Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Sports Alliance, which includes the NFL's Bears, NBA's Bulls, NHL's Blackhawks and MLB's Cubs and White Sox, made a commitment of $300,000 to find "evidence-based solutions to gun violence" after recent mass shootings in Texas and Buffalo.

Here's the teams' full statement:

pic.twitter.com/AAMEPK5TyX

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 28, 2022

On Tuesday, 19 students and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

That tragedy occurred less than two weeks after a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store killed 10 people.

Both shootings were carried out by gunmen who used high-powered assault rifles.

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr delivered one of the most impassioned speeches about his desire for improved gun-control measures on Tuesday:

Steve Kerr on today's tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022

It's one snippet of the effort made by sports teams and players since the shootings.

The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays used their social-media accounts to raise awareness about gun violence rather than providing game coverage during Thursday's contest.

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Kris Boyd, a Texas native, started a GoFundMe fundraiser to benefit the families whose children were killed in Uvalde.

"These are children, man. ... Try to put that in your mind," Boyd said. "I saw something on Twitter that said they had to identify these kids by their backpacks. I was devastated. I cried."

Donations from the Chicago sports franchises will benefit two organizations.

The Robb School Memorial Fund was set up to help families impacted by the tragedy.

The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation was established after a 2012 school shooting in Connecticut where 20 children and six staff members were killed. It aims to "honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation."

Chicago's teams said they are "committed to making a difference through our resources in this gun violence epidemic."

The Montreal Canadiens went from a Stanley Cup Final in 2021 to picking No. 1 overall in the 2022 NHL draft during a year in which the Habs are hosting the event at Bell Centre.

What a wild year it's been for one of the NHL's most historic franchises. Montreal is going to party like it's 1993. 

Shane Wright is the projected first overall pick. There has been some debate as to whether or not the OHL center is worthy of the honor after a slow start to the season, but 94 points in 63 games with the Kingston Frontenacs was good enough to land him on top of the NHL's Central Scouting bureau's latest prospect rankings. 

The New Jersey Devils are picking second, marking the fourth time in six years the club has selected in the top five. The Arizona Coyotes, who had the second-best odds to land the first pick, will select third, the Seattle Kraken fourth and the Philadelphia Flyers will go fifth. 

The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings won a few too many games and they'll go seventh and eighth, respectively. The Columbus Blue Jackets got the Chicago Blackhawks' sixth pick as part of the terms of the Seth Jones trade and they'll make two selections in the first round. 

Let's take a look at some of the highs and lows from the night with draft lottery winners and losers. 

Winner: Montreal Canadiens

Wright should start brushing up on his French. 

The OHL forward is one of eight players in CHL history to be granted exceptional status and he was clearly worthy, scoring 39 goals in 58 games as a 15-year-old. A speedy, skilled center like Wright is the perfect building block piece for a team like the Habs. Putting Wright behind Nick Suzuki will give them a 1-2 punch up the middle that can grow together as new general manager Kent Hughes and president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton build around those two and winger Cole Caufield. 

Last year, the Canadiens were the talk of the draft for the wrong reason. Former general manager Marc Bergevin stood at the podium at Bell Centre and defiantly chose Logan Mailloux, a prospect who had asked teams not to choose him after he was convicted of a crime of sexual nature in Sweden. There was some concern that it would damage the brand and isolate women who support the team. 

But Bergevin was fired less than two months into the 2021-22 season and he's now working under Rob Blake in Los Angeles. It's a new era in Montreal, and though it likely won't be a successful one right away, the team has turned the page and the excitement is rapidly building. 

Loser: Philadelphia Flyers

This is a big offseason for general manager Chuck Fletcher. The Flyers don't have a coach, a clear team identity or a clear direction in which the team is headed. The club has decided to stick with the GM it hired in the fall of 2018 as they attempt an "aggressive retool" after a season Fletcher described as "beyond unacceptable." 

It's not that the fifth pick is bad. The general consensus is that this is a very good draft class, but one that still has some question marks after Wright.

Maybe they end up with another center like Matthew Savoie, a very skilled and disciplined playmaker. Maybe it's a big defenseman like David Jiricek they can pair with Ivan Provorov in the future (should they keep Provorov).

The 2023 class is absolutely loaded, but this one has a lot of high-end talent, so the Flyers are going to get a quality player and a possible franchise cornerstone. It just might not be one that makes an impact right away. Fletcher said he's not asking fans to wait 5-7 years for a winning product and a player like Wright, who could step into a lineup next season, would have helped expedite that retool. 

Winner: New Jersey Devils

The Devils have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to prospects these days, which is a change from some lottery seasons a few years ago. The cupboards were pretty bare when they took Swiss center Nico Hischier at No. 1 overall in 2017. They can add another talented young player to that stockpile with the second overall pick.

Things were looking up three years ago when they chose Jack Hughes with the first overall pick, but things quickly fell apart. And now the club is at a crossroads: This rebuild cannot last forever. 

The fans have been angry for years since this was not a club that really underwent any significant rebuilds when longtime former general manager and president Lou Lamoriello was running the show. But they've made the playoffs just once since 2012 and this last season was marred by injuries to top players like Hughes and Dougie Hamilton and bad goaltending. 

They won't find that goaltender with the No. 2 pick, but it could help them obtain one.

Could general manager Tom Fitzgerald be swayed to give it up for a true No. 1 goalie? He seemed to be open to the possibility last week when he addressed the media in his end-of-season press conference, saying if he see a trade that would upgrade the NHL roster he would not hesitate to make it.

The Anaheim Ducks are rebuilding, and John Gibson is rumored to be on the market. Or maybe it's an impact defenseman to play with Hamilton or a high-end winger for Hughes. 

There are tons of possibilities and the Devils are in a good spot with that second pick. 

Loser: Arizona Coyotes

All that tanking and the desert dogs only got the third pick. 

Look, it's not that the No. 3 overall pick is a bad thing, but a player like Wright would bring some much-needed excitement and talent to a team in desperate need of both. 

The Coyotes will play next season and possibly beyond at Arizona State's new rink. No offense to the Sun Devils because that program is a great success story of the growth of hockey in an untraditional market, but an NHL team shouldn't be playing in a 5000-seat college rink intended for intramural sports. The morale is low in the desert right now and for good reason.

Arizona can continue tanking next season to get Connor Bedard or Matvei Michkov. Maybe by the time Michkov, a KHL player who is under contract with SKA St. Petersburg through 2025, is able to play in North America the new arena in Tempe that has long been promised will finally be completed. 

Winner: Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres have a whopping three first-round picks, while the Blue Jackets have two lottery picks. Both teams have options when it comes to using those selections. 

Columbus didn't move up or down, but it did get the Blackhawks first-round pick. Had Chicago won either of the top two picks, the Blue Jackets would have received the first-round pick next year. Chicago did Columbus a solid with such a dismal season but not too dismal, and as a result the team received the sixth pick and the Jones trade was finally completed.

Last season, the Blue Jackets used two of their 2021 draftees, Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger, and saw good production and development from both. They're hoping to replicate that success as they build toward becoming a playoff team in the near future.

This is a chance for the Sabres to grab a few more prospects and show that they have improved their player development program. So far, it appears as though strides have been made in this area, as is evidenced by center Tage Thompson and his breakout season, but these next few years be crucial for a franchise that tries to shed its losing reputation and prove that it can develop talent and build a winning team. 

Loser: Chicago Blackhawks

This was the result of bad management. The 'Hawks went all in last summer and as a result, they gave up that pick in the Jones trade. Former general manager Stan Bowman made a short-sighted decision to try and load up in an attempt to give Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews one more chance at a Stanley Cup. But Bowman resigned amid following the investigation of the sexual assault allegations against Brad Aldrich and the team was bad right from the start. They fired coach Jeremy Colliton and Derek King still has the interim tag. 

The Blackhawks took the interim tag off of general manager Kyle Davidson, and it sure sounds like he's going to start rebuilding. A first-round pick sure would help jump-start a rebuild, but the 'Hawks will have to wait until next year to select one.

The Minnesota Wild officially announced the acquisition of veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, sending the Chicago Blackhawks a conditional first-round draft pick.

The pick will remain a first if the Wild reach the Western Conference Finals and Fleury earns four total wins in the first two rounds, via Larry Hawley of WGN. Chicago will otherwise receive only a second-round pick from Minnesota.

"Excited to play hockey," Fleury said after the trade, via Vince Sapienza of Fox5 Vegas. "Looking forward to being there and see what happens."

Chicago's decision to acquire Fleury raised eyebrows at the time, partly because it wasn't immediately clear whether the 37-year-old would actually suit up for the Blackhawks.

The Athletic's Rob Rossi, Scott Powers, Mark Lazerus reported in July he was "totally shocked" by his trade from the Vegas Golden Knights and "doesn't want to play there" in reference to his new team.

The Blackhawks were also a franchise on the way down, having missed the playoffs in three out of the last four years. Fleury might have been the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, but he was also in the last year of a contract that pays him $7 million in 2021-22.

Between that trade and Seth Jones' eight-year, $76 million extension, it was an odd offseason in the Windy City.

Despite the best efforts of the front office, the Blackhawks are seventh in the Central Division with 53 points, making a trip to the postseason unlikely.

Because of that, there was little reason to think Fleury would finish the year in Chicago. While his contract includes a modified no-trade clause, one assumed he would prefer to suit up for a contender before hitting the open market again in the offseason.

Marc-Andre Fleury said he’d like to play for Stanley Cup contender if he gets traded: “If — IF — I move, I would love a chance to win. That's what I play for and that's what I love. It's still a big if at this point.” #Blackhawks

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 16, 2022

And there was little doubt as to his value for a team aiming to lift the Stanley Cup.

His 2.95 goals-against average is on pace to be his highest since 2016-17, but his .908 save percentage is closer to his career average (.912). His high number of goals allowed is partially attributable to the fact that he has faced the seventh-most shots (1,398) in the league.

Expecting to get the Vezina Trophy version of Fleury is unrealistic. His performance had been trending in the wrong direction before 2020-21, so that's likely to be an outlier at this stage of his career.

But the three-time Stanley Cup winner continues to be effective between the pipes, and there's no question about whether he can thrive in the playoffs.

Fleury will help fortify the Wild's defense and give them a great 1-2 combo in goal with Cam Talbot. Minnesota entered Monday third in the NHL in goals scored per game but ranks just 22nd in goals allowed.

The new addition could help the team get over the top as a contender in the West. 

Veteran right wing Patrick Kane is aware that he might be a candidate to be traded by the struggling Chicago Blackhawks at this year's deadline. But the 33-year-old is holding out hope that he gets to remain with the team that he's spent his entire career with.

"I think there's always business decisions," Kane said Wednesday. "In the game of hockey, there's not many guys that play their whole career with one team. So it would be a privilege and an honor to do that. But I guess we'll see how it all plays out."

Selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Blackhawks in 2007, Kane has one year left on his contract after signing an eight-year extension in 2014. He is third in franchise history with 1,141 points (420 goals, 721 assists) behind legends Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull. Kane helped lead Chicago to three Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

The Blackhawks are 19-27-8 and seventh in the Central Division entering Wednesday. General manager Kyle Davidson acknowledged that the team is exploring potential trades and no player is untouchable, including Kane.

"Any time you can have someone of Patrick's caliber and experience in your organization, then that's something that's very valuable," Davidson said Wednesday. "Again, we're going to have very honest conversations going forward and he'll know what we're thinking; I'm sure we'll know what he's thinking and we'll go from there. But having those people around is always a good thing."

He added: "I don't necessarily subscribe to the untouchable theory, because whether it's realistic or not, there's always a situation where you might get offered something that you can't turn down."

Despite the team's struggles this season, Kane said he's not concerned about the Blackhawks potentially undergoing a rebuild. 

"Whatever the lineup is, whatever the team looks like, you're going to go on the ice and try to win," he said. "That's something I think as players you don't worry about too much."

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Monday that Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull has retired from his role as a team ambassador.

According to the Associated Press, the Blackhawks released a statement on Hull's retirement, saying: "When it comes to Bobby, specifically, we jointly agreed earlier this season that he will retire from any official team role."

Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito were named team ambassadors by the Blackhawks in 2008. Per the AP, the Blackhawks said they are now "redefining the role of team ambassador" following Mikita's death in 2018 and the passing of Esposito in August.

The 83-year-old Hull, who is the father of fellow Hall of Famer Brett Hull, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in Blackhawks history.

However, since his retirement, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer in 1986 and accused of battery against his first wife Deborah. During a 2002 interview with ESPN, his second wife Joanne said he abused her.

In 15 seasons with the Blackhawks from 1957-1972, Hull recorded 604 goals and 549 assists for 1,153 points in 1,036 regular-season games.

Hull is the franchise's all-time leader in goals, fifth in assists and second to only Mikita in points.

He also appeared in 116 playoff games for the Blackhawks, racking up 62 goals and 67 assists for 129 points.

Nicknamed The Golden Jet, Hull 10-time First Team All-Star, three-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL's leading scorer, two-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP and one-time Stanley Cup winner.

Following his time with the Blackhawks, Hull spent eight seasons with the World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets, piling up 303 goals and 335 assists for 638 points in 411 games.

He also appeared in 27 games for the NHL's Jets and Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, which was his final professional season.

The Chicago Blackhawks fired head athletic trainer D.J. Jones from their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, in November following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment from 2014.

Emily Kaplan and Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported a member of the IceHogs ice crew came forward with the allegations in October when the organization was under the spotlight for its past mishandling of sexual assault allegations following the release of a report from the law firm Jenner & Block.

The Blackhawks released a statement on Jones' firing:

Under our new leadership, we have made it crystal clear that nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our players and employees, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of our standards of conduct in our organization. We have done a lot of work to ensure an environment where employees are encouraged to feel safe coming forward, even if it is about wrongdoing that occurred in the past.

Recently, when allegations of sexual harassment in 2014 by D.J. Jones, the head athletic trainer for the Rockford IceHogs, were reported to the Blackhawks on October 27, 2021, we adhered to our new protocols and procedures, suspended Mr. Jones, conducted an in depth investigation over 5 days and, following the conclusive results, terminated Mr. Jones on November 3, 2021.

Kaplan and Rogers noted Jenner & Block investigated the organization after former player Kyle Beach filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks and said former video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted him in 2010.

General manager Stan Bowman and vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac resigned and the team was fined $2 million by the NHL after the investigation determined "nothing was done" by senior leaders to stop Aldrich's harassment.

As for Jones, he was fired in his 16th year with the IceHogs.

John Walter, who was previously the assistant athletic trainer, was promoted to take his place as head trainer.

Three more people have contacted the Chicago Blackhawks with allegations against the organization in regards to former team video coach Brad Aldrich, per TSN's Rick Westhead.

Former Blackhawks player Kyle Beach said Aldrich sexually assaulted him during the 2010 NHL season, and the front office did not take proper action, according to an independent investigation in October.

The organization reached a settlement with Beach in December.

Beach was initially referred to as John Doe in the lawsuit before coming forward. A John Doe 2 filed another lawsuit saying Aldrich sexually assaulted him in 2013 while in high school, but the case was dismissed in December. 

According to Westhead, a John Doe 3 has said Aldrich raped him while a student at Miami University in Ohio.

Aldrich quietly left the Blackhawks in 2010 before taking roles as a volunteer at USA Hockey, the University of Notre Dame, Miami University and Houghton High School.

A second allegation came from someone known as Black Ace 1, who said he was harassed by Aldrich in 2010 while he was on the Blackhawks playoff roster.

The third allegation is from Paul Vincent, the former Blackhawks assistant coach.

According to the investigation, Beach said Vincent was the first person he told of his encounter with Aldrich. Vincent responded by telling team counselor Jim Gary and was part of a meeting with general manager Stan Bowman, senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac and CEO John McDonough, urging them to call Chicago police.

Not only was he ignored, but Vincent also says the Blackhawks "derailed his career," according to Westhead.

None of the three allegations have yet been brought to court, but they come after team owner Rocky Wirtz refused to discuss the 2010 incident during a town hall with fans.

"The people that were involved are no longer here," Wirtz said Wednesday. "We're not looking back at 2010; we're looking forward. And we're not going to talk about 2010."

Chicago Blackhawks principal owner and chairman Rocky Wirtz has apologized for his dismissive and combative comments toward The Athletic's Mark Lazerus and the Chicago Tribune's Phillip Thompson during a town hall meeting Wednesday.

Wirtz also released an apology statement:

Rocky Wirtz apologizes in a statement for having "crossed the line." pic.twitter.com/83ZdwOmcBj

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 3, 2022

Both Lazerus and Thompson asked how the organization would take proactive steps after an independent report from the law firm of Jenner & Block found that the team grossly mishandled its response to former team minor leaguer Kyle Beach's sexual assault allegations against former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.

Lazerus posted his full exchange with Wirtz:

Here's the full exchange between me and Rocky Wirtz.

I honestly thought it was kind of a softball question. pic.twitter.com/VeSUnuDnv5

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) February 3, 2022

Video of the exchange can be found via The Athletic:

.@MarkLazerus asked Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz how the team is working to empower players in the wake of the Kyle Beach situation.

Wirtz: "We're not going to talk about Kyle Beach. We're not going to talk about 2010. We're moving on."

🎥 @NHLBlackhawks pic.twitter.com/B12Rr5RusS

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 3, 2022

Thompson followed up Lazerus' questioning and also entered the line of fire from the owner for his remarks.

Beach, who filed a lawsuit against the team, reached an out-of-court settlement with the Blackhawks in December.

Chicago Blackhawks defensemen Caleb Jones and Connor Murphy had their vehicles stolen while having dinner at a Chicago restaurant last week.

Police sources told TMZ Sports on Wednesday they are investigating the incident, which took place Dec. 29 when the alleged thieves approached the valet, stuck an object in their back and demanded keys to the players' cars—Murphy's 2017 Porsche Panamera and Jones' 2021 Jeep Trackhawk.

There has been no indication of whether the players were targeted or if it was a random crime, per TMZ.

The alleged theft of the two cars, which have a combined new value of nearly $200,000, took place around 8 p.m. local time last Wednesday and occurred just blocks away from United Center, the Hawks' home rink, according to the report.

Chicago was scheduled to have a road game against the Winnipeg Jets that evening, but it was postponed because of COVID-19 issues. The team had four straight postponements before returning to action Saturday against the Nashville Predators.

Neither the players nor the Blackhawks have publicly commented on the matter.

Jones, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 draft. He made his NHL debut with the Oilers in December 2018 and spent his first three seasons with the franchise before landing with the Hawks in a July trade.

He's recorded three points (one goal and two assists) in 12 appearances this season while playing on the same team as his older brother, Seth Jones.

Murphy, 28, is in his fifth season with Chicago after playing his first four years with the Arizona Coyotes, who made him a first-round pick in 2011.

He's tallied two goals and two assists across 30 games in 2021-22 while averaging over 22 minutes per game for the second straight season.

The Blackhawks are back on the ice Thursday night when they open a three-game road trip against the Coyotes.