Wednesday's hockey: Michael Jordan expected to attend Chelios’ jersey retirement
Michael Jordan is expected to make a rare United Center appearance this weekend for the jersey retirement of his longtime friend and Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings great Chris Chelios.
Chelios said on WSCR-AM 670 on Wednesday morning that the Chicago Bulls' legend is one of the guests he expects to be in attendance for the raising of his No. 7 to the UC rafters, which will take place during a pregame ceremony Sunday afternoon before the Hawks play the Detroit Red Wings.
“I’m going to have them try to bring everybody I possibly can that’s had an impact on me and obviously (Jordan) was a big part of my ’90s,” Chelios said on the “Mully and Haugh Show.”
“They’re going to be here to support me. I got a pretty good Rolodex over the span of my career so I’m loading up. This a last hurrah and I’m going to make it a good one.”
Jordan and Chelios spent close to a decade commanding the attention of fans at the United Center. The Bulls drafted Jordan in 1984. Chelios was traded to the Blackhawks from the Montreal Canadiens in 1990 and played in Chicago until 1999 — one year after Jordan retired from the Bulls for the second time. Both led their teams to a Finals series in 1992.
The two met at a White Sox game after Chelios was traded and became friends across their time in Chicago, even sharing a drink after Chelios received a litany of boos from Hawks fans in his first game back in Chicago after he was traded in 1999.
Jordan did not attend the inaugural Bulls Ring of Honor ceremony in January, although Jordan cited a scheduling issue and sent a video praising the franchise and expressing gratitude for the honor.
“I am so bummed that I can’t be there tonight but I don’t want that to stop the fun that you guys are going to have,” Jordan said. “I think we made an impression and changed what Chicago represents in terms of champions. Every time you look up in the rafters, I want you always to remember where we were and where we are.
"And we are always going to be champions. I will always be a Chicago Bull and I want them to continually do well. I’d like to see other banners in the rafters and I hope the city can always be proud of the Chicago Bulls.”
The game Sunday will be a prominent event for Hawks fans as franchise great Patrick Kane returns to Chicago for the first time since being traded to the New York Rangers last season.
Former Blackhawks Tony Amonte, Ed Belfour, Jeremy Roenick and Denis Savard also will participate in the Chelios retirement ceremony.
Grand Rapids 1, Texas 0
First-round draft pick Sebastian Cossa recorded his first shutout in the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
Cossa stopped 28 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Texas Stars at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. He's now 11-7-5 with a 2.63 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.
Defenseman Albert Johansson scored the only goal of the game after :25 seconds in the first period.
Matthews scores 50th goal
Auston Matthews scored his 50th goal of the season Wednesday night in the Toronto Maple Leafs star's hometown return, becoming the fastest NHL player to reach that mark in 28 years.
Playing his 54th game of the season, Matthews scored 5:01 into the game on a power play to give Toronto a 2-0 lead over the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena.
From nearby Scottsdale, Matthews scored on a shot from the circle to the left of goaltender Karel Vejmelka. Mitchell Marner and Timothy Liljegren assisted on the goal that came with Arizona’s Michael Carcone in the penalty box for slashing.
Mario Lemieux achieved the milestone in 50 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96. The fastest was Wayne Gretzky, who got his 50th in his 39th game for Edmonton in 1981-82 on his way to a record 92 goals. Matthews is the fastest to 50 among U.S.-born players.
Matthews has eight goals in his last four games, having two consecutive hat tricks before a single goal against St. Louis on Monday night. Florida’s Sam Reinhart is second in the NHL with 39 goals. Matthews has 349 career goals in 535 games.
Matthews, who had 60 goals two seasons ago to lead the NHL, making him the first to reach that mark since Steven Stamkos had 60 in 2011-12. The last players to score 70 or more in a season were Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny, who each had 76 in 1992-93.
Philadelphia 3, (at) Chicago 1: Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Garent Hathaway scored, Samuel Ersson made 22 saves for the Flyers.
Philadelphia is 5-1-1 in its last seven games. Chicago, last overall in the NHL, has lost 10 of 11.
Colin Blackwell scored for Chicago. Arvid Soderblom stopped 30 shots.
Buffalo 3, (at) Montreal: Alex Tuch scored short-handed to break a second-period tie in Buffalo’s victory over Montreal.
Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner also scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves to help the Sabres improve to 25-27-4. Skinner has 27 goals against the Canadiens, the second-most among active players behind Alex Ovechkin (38).
Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble scored for Montreal and Sam Montembeault made 20 saves. Montreal has lost three straight and five of six to fall to 22-26-8.
Byfield delivers breakout season
Quinton Byfield went viral on social media Tuesday night with his highlight-reel goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The reality though is that it was further proof that the Los Angeles Kings forward is putting together a breakout season, and showing the potential that made him the second overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft.
The 21-year old right wing is third on the team with 18 goals and fourth in scoring with 42 points. Of NHL skaters age 21 or younger, only St. Louis’ Jake Neighbours has more goals this season than Byfield with 19.
Coming into this season, Byfield had eight goals and 34 points in 99 regular-season games in his first three seasons.
“I feel good with the puck right now. The confidence is definitely there knowing that I can make plays and trusting my shot. If I shoot it, I have a good chance of scoring,” Byfield said Tuesday night after the Kings' 5-1 victory over the Blue Jackets.
Byfield is a quicker skater than his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame suggests. He showed off his speed in scoring his goal Tuesday when he got the puck off the draw between Pierre-Luc Dubois and Boone Jenner in Columbus’ offensive zone and quickly skated up ice.
Byfield appeared to not have an angle to the net until he put the puck through Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski’s legs near the left faceoff circle in Los Angeles’ offensive zone. Byfield regained possession when he kick passed the puck to his own stick, and put a backhand past Elvis Merzlikins’ glove despite being on one knee when he shot it.
Even though it was top hockey highlight of the night – as well as being a Goal of the Year candidate – it is not Byfield's favorite score. That came on Dec. 7 in Montreal when Byfield drove past Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle, cut across the goal crease and deked goalie Sam Montembeault before putting it in the net.
“This one (against Columbus) was more of a skill play, and the one in Montreal was more just taking on power,” said Byfield, who has six goals and 12 points in his past 10 games. “They’re two different goals, but doing it in the Bell Centre, I think is a little bit more special, just because it’s a huge hockey market and being from Canada and growing up, watching those games and seeing the crowd.”
Byfield will need to continue to play well if the Kings are going to make a late-season run. They have won four straight and are 5-1 under ex-Red Wings forward and assistant coach Jim Hiller following a stretch where Los Angeles only won three of its last 16 games before the All-Star break, which led to McLellan's dismissal.
Going into Thursday night against Nashville, the Kings are the first wild card in the Western Conference, but are still within striking distance of second place in the Pacific Division, which would give them home ice in the first round.
“There's going to be very hard games coming down the homestretch here, but it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Byfield said. “We know what we have in here. We know we can keep climbing the standings and get back on track.”
Pens loaded up for one last run
Kyle Dubas wants to give Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins every opportunity to prove they're worth investing in this season.
Time is running out.
While Dubas isn't ready to commit to using his first trade deadline as Pittsburgh's general manager/director of hockey operations to hit the reset button on the NHL's oldest team, he also may not have a choice.
The Penguins are currently eight points out of playoff position with eight games left before the March 8 deadline and find themselves closer to next-to-last in the Eastern Conference than a wild-card spot. The star-laden power play is a mess. The goals that used to come so easily for so long have dried up, at least for everyone not named Crosby, who remains a wonder at 36.
And Dubas now finds himself fielding calls from other teams wondering who might be available, a stark contrast to most of the past two decades, when Pittsburgh's front office would add at the deadline in hopes of chasing down another Stanley Cup.
Not so much in 2024. Yet Dubas, out of respect for the Stanley Cup-laden resumes of the team's core three of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, can't quite bring himself to put a “for sale” sign up outside PPG Paints Arena.
Not yet anyway.
“I think if the group didn’t have the pedigree it has … I wouldn’t feel that they’re owed that same latitude,” Dubas said.
They are. For now at least. Though to show Dubas that they are still a playoff-caliber team they must do something that's become increasingly rare over the past 18 months: playing winning hockey consistently.
“Yeah, obviously we've got to start grabbing points,” forward Bryan Rust (Pontiac) said.
Michigan-area hockey this week
Wednesday
▶ Grand Rapids 1, Texas 0
Thursday
▶ Colorado at Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)
Friday
▶ Ohio State at Michigan State, 6 (Big Ten+/1240)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 8 (Big Ten)
▶ Lincoln at NTDP U18s, 7
▶ Western Michigan at St. Cloud, 8
▶ Michigan Tech at Bowling Green, 7:30
▶ Northern Michigan at Ferris State, 7
Saturday
▶ St. Louis at Red Wings, noon (ABC/ESPN/97.1)
▶ Texas at Red Wings, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Ohio State at Michigan State, 7 (Big Ten+/1240)
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 6:30 (Big Ten)
▶ Lincoln at NTDP U17s, 7
▶ Western Michigan at St. Cloud, 7
▶ Michigan Tech at Bowling Green, 7
▶ Northern Michigan at Ferris State, 6
Sunday
▶ Red Wings at Chicago, 6 (NHL/BSD/97.1)
▶ Milwaukee at Grand Rapids, 5 (AHL/106.9/1300)
Monday
▶ Red Wings 4, Seattle 3 (SO)