Chicago Sports

A person was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire with Chicago police early Wednesday near an Irving Park bar after officers responded to a call that someone had aimed a gun at people, authorities said.

The shooting happened about 3 a.m. in the 3700 block of North Troy Street, according to Chicago police. Investigators haven’t yet determined the age or identity of the person who was killed.

During a news conference at police headquarters, Supt. David Brown told reporters the suspect had returned to Christina’s Place, 3759 N. Kedzie Ave., after being kicked out earlier. A security guard at the bar heard arguing outside and the suspect pointed a gun at the bouncer and other people in the area.

The guard walked back into the bar and called police, and officers responded and were pointed in the suspect’s direction, Brown said. That’s when the suspect ran toward an alley on Troy Street where there was “an apparent exchange of gunfire,” with two officers and the suspect all firing shots.

The suspect was the only person struck, the superintendent said. A gun equipped with an extended magazine was recovered.

Officers radioed that shots had been fired at police and called for an ambulance.

“We have one subject down in the alley, he still has the gun in his hand,” an officer told a police dispatcher. “We are not looking for any other offenders at this time.”

The officers involved in the shooting were taken to a hospital for “observation purposes” and were listed in good condition, Brown said. One of the officers involved in the shooting is a “veteran,” while the other is a probationary officer.

Both will be placed on routine administrative duties for at least 30 days as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates the shooting, Brown said. COPA released a brief statement saying its investigators were “responding to an officer-involved shooting.”

Investigators are reviewing body-worn camera footage of the shootout, according to Brown, who said police also expect to recover police POD camera video.

“From what we know now, based on looking at the body-worn camera [footage], the offender fired his weapon and the officers fired their weapon,” Brown said, noting investigators have little indication of what led up to the shooting.

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PHOENIX — Greg Olsen has gotten used to the question by now.

“If I had a dollar for every Tom Brady question,” he said this week, “I would have his contract.”

In May, Fox announced that Brady would become the network’s lead game analyst alongside play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt once he retired — and would be paid a reported $375 million over 10 years to do so.

In the interim, Fox turned to Olsen, the Bears’ standout tight end from 2007-10 who had been paired with Burkhardt in 2021. Olsen knew right away that more people than ever would hear his voice this season, as Fox held the rights to the Super Bowl. He tries not to think about exactly how many people will tune in, though; the NFL found that, last year, 208 million people, or about two-thirds of the American population, watched the Super Bowl.

His one-year stint on Fox’s lead announcing team turned into two this week, when Brady said he wouldn’t start broadcasting until 2024. The network, though, should consider finding a way to keep Olsen in a prominent role even once Brady emerges with a year’s worth of Sunshine State tan. In just his second full NFL season, and at just age 37, Olsen has emerged as one of the game’s best analysts.

He’s football’s version of Conan O’Brien when Jay Leno came back for the “Tonight” show — skilled, but, because of circumstances, also the people’s choice. Social media seems to love him.

“As we all know,” he said wryly, “the Internet can change very quickly.”

Part of Olsen’s charm is how he’s dealt with being Brady’s seat-warmer. He’d love to call games with Burkhart for another decade, but knows that’s unlikely. He credits Fox for turning to him, even if it’s made for an awkward situation. He swears it’s not a distraction this week, even though Brady retired just last week.

“I’ve never shied away from it, I’ve never tried to hide in the corner,” Olsen said. “It is the reality of the situation. I’m a big boy. I know what I signed up for. My goal was to try to be good.”

Olsen wasn’t sure whether he would be — but he vowed to see it through. In 2017, he became the third active player to serve as Fox game analyst, calling one game. He did another in 2019. In 2020, he called XFL games with Burkhardt.

Last year, the two were Fox’s No. 2 crew. They were bumped up to top slot when Joe Buck and Troy Aikman went to “Monday Night Football.”

Olsen studies the way he did as a player — “The hardest thing about any of these games is really everything up until the ball is kicked off,” he said — but tries not to sound rote. He typically brings more information than CBS’ lead analyst, Tony Romo, and does so without the breathless schtick. He’s noticing small details now — Olsen will watch a game and notice the details of a Telestrator, or text a producer about how a broadcast crew edits replays so quickly.

Olsen never used to care about the announcers. With the Bears, the former first-round pick tried to block out the media as a rule.

“It’s not an easy market,” he said. “They were good to me at times, bad to me at times. They were probably better to me after I left, which I always found amusing. They would always write the nice things about me after I left town.”

That’s because he was the one that got away.

“That’s always how it works,” he said, smiling.

The Bears traded Olsen to the Panthers on the eve of training camp in 2011 when he was deemed incompatible with offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s system. He spent nine years with the Panthers, reaching three Pro Bowls. From 2011 until he retired following the 2020 season, Olsen trailed only Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce in receiving yards by a tight end.

It was one of the worst trades in Bears history.

“I loved my time in Chicago,” he said. “I loved playing there. The crowd, the fans, it had kind of a college vibe in the sense that people lived, breathed, died for Chicago football. We had some good moments there; I was able to experience some really good times.

“But you learned at a young age, if you’re gonna get wrapped up in every headline and every news article and every reporter’s opinion of your third-down play and your blocking ….”

Now he’s the critic on the biggest stage in sports.

“You better be prepared for pretty much everything and be able to rattle it off and spit it out,” Olsen said. “For me, that’s the fun of it. That’s the challenge of why I was driven to calling games as opposed to some of the other stuff. It’s hard to do.”

The last time Olsen was part of a Super Bowl, seven years ago, he trudged off the field while the Broncos celebrated a 14-point win against his Panthers.

“It is nice to know I don’t have that,” he said. “But there’s a different type of pressure, a different type of responsibility.”

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A person was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire with Chicago police early Wednesday near an Irving Park bar after officers responded to a call that someone had aimed a gun at people, authorities said.

The shooting happened about 3 a.m. in the 3700 block of North Troy Street, according to Chicago police. Investigators haven’t yet determined the age or identity of the person who was killed.

During a news conference at police headquarters, Supt. David Brown told reporters the suspect had returned to Christina’s Place, 3759 N. Kedzie Ave., after being kicked out earlier. A security guard at the bar heard arguing outside and the suspect pointed a gun at the bouncer and other people in the area.

The guard walked back into the bar and called police, and officers responded and were pointed in the suspect’s direction, Brown said. That’s when the suspect ran toward an alley on Troy Street where there was “an apparent exchange of gunfire,” with two officers and the suspect all firing shots.

The suspect was the only person struck, the superintendent said. A gun equipped with an extended magazine was recovered.

Officers radioed that shots had been fired at police and called for an ambulance.

“We have one subject down in the alley, he still has the gun in his hand,” an officer told a police dispatcher. “We are not looking for any other offenders at this time.”

The officers involved in the shooting were taken to a hospital for “observation purposes” and were listed in good condition, Brown said. One of the officers involved in the shooting is a “veteran,” while the other is a probationary officer.

Both will be placed on routine administrative duties for at least 30 days as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates the shooting, Brown said. COPA released a brief statement saying its investigators were “responding to an officer-involved shooting.”

Investigators are reviewing body-worn camera footage of the shootout, according to Brown, who said police also expect to recover police POD camera video.

“From what we know now, based on looking at the body-worn camera [footage], the offender fired his weapon and the officers fired their weapon,” Brown said, noting investigators have little indication of what led up to the shooting.

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Andrew McKenna, a titan in Chicago’s business, civic and sports arenas, died Tuesday.

Mr. McKenna, along with insurance magnate Patrick Ryan, purchased 19.6% of the Chicago Bears in 1990 from the children of Bears founder George Halas Sr. during a highly publicized family feud.

On the Bears website, team chairman George H. McCaskey said of Mr. McKenna, who sat on the team’s board of directors: “Few people have had a larger impact on our great city.”

Over the course of his career, he served as board chairman for McDonald’s, Schwarz Paper, the Cubs, the White Sox and the University of Notre Dame.

Mr. McKenna, who lived in Winnetka, was 93.

Born in Chicago in 1929, McKenna earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from DePaul University, according to the Bears.

“We are grateful for his many contributions to the Bears and his wisdom will be missed. Our prayers are with his family,” McCaskey said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Former Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad — now with the Blues — did rookie Hawks goalie Jaxson Stauber a favor in his NHL debut Jan. 21.

Seven seconds into the game, Saad harmlessly shot a puck from the outside right into Stauber’s chest. Immediately, the 23-year-old Minnesotan’s nerves subsided.

“You don’t have to move too much for those,” Stauber said, chuckling. “That helped, for sure.”

Meanwhile, in the stands in St. Louis that Saturday night, Stauber’s father, Robb — a former NHL goalie — had revived his old pregame mental routine to avoid falling victim to similar nervousness.

“To be really good in the NHL, you have to have clarity, you have to be calm and patient, you have to see things clearly and you have to play within yourself,” Robb said. “I just tried to mimic [that]. I tried to stay extremely calm, no matter what happened, and really enjoy the moment.”

Jaxson ended up making 28 more saves — most of which were much more difficult than that first one — as the Hawks won 5-3. Five days later against the Flames, he was even better, stopping 34 of 35 shots as the Hawks won 5-1.

Now he’s 2-0 with a .940 save percentage, making him the first Hawks goalie to win his first two starts since Gilles Meloche in 1971. It’s truly a storybook start to his career.

“That’s pretty special,” Jaxson said. “It’s two games, so there’s a long way to go. But it’s good to have a couple wins under my belt.”

Long before signing a two-year contract with the Hawks last spring, a young Jaxson had told his dad he wanted to follow in his footsteps to become an NHL goalie.

The physical art of goaltending has changed tremendously since Robb’s pro career in the 1990s, when he played 62 NHL games for the Kings and Sabres and another 164 games in the AHL and IHL.

The mental discipline required for goaltending has not changed, however, and Robb — who recently coached the U.S. women’s hockey team to its 2018 Olympic gold medal — promptly began imparting that advice on his son.

“It was never too early to start teaching him what it’s like to be a high-end athlete: the mindset you have to have, the professionalism,” Robb said. “It’s important to build good habits, and the mind between your ears is your greatest asset if you can use it to your benefit. Everybody has their own way to find that [benefit], but you can help them when different things come up.”

That’s exactly what the Staubers did, and their patience eventually paid off. Jaxson was never drafted and played only one game at Minnesota State, where he first committed, but finally found a home at Providence in 2021.

He went 32-21-7 with a .919 save percentage and 2.15 GAA over two seasons. Both times, he was a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award as one of the top NCAA goalies. Eventually, the Hawks came calling.

Jaxson’s journey is hardly complete after two wins, of course. His AHL numbers this season — 6-4-0 with an .896 save percentage in 12 appearances — are respectable but unspectacular. This NHL opportunity only came about because top goalie prospect Arvid Soderblom was injured when Alex Stalock suffered his most recent concussion. And both Soderblom and Boston University’s Drew Commesso remain ahead of Jaxson in the Hawks’ goalie-prospect hierarchy.

Jaxson knows that, though. He’s accustomed to working hard to climb ladders.

“Being a goalie in the NHL, whether it’s for one game or 15 years, it’s hard,” Robb said. “To have success early is a great thing to build off.”

Different styles

Robb established a reputation as one of hockey’s most brazen, aggressive, unique goaltenders during his playing career, frequently venturing far out of his crease to challenge opposing shooters.

Jaxson isn’t quite the same.

“He gave guys something to think about, for sure,” Jaxson said. “I wouldn’t say you’ll catch me doing that too often, but I might throw one of those [rushes] in every so often and come out of the net.”

Instead, Jaxson has worked closely with Rockford goaltending coach Peter Aubry since late last season on lowering his stance and playing deeper in his crease — two adjustments designed to adapt his style from college to pro hockey, where shots are more frequently preceded by horizontal passing plays.

“Not that there’s not traffic in pro hockey, because guys have great hand-eye coordination, but the game is a little bit more east-west, with people trying to shoot off the pass,” Jaxson said in September. “You’ve got to give yourself as much time as you can when the puck’s moving quick.”

In the half-season since, he said he has gotten more comfortable with that and felt some “good progression there.” His efficiency of movement and comfort level have both been evident in these first two NHL starts.

“Even if there’s some scrambling going on [in front of him], he doesn’t look scrambly,” Hawks coach Luke Richardson said recently.

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Over the last few days, we learned that the Chicago Blackhawks approached Patrick Kane about the teams that have expressed interest in him. We also know that he won’t have a decision until closer to the trade deadline.

Kane is one of the best players in the history of the franchise so trading him would be very hard for everyone to watch (including Kane) but it is something that the team must consider because of the good it can cause for the future.

This is also not the only player that Chicago needs to consider moving. It will be equally as hard to move on from Jonathan Toews but they must try. He might not land them as much as Kane but any assets they can take advantage of this year, they should.

On Tuesday, we also learned from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period that Toews is very much in the same boat as Kane. Teams have expressed interest in him but he ultimately gets the final decision and likely won’t make it until closer to the trade deadline.

The trade deadline is going to be very interesting for the Chicago Blackhawks.

As Pagnnotta put it, anything can change but nobody should expect it to at this time. It is obviously a big story but none that we are going to have to wait for. Obviously, for the right price, a contender would look much better with Toews inserted into their lineup.

Toews has missed the last couple of days (practice, game) because of illness. The team already knows what it might be like without their current captain but it won’t feel real until he is actually gone for good.

The thing is, neither Toews nor Kane are locks to be traded. They control their own destiny and the teams trying to get them know that. It is a very similar situation to what went on with Claude Giroux last season and the trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers.

Regardless, getting anything for these guys would really help in the future. They need assets that can help them going forward. Also, losing them makes them a worse team which will help them in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes.

Again, it isn’t going to be all that fun for Blackhawks fans to see these legends leave but it is pretty obvious that it must be done. They have a great prospect pool and it is only going to get better so we can only hope that this all leads to a brighter future.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Bulls center Nikola Vucevic knows it hasn’t always looked pretty.

In fact, it sometimes has been downright painful on the eyes.

But he still believes in keeping the ”Big Three” together with the trade deadline Thursday and rumors swirling.

Actually, if it was up to Vucevic, the front office would keep the entire roster intact.

”There are a lot of ways we do fit together,” Vucevic said. ”Just about us building that chemistry. Plus, all three of us — Zach [LaVine], DeMar [DeRozan] and myself — are at a point in our career where we do want to win, get there. When you put all that together, it makes a lot of sense to give us the shot and continue to work on it.

”When the three of us take that lead and play the way we need to play, we could be a good team.”

The good, the bad and the ugly was on display in the Bulls’ 104-89 loss Tuesday to the Grizzlies.

On a night in which the Bulls (26-28) had only the two of the ”Big Three” up and running — DeRozan was sidelined by a sore right hip — it was like watching three different games.

There was the first half, in which LaVine was a nonfactor and the Bulls turned the ball over 12 times and shot only 29.3%.

There was the third quarter, in which they they outscored the Grizzlies 36-23 to take a three-point lead.

Then there was the fourth quarter, in which the Bulls were outscored 32-14 and again had turnover and shooting issues.

One of the real head-scratchers was LaVine going 10-for-17 from the free-throw line. He is a career 83.1% shooter from there.

”I gotta do better,” LaVine said. ”It’s unacceptable for me to shoot that many free throws and miss. . . . Shot them with confidence, like I always do, but they just didn’t go in.”

As far as keeping the band together — or possibly even adding some talent by Thursday — Vucevic wasn’t just talking about the rest of this season.

”I’m excited about seeing if we can get what we want to get,” said Vucevic, who led the Bulls with 28 points and 17 rebounds. ”Obviously, I’m not just taking the mindset of whatever happens, happens. I obviously would like to stay here [as a free agent this summer]. Hopefully we can work something out.

”It makes sense that they want to first see how this all works out, how we do, how we finish the season. That’s just natural. They have to do their job the same way I’ve got to do my job. If they want to talk about an extension, I’d be more than happy to do it. Absolutely.”

Vucevic downplayed the idea of being more willing to do an extension after the Pacers and center Myles Turner recently struck a two-year deal for just less than $60 million.

”I know how valuable I am to this team,” Vucevic said. ”It’s not like I’m a third- or fourth-year player, just trying to establish myself and establish my value. It’s pretty well-known around the league what I can do, what I bring to the table.

”That’s great for Myles, but I don’t try and compare myself to other guys where, ‘Hey, this is what he got, this is what I should get.’ I don’t think like that. I’m more individual in the way I think about it.”

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The Blackhawks’ dominance over the Ducks — eight straight wins dating back to 2018 — was bound to end eventually.

But they probably didn’t deserve for it to end Tuesday, as it did in a 3-2 overtime loss, considering how thoroughly they controlled play throughout regulation.

“We outplayed them for three periods,” coach Luke Richardson said. “That was probably the most ‘O’-zone time and rotation and movement that we’ve had all year. A couple of line rushes maybe [were] a little too fancy [with] that extra pass.

“We just didn’t have that killer instinct to put that third one in in the first 60 minutes. I thought we could’ve been up by a couple of goals by then.”

The Hawks finished with a 62-40 advantage in shot attempts and a 28-15 edge in scoring chances. That 65.1% scoring-chance ratio was their best of the season and, fittingly, their best overall since an 8-3 win over the Ducks last March.

But both teams hit posts a few times, Ducks backup goalie Anthony Stolarz outplayed Hawks starter Petr Mrazek — who allowed two very soft goals in the second period to help the visitors keep pace — and Ducks forward Frank Vatrano eventually snuck behind Max Domi to score the overtime winner.

Jason Dickinson admitted the loss “hurt,” but he individually proved the All-Star break didn’t interrupt his sudden evolution into a star power forward.

The Hawks’ fill-in first-line center in Jonathan Toews’ absence looked fantastic again. He buried a centering pass from Patrick Kane — his new partner-in-crime — for the first goal and powered through the Ducks’ defense before setting up Seth Jones for the second.

After wading through a 17-game point drought that stretched into mid-January, Dickinson’s two points Tuesday gave him goals in three straight games and eight points in his last nine games. He’s now just four points away from his single-season career high of 22.

Hull remembered

The Hawks honored former star Bobby Hull, who died last week at age 84, with a pregame video montage and moment of silence Tuesday.

But likely as a result of the ugly side of his legacy, they did nothing more than that. Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito, by comparison, were honored with patches and numbers painted on the ice following their deaths.

Outside on Madison Street, a fan had taped a handwritten sheet of paper reading “R.I.P. Bobby” on the railing around his statue.

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MEMPHIS – Blame social media or just that time of the NBA season, but even a simple case of a sore right hip can be spun into heightened suspicion.

That was on full display Tuesday, just moments after Bulls coach Billy Donovan ruled star forward DeMar DeRozan out of the showdown with the Grizzlies.

Instantly, there was speculation that DeRozan was being held out of the contest because of trade talks heating up around the veteran.

It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Just his hip again,” Donovan said, referring to the hip soreness that cost DeRozan three games last month. “That’s come back on him a little bit. There’s been discomfort. I think the back-to-back is something to be a little cautious with him. Probably just the wear and tear type of thing, and the amount of minutes.”

The Sun-Times has been reporting for several weeks that the league-wide feeling around the Bulls is that they would be relatively quiet when the Thursday trade deadline comes and goes, likely making a small tweak to the roster, if any.

The idea of seriously moving on from any of the “Big Three” – DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic or Zach LaVine – has not presented itself yet, and likely wouldn’t be a scenario the front office would look to explore unless something unforeseen arises.

The reality of DeRozan’s situation was he played just under 34 minutes in the blow-out win over the Spurs on Monday, and was feeling it when he woke up in Memphis the following morning.

That’s it.

What Donovan would admit to on the trade front was he was scheduled to meet with executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley in New York on Wednesday, one day before the Bulls play the Nets in Brooklyn.

“We’re going to get together,” Donovan said. “We’re talking all the time, but I think going into [the deadline], I think there will be a conversation. We’ll sit down, and hey, maybe it’s, ‘Listen, there’s not a lot going on,’ or ‘Here’s some possibilities.’ But we’ll definitely get together.

“There’s been a partnership there where he’ll fill me in, want my feedback, and take my feedback, but I understand that there’s other parts of it other than, ‘Let’s go get this guy.’ Then it’s all of a sudden, ‘At what cost, and is it really making you better?’ ”

The King

Donovan enjoys telling stories of the highly-coveted high school recruits that got away from his days at Florida, but one such player that the former Gators coach knew he had no chance at from Day 1 of seeing him play was LeBron James.

“I was probably recruiting him a little bit, and then when I saw him play live, I stopped that immediately because I knew there was no chance [he would play college basketball],” Donovan said. “I saw him his sophomore year.”

Now all these years later, Donovan and the rest of the league were watching James become the NBA’s leading scorer of all time, surpassing Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

“When you watched him play even at a young age, he’s always been about playing the right way and making the right pass,” Donovan said. “I was always amazed, even watching him in AAU where clearly he was head and shoulders so much better than everyone else, but if a teammate was open he would throw him the ball. I had such great respect and admiration for that, and he’s stayed true to it. But also the fact that he scored at that same clip. It’s pretty impressive.”

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Curie guard Carlos Harris has started on varsity since he was a freshman. The junior has a bundle of college offers and is a respected force in the Public League.

But over the past two weeks Harris has elevated his game and is emerging as a star. He hit the game-winner to stun top-ranked Simeon on Jan. 26. Tuesday at Young Harris was in complete control, dazzling and dominating on his way to a career-high 35 points as No. 7 Curie took down the No. 5 Dolphins 75-60 in the quarterfinals of the city tournament.

“This is just me,” Harris said. “I have to be a leader and step up for my team.”

Harris was 13-for-18 shooting and had six rebounds, three steals and a block. He made a three-pointer in the first quarter and spent the rest of the game attacking the basket with speed and style.

“He’s hungry now and he’s out to prove something,” Condors coach Mike Oliver said. “The light bulb is starting to come on and he’s one of the best guards in the city.”

It wasn’t as close as the final score. The Condors led by 10 after a quarter and were ahead 41-18 at the half.

Curie’s aggressive defense forced Young into 15 turnovers and led to the big early leads. Junior Christian Brockett, a transfer from Leo, came off the bench and nabbed four steals for the Condors (19-9).

“It has been a challenge adapting to the Public League,” Brockett said. “But I’ve wanted to make an impact and be special in some type of way. So it’s being that spark off the bench. I can do that every game.”

Jeremy Harrington Jr. had 12 points and six rebounds for the Condors and Chikasi Ofoma added 10 points and four rebounds. Their post defense has been key to Curie’s upsets of Simeon and Young.

The Condors have been playing unselfishly since Christmas, and Oliver has multiple dependable ballhandlers in Harris, Brockett, Kros Barrett and Shawn Brown.

“A lot of people doubted us because we started out slow,” Harris said. “But we are back in our rhythm.”

Sophomore Antonio Munoz led Young with 18 points and seven rebounds. Senior Dalen Davis also scored 18 and Daniel Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Dolphins (21-6) have lost their last two big local showdowns but remain a threat to advance to Champaign in the Class 4A state playoffs.

Curie will face Simeon in the city semifinals on Thursday. The Wolverines knocked off North Lawndale 74-54 on Tuesday behind 21 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks from Loyola recruit Miles Rubin.

Perspectives-Leadership beat Hyde Park for the third time this season and will play Kenwood in the other semifinal.

The Broncos held on to beat Phillips 71-68. Calvin Robins Jr. scored 18 and Solomon Mosley scored 16 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Kenwood.

The semifinals will be held Thursday night at UIC, and the title game is on Saturday at 4 p.m. at UIC.

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