It’s a busy day around the sports world, including the beginning of the FIFA World Cup, but for the NHL, it’s a rather quiet Sunday with just two games on the docket. The Columbus Blue Jackets will play host to the Florida Panthers in one game, while the Chicago Blackhawks host the Pittsburgh Penguins. The latter of those two isn’t just a matchup of two of the best teams of the 2010’s, but is also Marian Hossa’s jersey retirement, which will get underway earlier in the afternoon. Though Hossa played for a few teams in his Hall of Fame career, he’ll have a chance to see his number raised in front of two of his former teams in that of Chicago and Pittsburgh. Hossa played just 32 total games as a Penguin, but were they special, as the winger recorded 26 points in 20 playoff games on a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, ultimately losing to his future team, the Detroit Red Wings, who would fall to Pittsburgh in the Finals the very next year.
As Chicago pays homage to one of their all-time greats and the games get underway, we’ll keep track of some of the smaller transactions right here.
- Yesterday, after getting Drew Helleson back from the Anaheim Ducks in the wake of Kevin Shattenkirk being activated off IR, the San Diego Gulls of the AHL swapped a few players with ECHL affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers. The Gulls recalled forward Evan Weinger and goaltender Daniel Mannella and assigned forward Logan Nijhoff to Tulsa. Weinger, 25, has 11 points in nine games to start the season with Tulsa, but zero points in one game with San Diego. He had spent a majority of the previous four seasons playing with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. The 27-year-old Mannella has struggled through five games with Tulsa to start this season, but was dominant in 51 games in 2021-22. Nijhoff, 21, spent parts of six seasons with the Regina Pats before signing with San Diego as an undrafted free agent last year. Through nine games this season, eight with San Diego and one with Tulsa, Nijhoff has yet to record a point.
- Goaltender Remi Poirier has been reassigned from the AHL’s Texas Stars to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL, their affiliate. Poirier, 21, has been solid through four games this season, three with Idaho and one with Texas. The goaltender was a sixth-round pick of the Dallas Stars back in 2020. Prior to turning pro, he had an impressive four year stint in net with the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL.
This post will be kept updated throughout the day.