Chicago Sports

The Chicago Blackhawks are for sure going to be sellers before the NHL trade deadline that is fastly approaching. It is a hard time for a lot of players but that is just the business side of the game. It isn’t always the easiest thing for fans or players to watch.

There are a lot of names being considered “available” right now. Anyone who can land them some great future assets should be considered options to trade. Guys like Andreas Athanasiou, Max Domi, Jake McCabe, and Connor Murphy amongst others are on the block.

Also, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are both on expiring contracts right now and could be moved very soon. Getting picks and prospects for the rebuild should be the most important thing. Those guys are amazing but it is time to move on for the betterment of the team.

It sounded like neither of them was going to be moved but now things might be starting to change. For Patrick Kane, there are lots of rumors out there right now when it comes to his status and his plans for the rest of this season.

The Chicago Blackhawks should really want to trade Patrick Kane ASAP.

Kane is the greatest player in the history of the franchise which makes this tough but it has to be done. If he blocks any trades to another team, that will be devastating to Chicago in the long term because then they’d be getting fewer assets.

This is also an elite player that isn’t having that good of a year. Well, for one, it doesn’t seem as if he is himself. It also is a product of how bad the team is. Kane is going to go to another team and start producing again and people are going to act surprised.

If he went to Dallas, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, or any of the good teams that want him, you can fully expect a much more productive Kane again and those teams know that. For that reason, the Hawks should be looking to move him for assets.

Kane might be undecided but the Hawks should put pressure on him to decide soon and choose to go play for another team. He could really go chose another Stanley Cup or two which would cement his legacy even more.

In addition to getting more picks and players for the future, the Hawks would also just become a much worse team without Kane which is a good thing too.

Connor Bedard is going to go first overall to the lottery winner and the Hawks would love for that to be them. This rebuild doesn’t have to last a long time.

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The Chicago Cubs are preparing for a very interesting season. They made a lot of moves this off-season but nobody knows if they are going to actually be a good team. There is no doubt that they will be better than they were last year but by how much exactly?

The National League is a monster at the top right now. It is going to be very hard for the Cubs to find a playoff berth but there is a chance. New faces like Cody Bellinger, Dansby Swanson, Eric Hosmer, and Trey Mancini amongst others are trying to make an impact.

Of course, people are going to be excited to see those guys perform in Cubs colors during spring training as they should. All of them bring something different that is going to help this baseball team in 2023.

Folks should also be excited about the non-roster invitees coming to Chicago Cubs’ spring training this year. All of these players are hoping to be noticed by the right people during the spring exhibition season.

The Chicago Cubs have their 2023 spring non-roster invitees selected.

There are players on this list that most Cubs fans will recognize for different reasons like Brailyn Marquez, David Bote, and Matt Mervis but Pete Crow-Armstrong highlights them all. He is the number one prospect in the Cubs organization and he should be a great player very soon.

He already made it clear that he is excited to watch and learn from other great outfielders on the team like Cody Bellinger. Even if Bellinger doesn’t live up to the hype with his bat (as he really shouldn’t expect to), he is valuable for that reason alone. People can learn a lot from him.

Crow-Armstrong is also an outfielder that has a ceiling as high as anyone they have. The Cubs acquired him from the New York Mets in the Javier Baez trade and now it is about to pay off for them.

It is unclear exactly when Peter Crow-Armstrong is going to make his Major League debut but you’d have to figure that it comes sometime in 2023. If he takes full advantage of this invite to spring training, it may be sooner than later.

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NEW YORK– Middle seats at many U.S. movie theaters just got more expensive.

AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, on Monday unveiled a new pricing scheme in which seat location determines how much your movie ticket costs. Seats in the middle of the auditorium will cost a dollar or two more, while seats in the front row will be slightly cheaper.

AMC said the pricing plan, dubbed “Sightline,” has already been rolled out in some locations and, by the end of the year, will be in place at all domestic AMC theaters during showings after 4 p.m.

Seats classified as “standard sightline” will be at the regular price. If you want to pay less for the “value sightline” seats, you have to be a member of the chain’s subscription service, AMC Stubs.

As movie theaters have attempted to recover from the pandemic, exhibitors have increasingly looked at more variable pricing methods. That’s included charging more for sought-after movies like “The Batman” in their first week of release.

Last weekend, Paramount Pictures partnered with theater chains to offer slightly reduced ticket prices for the comedy “80 for Brady.” And last year, during a dry spell in theaters, tickets at most movie theaters were $3 for “National Cinema Day.”

But in most circumstances, movie tickets are getting more expensive, especially when factoring in large-format screens and 3D showings. The average 3D premium format ticket for the biggest box-office hit in recent years, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” was about $16.50.

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The Chicago Bulls are listening to trade offers

The Chicago Bulls are shopping one of their best players before the trade deadline, according to a new report. The Bulls have struggled during the first part of the season. They’re currently 9th in the Eastern Conference standings. That’s good enough to make the Play-In round, but not where the Bulls should be.

Lonzo Ball’s ever-lingering injury hasn’t helped the team. Ball was a major piece of last year’s squad that had the best record in the east before his and a few other major injuries. However, the Bulls spent significant capital this offseason in retaining their big three of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic. LaVine hasn’t proven himself worthy of his offseason contract thus far, and the Bulls could be making a move at the trade deadline.

Alex Caruso could be traded

According to Jamal Collier with ESPN, the Bulls are looking to trade Alex Caruso before the deadline. But because of what he brings to the team, they’ll only trade Caruso for a significant return:

“Alex Caruso has drawn interest from other teams and Chicago has been open to listening to offers on the reserve guard, a league source told ESPN, but the Bulls would likely have to be blown away by a deal to trade perhaps their most important defensive player.”

Caruso is a fun player to watch on the Chicago Bulls. He’s a tough defender who has done well stepping up after Ball’s injury. While I would miss Caruso being on the Chicago Bulls if they traded him, the team needs to consider the move. This team isn’t going anywhere like it is. They need to look at changing the team’s chemistry to build a contender in the future. This team isn’t it.

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South Carolina beat a top opponent to remain No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll released Monday and now has a showdown with another one looming this weekend.

The Gamecocks (23-0) topped then- No. 5 UConn 81-77 on Sunday to remain unbeaten and stay the unanimous choice atop the poll from the 28-member national media panel. After facing Auburn on Thursday, South Carolina will play No. 3 LSU on Sunday in a matchup of the last two unbeatens in Division I women’s college basketball.

Dawn Staley’s team has won 29 consecutive games and has been No. 1 in the poll for 33 consecutive weeks. That’s one week short of tying the Huskies for the third-longest streak atop the poll. Only UConn (51 weeks) and Louisiana Tech (36) have had longer runs at No. 1.

While South Carolina has had a stranglehold on No. 1 for more than a year, Indiana is making its first appearance ever at No. 2 after Stanford lost to Washington.

“I’m going to relish this for a minute, knowing where the program was to where it is,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. “We’ve made a lot of history since we’ve been here in our nine seasons and it’s one of the more historical things we’ve been able to accomplish. Give our players credit, I don’t want to discount what a big achievement this is. We’re more than humbled to be No. 2.”

Indiana has won 10 straight since suffering its lone loss of the season to Michigan State. The Hoosiers have a tough stretch coming up, starting with a home game against No. 5 Iowa on Thursday. Indiana, which hadn’t been ranked higher than fourth before Monday, then plays No. 13 Ohio State and 12th-ranked Michigan.

“That’s why we take it one game at a time, but you understand the magnitude of what’s ahead of us. I tell the kids all the time we’re in control of our own destiny,” Moren said.

LSU remained at No. 3 after close wins over Tennessee, Georgia and Texas A&M. The Tigers have a week to prepare for the Gamecocks.

UConn moved up one spot to fourth after its close loss to the Gamecocks and Iowa was fifth.

The Cardinal fell to sixth with Utah, Maryland, Duke and Notre Dame rounding out the top 10. The Blue Devils beat the Irish on Sunday to take over sole possession of first in the ACC and vault up seven spots in the poll. It’s Duke’s best ranking since the team finished the 2017 season ranked ninth.

The NCAA will have its first reveal of the top 16 teams in the tournament to this point on Thursday.

FALLING CYCLONES

It was a rough week for Iowa State, which lost to Kansas by one point and Baylor by six. The Cyclones fell nine spots in the poll from 12th to 21st.

RE-ENTRY

Colorado came back into the poll at No. 25 after beating Oregon and Oregon State over the weekend. The Buffaloes were ranked for four weeks before falling out last week. Middle Tennessee dropped out of the poll after losing both its games last week.

THE TOP 25

1. South Carolina (28 first-place votes) 23-0

2. Indiana 22-1

3. LSU 23-0

4. UConn 21-3

5. Iowa 19-4

6. Stanford 22-3

7. Utah 20-2

8. Maryland 19-5

9. Duke 20-3

10. Notre Dame 18-4

11. Virginia Tech 18-4

12. Michigan 19-5

13. Ohio St. 20-4

14. North Carolina 17-6

15. Villanova 20-4

16. Oklahoma 18-4

17. Arizona 18-5

18. UCLA 18-6

19. Florida St. 20-5

20. Texas 18-6

21. Iowa St. 15-6

22. NC State 16-6

23. Gonzaga 22-3

24. South Florida 22-4

25. Colorado 18-5

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Purdue’s unquestioned grip on No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll is gone after a weekend loss. That didn’t stop the Boilermakers from remaining at the top anyway.

The Boilermakers earned 38 of 62 first-place votes in the poll released Monday to remain at No. 1 for a third straight week and seventh time this season. Purdue was the unanimous choice last week, the first for any team this season, before falling at Indiana over the weekend for only its second loss.

The Boilermakers (22-2, 11-2) have a leading candidate for national player of the year in Zach Edey and KenPom’s No. 1-ranked offense (121.1 points scored per 100 possessions) to go with a top-25 defense. But they got down big, committed 16 turnovers and allowed the Hoosiers — up to No. 18 this week — to shoot nearly 53% in a 79-74 loss Saturday.

“When we go to Zach and we make some perimeter shots, the defense gets better sometimes when the offense flows,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said at his postgame news conference. “And you can’t do that. You can always rebound, you can always take care of the ball, you can always make your free throws, those things there.”

The loss meant Houston collected 22 first-place votes as it rose one spot to No. 2, followed by No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Arizona in each claiming one.

THE TOP TIER

Texas jumped five spots to No. 5, shooting past Tennessee, which fell four spots to No. 6 after losing last week at Florida.

UCLA, Virginia, Kansas and Marquette rounded out the top 10, with Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles cracking the top 10 for the first time since 2019.

RISING

The Longhorns’ jump marked the biggest of the week, followed by Marquette and Miami each rising four spots. No. 13 Xavier, No. 15 Saint Mary’s and No. 21 UConn joined Indiana in each moving up three positions.

In all, 12 teams rose from last week’s rankings.

SLIDING

Kansas State took the week’s biggest tumble, falling five spots to No. 12 after losing at Kansas and at home to Texas last week. No. 16 Gonzaga joined Tennessee in falling four spots after its overtime loss at Saint Mary’s.

In all, nine teams fell from last week’s rankings.

STATUS QUO

Purdue was the only team to remain in the same position this week.

WELCOME

North Carolina State earned its first AP Top 25 ranking in four years, checking in at No. 22.

The Wolfpack (19-5, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) spent six weeks in the poll during the 2018-19 season. N.C. State already has surpassed the win total for each of the last two seasons and is in contention for the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018.

Creighton and Rutgers joined N.C. State as this week’s new additions to the poll, though both were ranked earlier this season. The Bluejays were No. 9 in the preseason poll and peaked at No. 7 before falling out by mid-December, while the Scarlet Knights spent a week at No. 23 in mid-January.

FAREWELL (FOR NOW)

Florida Atlantic (No. 19), Clemson (No. 20) and Auburn (No. 25) fell out of this week’s poll.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Big 12 leads all leagues with six ranked teams, including No. 11 Iowa State, No. 14 Baylor and No. 17 TCU. The Big East is next with five ranked teams, followed by the Big Ten and ACC with three each.

The Pac-12, Southeastern and West Coast conferences each have two ranked teams, while the American Athletic and Mountain West each have one.

THE TOP 25

1. Purdue (38 first-place votes) 22-2

2. Houston (22) 22-2

3. Alabama (1) 20-3

4. Arizona (1) 21-3

5. Texas 19-4

6. Tennessee 19-4

7. UCLA 19-4

8. Virginia 17-4

9. Kansas 18-5

10. Marquette 19-5

11. Iowa St. 16-6

12. Kansas St. 18-5

13. Xavier 19-5

14. Baylor 17-6

15. Saint Mary’s 21-4

16. Gonzaga 19-5

17. TCU 17-6

18. Indiana 16-7

19. Miami 18-5

20. Providence 17-6

21. UConn 18-6

22. NC State 19-5

23. Creighton 15-8

24. Rutgers 16-7

25. San Diego St. 18-5

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A massive fire engulfed a factory building in Chicago Heights early Monday morning.

Fire crews responded to the 1100 block of South Washington Avenue around 6:30 a.m. Aerial footage showed the fire burning in several spots with heavy smoke.

Information on injuries wasn’t immediately available.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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A massive fire engulfed a factory building in Chicago Heights early Monday morning.

Fire crews responded to the 1100 block of South Washington Avenue around 6:30 a.m. Aerial footage showed the fire burning in several spots with heavy smoke.

Information on injuries wasn’t immediately available.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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Jarred Tinordi can finally eat normal food again.

When the Blackhawks defenseman had the bands holding his jaw in place removed earlier in January, he celebrated by ordering a Five Guys cheeseburger. And on Jan. 25, more than a month after taking a shot to the face that required surgery, the last of his wires and screws were taken out.

He’s now close to returning to action. The Hawks plan to hold him out Tuesday against the Ducks — their first game back from their bye week and the All-Star break — but reinsert him into the lineup either Friday against the Coyotes or Saturday at the Jets.

“I feel like I’m ready to go,” Tinordi said. “The break was nice. It came at a good time for me personally.”

Tinordi was part of a wave of good injury news surrounding the Hawks as they returned to practice Sunday.

It turns out Tyler Johnson’s ankle wasn’t re-aggravated severely. He’s cleared to return Tuesday, coach Luke Richardson said, meaning he will miss just three games from this most recent injury.

Alex Stalock’s second concussion of the season hasn’t proven as severe, either. He didn’t practice Sunday but worked individually on the ice with goalie coach Jimmy Waite afterward. If all goes well this week — with no setbacks — Stalock might go with the Hawks on their four-game Canadian road trip starting Saturday in Winnipeg (with later stops in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.)

Jujhar Khaira, out since Christmas with a back injury, is on track to play again this season. That’s reassuring news, considering he never returned from his back injury last season, ultimately needing surgery. He’s currently working out off-ice and might resume skating soon.

The one potential concern is Jonathan Toews, who missed practice with a non-COVID illness. It’s the third different time since the start of December that Toews has been sick; he missed the Hawks’ second-to-last game before the bye week with an illness, too.

“[It’s the] same thing as before, but not the same,” Richardson said cryptically. “Hopefully he gets his energy back and he’s ready to be back soon.”

Toews evaded two questions about his health during a Jan. 19 interview in equally cryptic fashion, implying he felt well below 100% by doing so. It’s unknown whether these recent issues are connected to his Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome that held him out the entire 2020-21 season.

With or without their captain, the Hawks plan to work more on systems during practice Monday. Richardson believes “it’s time to add a few twists” to their tactics, particularly offensively.

Tuesday will then mark the first of 13 games — five at home, eight on the road — in a 24-day span leading up to the March 3 trade deadline, which will increasingly overshadow everything.

Richardson said general manager Kyle Davidson has been keeping him informed about the trade market, although calls are quiet at the moment.

Tinordi, at least, should be well-rested for the coming stretch. The month off for his face to heal also allowed other bumps and bruises around his body to heal, such as a hip injury that cost him five games in late November and early December. This weekend might almost feel to him like starting fresh on a new season.

“When I was hurt, my schedule was pretty tough,” he said. “I was out here [at Fifth Third Arena] by myself, skating. But as far as little nagging stuff during the year? Looking at it that way, it’s good to feel recovered and normal again.”

There is one catch, though.

“I don’t think he was happy he has to wear a cage [on his helmet] for a while,” Richardson said, chuckling. “They had to bring the doctor in. He thought they were lying to him.”

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