Ben Pope
Chicago Blackhawks Beat Reporter at Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Blackhawks beat reporter for the @Suntimes. Northwestern alum. Raleigh native. @ThePHWA member. Email: [email protected]
Articles
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6 days ago |
chicago.suntimes.com | Ben Pope
Kyle Davidson needs to nail this Blackhawks coaching hire. The decision facing Davidson now might be the single most important of his Hawks general manager tenure to date, or at least one of the most. One could argue either way whether it’s this or drafting Artyom Levshunov second overall last year (and someone third overall this year).
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1 week ago |
chicago.suntimes.com | Ben Pope |Brian Sandalow
After two consecutive years of winning lottery draws, the Blackhawks finally experienced the more likely outcome — falling in the order — during the 2025 NHL draft lottery Monday. The Hawks entered the day with a 72.4% chance of falling, and that’s exactly what happened. They wound up with the No. 3 pick while the Islanders snatched the No. 1 pick — despite just 3.5% odds of doing so entering the day.
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1 week ago |
chicago.suntimes.com | Ben Pope
The Blackhawks enter the 2025 NHL Draft lottery in the exact same position as last year but with a different rooting interest. After finishing second-to-last in the league standings for the second consecutive season, the Hawks are guaranteed a top-four pick. They’ll find out in the lottery — which the NHL is conducting live in-studio for the first time at 6 p.m. Monday on ESPN — which of those four picks they’ll receive.
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1 week ago |
chicago.suntimes.com | Ben Pope
Anders Sorensen didn’t say a whole lot during his interviews as the Blackhawks’ interim coach, but his reticence made his few bold statements noteworthy. Calling Frank Nazar ‘‘the best player on the ice [on] both teams’’ after the Hawks’ victory in their penultimate game of the season in Montreal sits atop that list. Sorensen knew exactly what he was doing, making that comment after Ivan Demidov’s debut with the Canadiens, and there was a glimmer in his eyes as he did so.
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2 weeks ago |
chicago.suntimes.com | Ben Pope
As Dylan Strome grows into a bigger and bigger star for the Capitals, the Blackhawks’ decision to walk away from him for nothing in July 2022 looks silly in hindsight. But it shouldn’t be just the Hawks who look bad in this situation. The entire NHL blundered its pro scouting of Strome during the 2021-22 season, putting the Hawks in a difficult position and costing many teams the opportunity to acquire a future core player.
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Devastating OT loss for Rockford in Milwaukee to end their playoff run. They led the series 2-0 before losing 3 straight.
Final from Game 5 💔 That's a wrap on the 2024-25 season. https://t.co/TMFoC7cEGx
The Blackhawks' coaching job is a unique position, requiring someone who can expertly develop young players but also knows how to win. And after missing out on his top choice, Kyle Davidson needs to nail this decision. New column: https://t.co/S7tVbI92Xq
The Blackhawks, knowing they’re picking at #3, can now get to work finalizing their internal draft rankings. “Ours versus any other team’s is going to be different, and is going to be different from public [rankings].” Full story: https://t.co/wR805fdtTm
