🏒 Chicago Blackhawks

TROPHY TRACKER

1-❌-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

Results:

L - Kings 6, Blackhawks 2

Last week’s momentum did not carry over as a flurry of goals in the 2nd period lifted the Kings to a blowout win.

• Kevin Korchinski (and the rest of the defensemen) had a tough night, but he sniped a goal late in the game

• Colin Blackwell was boarded and left the game with an upper-body injury

L - Ducks 4, Blackhawks 0

The new high-powered Blackhawks offense did not remember they were facing the Ducks again, but the tension was HIGH after last week’s scrum.

• Physicality was evident on both sides: the Hawks committed 6 penalties, 2 of which led to power play goals, and 2 fights happened when Ducks players retaliated after hits

• Luke Richardson went with an 11 forward, 7 defensemen lineup, still opting to scratch MacKenzie Entwistle with Colin Blackwell out due to injury

W - Blackhawks 5, Sharks 4 (OT)

What looked like a sleeper against the worst team in the league, and a chance to gain ground in the lottery standings in another Tankathon game, turned into a crazy 4-goal comeback for the Hawks ending in a Seth Jones overtime winner!

• Blackhawks’ first 4-goal comeback since 2009

• The Sharks dominated early with a 2-0 1st period where they had a 16-3 advantage in 5 on 5 scoring chances

• Seth Jones 2g, Ryan Donato 1g/2a, Tyler Johnson 1g/1a, Philipp Kurashev 1g/1a

Week Record: 1-2-0

Season Record: 20-46-5

Star of the Week: Seth Jones

Jones capped off his active week with the overtime winner 18 seconds into overtime on Saturday night.

He totaled 14 shots on goal in 3 games, had 2 goals and 1 assist, and averaged almost 25 minutes on the ice each game.

Play of the Week: Seth Jones’ overtime winner

News & Notes:

• Wyatt Kaiser was recalled from the AHL last Monday and appeared in every game last week

• Connor Bedard was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week for the week ending on March 17th

• Lukas Reichel appeared to gain some confidence against the Sharks. We’ll see if that continues as we head towards the end of the season.

• The Hawks have the 2nd best lottery odds with 11 games left to play:

🏀 Chicago Bulls

TROPHY TRACKER

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Results:

W - Bulls 110, Trailblazers 107

A commanding 3rd quarter lead quickly turned into a nail biter. DeMar DeRozan stepped up yet again to seal a close win for the Bulls.

• DeMar finished with 28p/6a/5r and passed up on a final shot in clutch time to find Nikola Vucevic down low and take a 3 point lead with 9 seconds remaining

• Ayo Dosunmu had his first career back-to-back 20+ point games and finished with a 23p/10a double-double

L - Rockets 127, Bulls 117

The Rockets won their 7th straight game in comfortable fashion as the Bulls were a step behind from the jump in Coby White’s return from injury.

• Rockets put up 42 points in the 1st quarter

• Ayo had his 3rd straight 20+ point game with a monster 35 point night (13-18 FG, 5-6 3PT 🔥), including 19 points in the 1st half alone

• DeMar DeRozan and Dillon Brooks were both ejected after getting in each other’s faces in the 3rd quarter. DeMar had just fouled Jalen Green (who led the Rockets on the night with 26 points), and Brooks took offense. DeMar inadvertently elbowed Brooks, and the whole scene escalated.

  • To be fair, standing up to Brooks (based on his history) without getting punched seems like a clear victory to me

L - Celtics 124, Bulls 113

The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics (now 57-14 😮) stomped the Bulls on a night they were missing Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, AND Jrue Holiday.

• Bulls had a season-high 36 assists and only turned the ball over 7 times

• Celtics dominated in 3-point shooting (21-48 vs. 9-24) and second chance points (23-2)

  • Former Bull Luke Kornet somehow grabbed 13 rebounds on a night Nikola Vucevic only had 2 🤷‍♂️

• DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 28p/9a/6r

Week Record: 1-2

Season Record: 34-37

Star of the Week: Ayo Dosunmu

Ayo has been thriving in a starting role lately, and his scoring abilities continue to reach new heights.

He averaged 24 points per game this week on 56.9% shooting and puts in a strong defensive effort every night.

Play of the Week: Dalen Terry putback slam

News & Notes:

• Old friend Javonte Green signed a 10-day contract to return to the Bulls

  • He was most likely signed using an injury hardship designation - the Bulls did not have any open roster spots

  • Green has played in the G-League this year for the Santa Cruz Warriors

• The Bulls are STILL firmly in the #9 seed in the East with 11 games remaining. If they win in the play-in tournament, they would play the #1 seed…Boston Celtics.

🏈 Chicago Bears

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-4-❌-6-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

• Caleb Williams put on a spectacle at USC’s Pro Day on Wednesday

  • The Bears sent 9 representatives to USC: GM Ryan Poles, AGM Ian Cunningham, HC Matt Eberflus, OC Shane Waldron, Passing Game Coordinator Thomas Brown, QB Coach Kerry Joseph, national scout Francis Saint Paul, area scout Reese Hicks, and offensive assistant Robbie Picazo

  • Caleb looked effortless throwing passes all over the field, ending with a 67 yard bomb - he even added a nice looking punt to cap off the workout

  • The Bears were not attempting to hide their presence and enthusiasm - Poles & Flus were even seen shaking Caleb’s father’s hand and speaking with his family

  • New Bears WR Keenan Allen, who lives in the LA area, also showed up to the Pro Day decked out in Bears attire

    • It was strange seeing a current NFL player at a Pro Day, and even more so when it’s a player who could be scouting a future teammate

    • To be honest, I loved seeing Allen there representing the Bears even though he had only been on the team for a week

• Signed DE Byron Cowart to a 1-year contract

  • Has played in 36 NFL games and was most recently on the Dolphins practice squad

• Representatives were present at the Michigan, Notre Dame, and other various Pro Days last week

• I learned D’Andre Swift and D.J. Moore grew up together in the Philly area - check out the spotlight on Swift from Gabby Hajduk here

⚾ Chicago Cubs

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-4-5-❌-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

• Opening Day is Thursday night in Texas!

• Justin Steele was hit in the leg by a ground ball in his last Spring Training start on Friday but appears to be on schedule to make his start on Opening Day

• Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad will both be in the rotation to start the season

  • Due to the Jameson Taillon injury - he will return no sooner than mid-April

  • Drew Smyly will begin the season in the bullpen, but Craig Counsell believes Smyly will make starts this year

• Patrick Wisdom will start the season on IL, and Garrett Cooper has made the team coming out of camp

• Dom Smith & Carl Edwards Jr. opted out of their contracts with the Cubs and are free agents again - I’m curious if they were informed they would not make the Opening Day roster and therefore wanted to look for other opportunities

• According to reports, the Cubs and Dodgers will open the 2025 MLB season in Tokyo ✈

📣 SAY WHAT?

😎 GOOD ONE ALERT

Nick Foligno

Yes, Nick Foligno is a good one, in case you’ve missed that over the last couple months.

After the Kings game, Luke Richardson talked about Kevin Korchinski needing to play meaner. He said Korch is a nice kid but needs to play with more tenacity and needs to focus on boxing players out of the crease.

In Wednesday’s practice, Nick Foligno was working with Korch in drills, and you could see the vocal support Foligno has for the youngsters on this team.

He’s definitely the type of guy you want in this organization now and for the next couple years.

🍽 Follow-up from 2/19: Dinners with DeMar Episode 3 with Damian Lillard is now out on YouTube

🔥 MILD TAKE ❄

The Bulls’ Big 3 is DeMar, Coby, and Ayo.

The alleged Big 3 since 2021-2022 has been LaVine, DeMar, and Vucevic.

We all know how that has worked out. A half season hot streak as the best team in the East and then a whole lot of mediocrity.

That core should have been broken up a long time ago. Those three aren’t good enough on their own to match up against the stars in the NBA, and the sum has not been greater than the parts during their time in Chicago.

Now that we’re into 2024 and looking ahead to next season already, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have fast-tracked their development as of late. Both players have made it clear that big games and 20+ point outings are now the norm instead of the outlier.

I have no clue if Arturas Karnisovas will make any significant roster changes this summer (since he hasn’t in essentially 3 full years), but I’m leaning towards keeping DeMar, Coby, and Ayo.

I’m not sure if AK could get any value for Zach LaVine at this point, but please unload the contract to gain cap flexibility moving forward. Re-sign DeMar to keep your leader and best scorer around for the next couple years. And maybe trade Vooch…? He really can’t shoot the 3 consistently anymore, and the state of the NBA should really push the Bulls to get a new center.

There still isn’t a clear path to being a contending team. The roster building has to be creative, and I have no reason to believe AK will craft it correctly. But focusing on a new Big 3 may be the right choice.