Evening Notes: Blackhawks, Utah, Reichel

Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks will return to Milwaukee for another pre-season game at the Fiserv Forum. The Blackhawks will take on the St. Louis Blues on October 5th, 2024, two years after Chicago first played at the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Two years ago, the preseason game in Milwaukee sold out in just minutes and brought in over 15000 fans to watch the Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild. This time around the Blackhawks are hoping for more of the same from the passionate fanbase. The city of Milwaukee is currently home to the Milwaukee Admirals, who are the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Nashville Predators and averaged over 6K fans a game this season.

In other evening notes:

• TSN Insider Chris Johnston is reporting that Utah has plans to build a brand-new practice arena that will house two or more NHL-standard ice rinks. The team hopes that the new building will be completed prior to the 2025-26 season, and it will also be the team’s official office. The building will also be used for recreation activities as well as youth and amateur hockey. The team is currently in the process of finding a temporary training and practice facility for next season.
• Former Winnipeg Jets forward Kristian Reichel has signed a three-year contract in Germany to play with Adler Mannheim (according to Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News). The move means that the 25-year-old will be leaving the Jets organization after spending the past six seasons with the team, primarily as a member of the Manitoba Moose. Reichel just completed his best professional season in the AHL, having registered 23 goals and 19 assists in 70 games. The son of Robert Reichel was undrafted but worked his way through the minors and eventually signed an ELC with the Jets in 2020 and made his NHL debut in 2021-22. He played in 15 NHL games over parts of two seasons, tallying a goal and two assists.