years with the Houston Texans mentoring CJ Stroud. Caleb had Brett Rypien around in training camp last season but didn’t have a vet in the room for the rest of the year.

• Keenum’s 2018 season with the Broncos (3,890) would be the most passing yards in a season in Bears history (3,838 by Erik Kramer in 1995)

Signed WR Miles Boykin to a 1-year contract

• Tinley Park native was most recently on the Seahawks practice squad

Signed DB Shaun Wade to a 1-year contract

• Previously on the Chargers practice squad

George McCaskey and Kevin Warren openly spoke about Arlington Heights AND Downtown being their focus for the new stadium. This was the most encouraging Arlington update in a LONG time. The winds seem to be blowing that direction…

Braxton Jones is recovering well from surgery but will be limited when training camp begins

Jaquan Brisker has been medically cleared after missing most of last season with a concussion

Ben Johnson expects to have 3-5 captains this season. Finally some sense…that 8 captain business was an absolute mess last year on a team that had no leadership.

Offseason program begins TODAY 👏

April 21-23: Voluntary minicamp

April 25-27: NFL Draft

May 20-22: OTAs

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Connor Murphy

Most Blackhawks players have underachieved this season, or at the very least have seemed disinterested. Especially the veterans who would prefer to be on a winning team heading towards a playoff appearance.

Connor Murphy is a clear exception. Since the Seth Jones trade, Murphy has looked energized. He’s been a spark on the ice every single game and has the production to back it up.

His missile of a goal against an elite Avs team was a sight to see, and he said he just wants to play hard for the fans. We appreciate you, Murph!

MILD TAKE

Kevin Korchinski is still a big part of the Blackhawks’ future.

The Hawks’ defensive core has been on display with the big league squad. Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, and Sam Rinzel look like a force to be reckoned with moving forward.

Levshunov and Rinzel have particularly shown the speed and confidence that gives Hawks fans hope for the future. This blue line could really be special.

As others earned promotions and made some game-changing plays, Kevin Korchinski’s role took a backseat.

I’ve seen fans call for him to be traded. I’ve seen him labeled as a bust. I’ve seen everyone saying he’s the weak link of the defense in this rebuild and needs to be moved somewhere else.

I completely disagree.

He’s a 20-year old defenseman still gaining experience at the AHL and NHL levels. He was Kyle Davidson’s first draft pick (7th overall in 2022) because of his limitless potential. He can skate, he can score, and he can still develop for many years to come.

Davidson didn’t draft Levshunov 2nd overall this past year to replace Korchinski. He drafted him to SUPPLEMENT Korchinski. The Hawks have an impressive young core in the organization, and a blue line anchor of Vlasic/Levshunov/Rinzel/Korchinski is as good as it gets.

We shouldn’t give up on any young player in the middle of a rebuild. We definitely shouldn’t give up on a top prospect who just needs some time. Everyone’s path is different.

HITTING THE LINKS

Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, and Sahadev Sharma - The Cubs are one of MLB’s top revenue machines. So why aren’t they paying for more players? (The Athletic)

Scott Powers - Blackhawks’ Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel show promise in NHL debuts: 20 thoughts (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Analyzing Oliver Moore's transition to Blackhawks, development at Minnesota (Chicago Sun-Times)

Mark Lazerus - Blackhawks’ Kevin Korchinski weeding out ‘immature’ plays as he eyes permanent NHL spot (The Athletic)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

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