The Chicago Blackhawks are still in limbo as they await the NHL Draft on June 28, where they hold the second overall pick (and seven other picks) and free agency in July that will give a better idea of what to expect of the team next season. But while we wait for the Blackhawks to make more moves, here are some fun facts about the 2023-24 roster because they had a lot of new faces and personalities that fans would surely like to know more about!
10. Mr. Matinee
Forget cool “Mr.” nicknames, like Justin Williams’ infamous “Mr. Game 7,” as the Blackhawks have their own. The Blackhawks may as well start calling Jason Dickinson “Mr. Matinee” because he has found great success in afternoon games. Dickinson had a career-year with 22 goals, and three of them came against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 24, where he recorded his first career hat-trick.
After the game, Dickinson mentioned that the only other time he had scored a hat trick was when he was in juniors, which was also a matinee game. Going forward, keep Dickinson in mind whenever the Hawks play an afternoon game because he said himself, “Matinee seems to be my time of day.”
9. Frank The… Magician?
Even though Frank Nazar only played in three NHL games for the Blackhawks this season, he quickly became a fan favorite, making them excited for his potential next season and wanting to know more about him.
Something that stood out to me about Frank was that in an episode of ‘Every Shift’ from the Blackhawks in May 2023, it was revealed he may have a hidden interest: magic. He said he has a cat named Shady, after the rapper Eminem’s alter ego, “Slim Shady,” but his mom Gina mentioned that Frank initially wanted to name the cat “Houdini” because “Frank likes magic.” So, he can create magic on and off the ice!
8. Jones The Foodie
While at the World Championships, USA Hockey sent a newsletter in which they checked in with the team and players and asked the players some fun questions. One of them was, “One thing few people know about you,” to which defenseman Seth Jones replied, “I’m a foodie.”
When digging into this, his interest in food and cooking was discussed during his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He mentioned he enjoys cooking, and some of his specialty dishes include salmon, pork chops, and roasted potatoes. Maybe we will catch him appearing on the Food Network one day.
7. Korchinski, The Musician
In September 2023, defenseman Kevin Korchinski revealed that he used to play piano but had recently switched to guitar when he was with the Seattle Thunderbirds and is self-taught.
The Blackhawks went on their Mother’s Trip in November, and he and his mom, Stacey, elaborated on his musical background in an interview with Caley Chelios. Korchinski said that his mom put him and his sister Kate in piano lessons when they were young, but he is happy he had the experience. Stacey stated that she thought music was important and wanted them to learn music, and Kevin liked it more than Kate. Playing guitar is something he enjoys doing outside of hockey.
Funny enough, in the same USA Hockey newsletter that Jones did, Alex Vlasic answered that what few people know about him is that he’s “pretty good at guitar.” Who needs team DJs when the Blackhawks have them to provide the music?
6. Nick Foligno’s Heart Will Go On
Nick Foligno spoke about his love for Celine Dion’s music back in 2018 during an interview around Christmas where he was asked the chances are he would listen to her holiday hits in the car on the way home from the game (he was with the Blue Jackets at the time), and he replied, “Oh, absolutely. It’s on repeat. Every day. It’s the first thing I listen to in the morning and the last thing I listen to when I go to bed. It’s a beautiful thing.”
As it turns out, his love for Celine Dion came from his mother Janis, who sadly passed away in 2009 of breast cancer. Foligno said, “My love for Celine Dion came from singing that [my heart will go on] with my mom.” (from ‘How Marcus and Nick Foligno’s NHL paths were shaped by their late mother: ‘She was the rock’ – The Athletic – 05/12/2023). That is such a lovely and heartfelt tribute.
5. The Vlasic Family Cause
Blackhawks’ fans got to know Alex Vlasic’s older brother Eric a bit as he was brought into the locker room to read the starting lineup in March, making it one of the most wholesome moments of the season.
When Vlasic was with the Rockford IceHogs in February 2023, he talked about how he and his family connected with the team’s Autism Awareness Night because Eric has autism. Vlasic shared, “Autism Awareness Night is pretty important to my family, and I think it’s something everyone should be aware of that, you know, everybody definitely has some things they’re going through in life, whether you know it’s certain struggles that they could be facing mentally. But at the end of the day, like I said before, we’re all the same people and we’re not too different, and hockey is the one thing that we can all kind of share and have in common.” Eric also plays hockey and is a goalie.
Related: Blackhawks Sign Alex Vlasic to 6-year Contract Extension
Very well said for a cause that is close to many hearts.
4. Swiss Connection Runs Strong
Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times published a story in 2022 detailing how Philipp Kurashev is good friends with Timo Meier (New Jersey Devils) and noted that they only live 10 minutes away from each other in Switzerland. They also train together over the summer. Considering Meier is a big NHL talent, that can only benefit Kurashev.
Meirer said about Kurashev, “He has a really good shot, so once he feels comfortable getting into those areas where he can get the shot off and not overthink things, [he can] just let it rip and give it a chance to go in. He has an unbelievable skillset. For him, it’s just [about] finding that comfortableness and playing in all three zones. He has a real bright future ahead of him.”
Now, two years later, Kurashev has a career-high 54 points and is hopefully just scratching the surface. It seems like Meier will continue to be a solid mentor for him, as Kurashev posted on his Instagram story on June 2 that he and Meier are enjoying the offseason sun in Spain.
3. Game, Set, Match With Reichel
Something to note about Reichel is that he enjoys tennis. In the Blackhawks ‘Training Ground’ series, he said his dad grew up playing tennis, and he thinks he picked up some skills from him. He started picking up the game more in the summer of 2021, and he plays with Kurashev, who supposedly is a very good player.
It’s noted that Kurashev and Reichel are close friends off the ice, and hey, maybe tennis sessions can help with on-ice success, with Kurashev’s successful season and Reichel’s strong showing for Team Germany at the World Championships in May, where he had seven points in six games.
2. That’s A lot of Numbers
Defenseman Jarred Tinordi has had an interesting NHL career. The former first-round pick has been on six different teams and has worn six different jersey numbers. The NHL posted in March that he is one of nine active NHL players who has worn the most different jersey numbers: 5, 24, 25, 28, 42, and 84.
Related: Blackhawks’ Journeyman Jarred Tinordi Reaches 200-Game Mark
Tyler Pitlick (New York Rangers) holds the record with seven different numbers. I thought Taylor Hall might have been on this list because he has worn four different numbers (4, 9, 71, and 91), so the fact that his teammate Tinordi has two on him makes this really interesting.
1. The Root of Bedard’s Superstition
My colleague, Gail Kauchak, mentioned to me when I was putting this article together that the number one cool thing about the 2023-24 roster is Connor Bedard. And she is right. I could have ended the article with that fact alone because he changed the team’s entire outlook by being a generational talent and a should-be Calder Trophy winner, but because it is Bedard, we have to add more fun facts, of course!
The theme of “Don’t touch Connor Bedard’s stick!” ran around the Blackhawks all season. It’s one of Bedard’s known game-day superstitions, and it was even jokingly brought up to the players throughout the season, asking if they had ever touched his hockey sticks. (from ‘Blackhawks player poll: Fights, fashion, music and Connor Bedard superstitions’ – The Athletic – 04/04/2024). Usually, hockey superstitions don’t have origins, and players just do whatever they think works best for them, but you may be surprised to know that Bedard’s does have an origin, and it comes from Sidney Crosby.
In 2023, after he was asked how long he had had the superstition, Bedard said, “Since I was a little kid. I was young and a big Sid Crosby fan. I’m pretty sure I heard about him doing that, so I started doing that. It’s just a little mental thing I enjoy. Everyone has little superstitions. That’s one of mine.”
He’s got a point. It works for the greats, so why not?
The Blackhawks got a little cooler with Bedard’s addition, and knowing the team can only get better, these fun facts will surely keep coming!
