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Sports

Chicago Blackhawks reportedly make some free-agent signings — while Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are in a holding pattern

The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t expected to make a big splash in free agency this summer, but one signing certainly has raised eyebrows: Max Domi.The team reportedly opened Wednesday’s signing period by reaching deals with the controversial center, who last played for the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Los Angeles Kings winger Andreas Athanasiou. Both were unrestricted free agents. The Athletic’s Scott Powers first reported the moves.AdvertisementDomi, 27, has irked some peers, coaches and fans with his actions on and off the ice, such as tweeting remarks about immigration in 2017 and sucker-punching Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad in during a preseason game in 2018, which led to a suspension.The seven-year veteran split last season between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Hurricanes and had 11 goals and 28 assists.AdvertisementA former Detroit Red Wings draft pick, Athanasiou, 27, had 11 goals and six assists in 28 games for the Kings last season.Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson was scheduled to address media Wednesday during the third day of development camp but the session was postponed.Meanwhile, despite teams possibly clamoring — to widely varying degrees — for Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Seth Jones, it doesn’t yet appear any of them will be moving on from Chicago to escape Davidson’s rebuild.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.At least not at the moment.TSN analyst Pierre LeBrun tweeted Wednesday that he spoke with Pat Brisson, the three players’ agent, and said they are taking a measured approach so far. “Brisson says while they’re not necessarily in agreement with the direction the team is taking,” LeBrun tweeted, “they will let the dust settle first and then patiently make the best decisions for each player as it pertains to their respective careers.”Kane and Toews have been vocal about their desire for a quicker turnaround for the team — a year or two — than what Davidson has expressed to reporters, which has ranged from three to five years, or longer.Trading Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach on draft day certainly sets back the Hawks’ timeline and forces Kane, Toews and Jones to reevaluate their future with the Hawks.AdvertisementLeBrun’s report aligned with what Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was hearing.“A number of teams have inquired about Patrick Kane in recent days, but they’ve been told a trade is unlikely at this time,” he tweeted.A number of teams have inquired about Patrick Kane in recent days, but they’ve been told a trade is unlikely at this time.Kane and #Blackhawks have been in continuous dialogue. He’d like to see how season goes, and it would be an in-season move – if at all.@DailyFaceoff— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 13, 2022

Sports

Charlie Montoyo is fired as Toronto Blue Jays manager; John Schneider named interim replacement

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo on Wednesday and promoted bench coach John Schneider to interim manager for the remainder of the season.Triple-A manager Casey Candaele was named interim bench coach.AdvertisementThe 13th manager in Blue Jays history and the first from Puerto Rico, Montoyo went 236-236 in parts of four seasons. The Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday to snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 46-42, which would put them in a playoffs as a wild-card team if the season ended Wednesday despite being in fourth place in the AL East.The Blue Jays are 3-9 in July. They went 1-6 on a trip against the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners.AdvertisementThe Jays’ skid started July 2, when they were swept in a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays. Montoyo and first-base coach Mark Budzinksi left the dugout during Game 2 after learning of the death of Budzinski’s teenage daughter, Julia.Several members of the Blue Jays organization flew together to Virginia on Monday’s off day to attend Julia Budzinski’s funeral.Montoyo, 57, replaced John Gibbons as Blue Jays manager after the 2018 season. Montoyo’s contract was extended through 2023 on April 1.Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo walks on the field after Bradley Zimmer was hit by a pitch during the seventh inning against the Mariners on Thursday in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/AP)Montoyo oversaw a tumultuous period in Blue Jays history, with the team playing home games in three cities last season, including two minor-league parks, because of border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jays also played their 2020 home schedule at their Triple-A stadium in Buffalo, N.Y.Montoyo led the Jays to a 32-28 record and a wild-card spot in the expanded playoffs after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but the Blue Jays were swept by the eventual AL champion Rays in the opening round. The Jays went 91-71 in 2021 and missed tying for the AL wild card by one game.Before joining the Blue Jays, Montoyo spent six seasons on the Rays’ major-league coaching staff, including his final three as bench coach. He spent 18 seasons as a minor-league manager in the Rays system and also worked with the Puerto Rican team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Sports

3 things we learned at Chicago Blackhawks camp, including the Dach family being ‘shell-shocked’ by Kirby’s trade

It’s a small development that has virtually no impact on the ice, but its symbolism is significant.The Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday opened up the locker room for media to interview players at Fifth Third Arena.AdvertisementAs any fan who has been watching video or news footage of interviews probably knows, locker rooms at the Hawks’ practice facility and the United Center generally have been closed to outsiders since the pandemic.And it was like the floodgates opened, a mix of voice recorders and TV cameras dashing over to some of the team’s top prospects sitting at their stalls.AdvertisementPredictably, someone stepped on the logo before a staff member called attention to it. You probably can’t blame the “outsiders” for forgetting about that old taboo — that’s how long it has been.Here are three things we learned at camp.The Blackhawks made it official: Anders Sörensen is the Rockford IceHogs’ permanent coach, removing the interim label.“Excited, right?” Sörensen said during development camp at Fifth Third Arena. “Proud to be part of what’s going on in our organization here, looking forward to everything.”It’s a critical role in the Hawks rebuild, and the team was impressed by how Sörensen, 47, stepped up last season when former IceHogs coach Derek King was promoted to replace Jeremy Colliton, who was fired Nov. 6.Sörensen, 47, led the IceHogs to a 35-26-4-1 record and their first playoff appearance since 2018.Making the playoffs is a valuable experience, but at the minor-league level it’s about how the players get there — and beyond.“The biggest thing for us is the habits” Sörensen said. “What habits they have that are going to carry them to be able to play in the NHL. Once they leave us and they go play for (new Hawks coach) Luke (Richardson), it’s going to be what habits they have to be able to stay up there and stay in the lineup.”AdvertisementThe top “habit” — play fast — sounds more like an attribute: Either you have it or you don’t.The Hawks kept speed in mind at the draft and declined to tender qualifying offers to several prospects from the previous front office regime.Said Sörensen: “We want to play with pace, we want to play fast, we want to be fast down the middle, we want to be competitive, a lot of things I’m sure you’ve heard us talk about here the last three to four months are the biggest things we’re talking about.“I haven’t had time to sit down yet with Luke and go through how he wants to play, he’s going to kind of dictate how we play down there, so the biggest thing for us is their habits.””I jokingly tell those guys, ‘We’re your caddies. We’re telling you to hit the 7-iron, if you want to hit the 8-iron, that’s up to you.'”– Anders Sorensen, who was officially named Rockford IceHogs head coach today, on his approach to player development pic.twitter.com/qxfK95E54f— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) July 12, 2022

As King often lamented, and Sörensen agrees, that just because you teach certain habits doesn’t mean the players always listen — some of them are still teenagers.“We’re here to serve them,” Sörensen. “I jokingly sometimes tell those guys, ‘We’re your caddies.’ We’re telling you to hit the 7-iron. If you want to hit the 8-iron, that’s up to you.Advertisement“We’re just helping you guys out here, and that’s really what it comes down to for me.”Kirby, a restricted free agent, was traded to the Montreal Canadiens Thursday, for first- and third-round picks that were used to select forwards Frank Nazar and Gavin Hayes.For Hawks fans still reeling from Alex DeBrincat’s trade, it was another draft-day stunner. That included one Dach fan in particular.“It’s kind of upsetting,” said Kirby’s brother Colton, a fellow center and Hawks second-round pick in 2021. “You think you’re going to play your career with your brother. But it’s a new path for me, so I’m excited.”Colton said the Dach family was “a little bit shell-shocked” at first before the news sank in.”I think as a family we were a little bit shellshocked for the first few minutes of it, then we let it sink in and started to slowly realize what was really going down.”– Colton Dach on the Dach family’s reaction when the Blackhawks traded older brother Kirby to Montreal pic.twitter.com/noX9AKMKzk— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) July 12, 2022

Colton said his brother advised him to focus on camp and do his best, and the younger Dach said he has been growing: “My neck’s been getting a little bit thicker.”AdvertisementSörensen has noticed physical changes in Dach and defensive prospect Nolan Allan.“I think they’re starting to look like men now,” Sörensen said. “I remember seeing them early last year at the rookie tournament and I think both of them have filled out a little bit. They look a little bit more mature, they act a little bit more mature and I think their habits have improved.”Even with Hawks prospects broken up into four teams, a height advantage isn’t easy to come by.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.Case in point, Team Savard defenseman Louis Crevier is 6-foot-8, but so is Team Murray forward Riku Tohila, though they’ve yet to face off against each other.“I saw him yesterday at dinner,” Crevier said with a big smile. “It was one of the first times I saw someone the same height, so it was pretty fun.”Not so much fun for 6-6 defenseman Alex Vlasic, who’s used to towering over people.Advertisement“When I first got here I felt small,” he said. “(There are) some guys that are taller than me, which is weird.“Our team, we had some challenges today. We have a pretty big team on our squad and we had some ladders and sprints and push-ups to do, so our team kind of struggled with that.”It wasn’t all bad for Vlasic. He had the goal of the day during four-on-four drills, crossing in front of the goalie for backhander.“That was pretty sweet,” he said.