The-Rink.com host “Gatekeeper” is joined by staff members Mario Tirabassi, Aaron Goldschmidt, Eric Andrews, Juliana Nikac and Ron Luce to talk in-depth about Blackhawks prospects.

• The Blackhawks sit at 2-1-1 with two preseason and an exhibition game remaining.
• Roster is not finalized but is starting to shape up.
• We take a long look at the six prospect tiers and why the writers rated players the way they have.
• Don’t miss the hot takes.
• We wrap with Rinkrat PuckBag segment.

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The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Season 3, Episode 1 – Prospect tier wrap special appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts “Gatekeeper” and “JJ” step back into the dusty Rink podcast studio to discuss the prospect camp and the Blackhawks fan convention with staff writers Mario Tirabassi and Aaron Goldschmidt.

• Blackhawks traded Artem Anisimov to Ottawa for Zack Smith
• Thoughts on Development camp
• Fan convention came and went.
• Chris Kunitz retires and joins the Blackhawks player development staff
• New jersey leak?
• Ian Mitchell corner, Brent Seabrook’s trial, Gus’s garage, Sekac street.
• We are only scratching the surface.  Many good things and guests to come!!!!
• We wrap with The-Rink #RinkratPuckBag segment.

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Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The Rinkcast is brought to you by the Overtime Podcast Network

The post Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 56 – Gus bus to Camp Colliton appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John “Double J” Jaeckel are joined by NHL Network Radio Blackhawks correspondent Uncle Al Cimaglia to discuss what we can expect from this Blackhawks franchise.

• • There is actually some positivity (contrary to some beliefs)
  • More “Gus”. (We know, we’re sick of it too)
  • We cover the Blackhawks from stem to stern with Uncle Al for almost an hour!
  • NCAA head writer Aaron Goldschmidt comes on to discuss his much maligned Patrick Kane trade article
  • We answered some great listener and reader questions

New for 2019, the Rinkcast is also available on YouTube

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The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 42 w/ Al Cimaglia appeared first on The Rink.

The past four years have been difficult for a fan base that has come to expect so much in the last decade.  The Chicago Blackhawks took the sport by storm and created a frenzy in the city of Chicago.  We all know about the championships, the parades, and the rings.  But just like that, those moments seem so far away.  Two first round exists, missing the playoffs, and now the possibility of missing the playoffs again is imminent.

The Blackhawks have tried everything to keep this train moving, but nothing has worked.  They have tried bringing in new players and coaches, and have parted ways with people that were the heart and soul of the team.  What’s left is what the front office talked about for years, the core and nothing more.

The Chicago Blackhawks franchise has an opportunity right now to recreate what they had in 2008.  They had a young, energetic team who was fun to watch and on the verge of NHL history.  But on the tail end of a dynasty, do the Hawks have the guts to announce a true rebuild, starting with trading Patrick Kane?

Kane is 30 years old and is on pace to score over 100 points this season.  With no signs of slowing down and a clean bill of health, Kane is a valuable asset to every NHL team in the league.  The question is if any of those teams could put together a package large enough to persuade Chicago to deal their franchise player.

Here’s something that could work.

Colorado Avalanche

The first thing you’re probably thinking is “why would the Blackhawks trade Kane in the division?”  The answer is that Colorado could offer the best package.  The Avs currently have Ottawa’s first round pick that is unprotected.  Ottawa is one of the worst teams in the league so there is a chance they could be in the running for a lottery pick at the end of the season.  They also have a premier defensive prospect in Cale Makar, the 4th overall pick in the 2017 Draft.

To Avalanche fans, a trade involving the Ottawa pick and Makar may seem like a lot, but they would be getting a top 5 player in return.  The Pepsi Center would be sold out every night to watch Patrick Kane in the mile high city for the next four years.  But are the Avs ready to contend for a cup?  With Nathan MacKinnon cost-controlled at six million the next four years and a blossoming Mikko Rantanen, Kane would catapult the Avs past the first round of the playoffs.  Will losing out on a generational talent like Hughes and a future top defenseman like Makar hurt?  Absolutely.  But at what point do you stop building and simply go for it?

Here’s what I propose could be a deal that wows the Blackhawks:

Colorado receives:

Patrick Kane, Erik Gustafsson, & 2019 4th

Chicago receives:  OTT 2019 1st (only #1 or #2), Cale Makar, & Tyson Barrie

Now, the only way Chicago moves Kane is if they get elite, blue chip prospects back.  The deal starts with the Ottawa pick and the Hawks need to know that they have landed either Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko.  The addition of Cale Makar further bolsters the Hawks blue line, giving them the ability to deal one of their top defensive prospects for a top forward.  Taking on Tyson Barrie for one year helps make the money work in exchange for Erik Gustafsson who could be just as effective on the powerplay and just as effective on defense…

Is it an overpay for Colorado?  Probably, but doesn’t it have to be?  It’s not often that you have the opportunity to trade for the best American born hockey player who is a lock for the Hall of Fame with three cups under his belt at 30 years old.

And for the Blackhawks, you hopefully get the next Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith.  You have players like Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome to build around too.  By the time some of these top prospects are ready, they will be in their mid-twenties ready to win.  Sure it will be a hard couple of years, but Chicago fans have seen this kind of rebuild work.  The Bears just made a huge trade for a franchise player and it has turned their franchise around.  The Cubs won a world series by building their team from the ground up.  The White Sox are on their way to trying the same thing.

And if you trade Patrick Kane, you might as well sell off Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brandon Saad.  If Chicago can accumulate top draft picks and prospects, they will have one of the best farm systems in the league almost overnight.  They will continue to be bad for a couple more seasons and pick in the top 5 or top 10.  Those players will be developed by Jeremy Colliton, a very young coach with a knack of getting the most out of young players.

Many of you will believe that the Hawks will never go through with trading their star player which may be true.  It’s hard to imagine the United Center full of Kane jerseys with #88 playing 1,000 miles away for another team.  It’s also difficult to imagine the team that stuck with Kane through difficult times part with the star that has given them so much.  But where are the Blackhawks really going?  Can they squeeze one more Stanley Cup out of this core?  With every year that passes, it gets harder and harder to say yes.

It just feels like one of those corny moments where if you love something, you should set it free.  Let’s let Patrick Kane ride off into the sunset and watch him thrive in the playoffs where he deserves to be, not playing golf.  Let’s go to sleep at night knowing that in two years, we’ll have Jack Hughes playing first line center.  These difficult decisions differentiate the franchises that sustain success and the ones that are a flash in the pan.  And I’m pretty sure Chicago doesn’t want to wait another 50 years to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup again.

The post Could the Colorado Avalanche Trade for Patrick Kane? appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn, John Jaeckel and The Rink Feature NCAA Writer Aaron Goldschmidt get together to talk about the latest developments in Blackhawks land heading into the holidays.

• Corey Crawford is out with another serious concussion
• Marcus Kruger joins him as the walking wounded increase
• Collin Delia, Dylan Sikura, Carl Dahlstrom and Luke Johnson all get recalled
• The Gustafsson delusions
• Addressing the Panarin nonsense again.
• We answered some great listener and reader questions

As a special holiday gift, we close out with “On My Side” from The-Rink friend and huge Blackhawks fan Patrick Judge with his bandmates in Demon Hunter.

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Also, Please help spread the word to more #RinkRats and visit our sponsor www.PUCKHCKY.com. Use the discount code “THERINK” for 10% off all orders.

The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 39 – Injuries Aplenty appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John Jaeckel discuss the Blackhawks start to training camp and first preseason game with Rink prospect writer Aaron Goldschmidt .

• Blackhawks lose to Columbus with a very young inexperienced roster
• Not a lot of positives in preseason game one
• The Corey Crawford injury and situation, and how the team finally released the official injury
• The team announces that injury reports will be more specific
• The defensemen still look bad and the outlook got no better with reports of Murphy and Rutta injuries
• We play rapid fire game with your host your Aaron Goldschmidt
• We wrap up the episode with some great listener/reader questions.

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

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The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 30 – Season 2 Begins appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John Jaeckel are joined by NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis for a 2 hour extravaganza to talk about the dog days of the Blackhawks summer with Rink writers Mario Tirabassi and Aaron Goldschmidt .

• Mario has a sit down with Rockford head coach Jeremy Colliton
• Back with this Troy Brouwer talk, and other PTO potenials
• A whole bunch of defensive prospects.
• Aaron talks NCAA prospects.
• Charlie unloads a prospect HOT TAKE!
• Will Quenneville be around all season.  If not, who will be?
• We wrap up the episode with some great listener/reader questions.
• And lastly, John battles Charlie in a heated battle of the Hair Wars (Gate still wins the beard wars)

Please subscribe, rate this episode, and even write us a review. Reviews will be read on the air.

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The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 29 w/ Charlie Roumeliotis appeared first on The Rink.

The-Rink.com host Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn is joined by Rink writers Mario Tirabassi and Aaron Goldschmidt to wrap up the draft and free agency.

• The Blackhawks draft plenty of players, but make no moves. #LoseForHughes (Shout out to Sean White)
• Free agency hits and the Blackhawks barely register on the scale.  Is this a #SilentRebuild? (shout out to John Jaeckel)
• Stan Bowman has another virtually useless press conference full of more fluff, empty words and lisp service
• The Corey Crawford saga is still no closer to being answered
• Seems like a lot of doom, gloom and #RinkRage
• We wrap up the episode with some great listener/reader questions.

thanks to @Wm_J_Lepetomane on Twitter for this fine creation

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The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 26 w/ The Rink Staffers appeared first on The Rink.