Chicago Sports

Thursday, December 29, 2022

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-SOUTH

Chicago Military at EPIC, 5:00

BLOOMINGTON / NORMAL

Small Schools

East Dubuque vs. Olympia, 2:00

Rock Falls vs. Winnebago, 12:30

El Paso-Gridley vs. Notre Dame (Quincy), 12:30

Fieldcrest vs. McNamara, 2:00

St. Joseph-Ogden vs. Rockford Lutheran, 7:00

University High (Normal) vs. Bloomington Catholic

Annawan vs. Tri-Valley, 12:00

Providence-St. Mel vs. Aurora Christian, 1:30

11th Place, 6:30

Consolation Championship, 8:30

7th Place, 8:00

5th Place, 7:00

Large Schools

Normal vs. North Lawndale, 11:00

Oswego vs. Mahomet-Seymour, 9:30a

Bradley-Bourbonnais vs. Peoria Central, 9:30a

Brother Rice vs. Rock Island, 11:00

Sacred Heart-Griffin vs. Wheaton-Warr. South, 4:0

Mesa (AZ) vs. Romeoville, 5:30

North Chicago vs. Harlem, 9:00a

Joliet Central vs. Springfield, 10:30

11th Place, 3:30

Consolation Championship, 5:30

7th Place, 5:00

5th Place, 4:00

CENTRALIA

Cahokia vs. Kipp (MO), 8:30a

Champaign Central vs. Dyett, 10:00

Payton vs. Hillwood (TN), 3:30

Confluence (MO) vs. Glenwood, 9:15

Marist vs. Wekiva (FL), 12:30

Evanston vs. Mount Vernon, 2:00

Ritter (MO) vs. Belleville West, 6:15

Centralia vs. Carmel, 7:45

COLLINSVILLE

Mundelein vs. Madison, 10:00

Rockford East vs. Collinsville, 1:00

Mundelein vs. TBA

Rockford East vs. TBA

DE KALB

Ogden vs. Belvidere North, 9:00a

McHenry vs. Hononegah, 10:30

Dundee-Crown vs. Manley, 1:30

Marshall vs. Plainfield East. 12:00

DeKalb vs. Lincoln-Way West, 3:00

Phillips vs. Naperville Central, 4:30

Geneva vs. Huntley, 7:30

Guilford vs. East Moline, 6:00

EAST AURORA

DRW Prep vs. IMSA, 1:00

Hope Academy vs. Plainfield Central, 2:35

Joliet Catholic vs. East Aurora, 4:10

Downers Grove North vs. Wheaton Academy, 5:45

EASTLAND

Amboy vs. West Carroll, 2:00

Forreston vs. Eastland, 3:30

Galena vs. Byron, 5:00

Pecatonica vs. South Beloit, 6:30

EFFINGHAM / TEUTOPOLIS

at Teutopolis

Belvidere vs. Lutheran North (MO), 9:00

Dixon vs. Charleston, 10:30

Oak Lawn vs. St. Anthony, 12:00

Brooks vs. Teutopolis, 1:30

at Effingham

Mattoon vs. Newton, 9:00

Knoxville vs. Highland, 10:30

Lincoln-Way East vs. Centennial, 12:00

Pleasant Plains vs. Effingham, 1:30

at Teutopolis

13th Place Semi-Final, 4:30 (at Effingham)

Consolation Semi-Final, 4:30

5th Place Semi-Final, 6:00

Semi-Final, 7:30

at Effingham

13th Place Semi-Final, 6:00

Consolation Semi-Final, 4:30

5th Place Semi-Final, 6:00

Semi-Final, 7:30

ELGIN

Westminster Christian vs. Bowen, 9:00a

Round Lake vs. Elgin Academy, 10:30

King vs. West Chicago, 12:00

Aurora Central vs. Mather, 1:45

Lake View vs. Waukegan, 3:15

Chicago Christian vs. Raby, 4:45

Walther Christian vs. Shepard, 6:30

Kennedy vs. Elgin, 8:00

ERIE-PROPHETSTOWN

Beecher vs. Morrison, 7:30

GOLDEN GATE (FL)

Loyola vs. Doral (FL), 7:30

GREENVIEW

Grace Christian vs. Blue Ridge, 9:30a

HINSDALE CENTRAL

Glenbard East vs. Oak Forest, 9:30

Morton vs. Willowbrook, 11:00

Richards vs. St. Charles East, 12:30

Lincoln-Way Central vs. Maine South, 3:45

Morgan Park vs. Auburn, 2:00

Stevenson vs. Homewood-Flossmoor, 5:15

DePaul vs. Marian Catholic, 7:00

Oswego East vs. Hinsdale Central, 8:30

IC CATHOLIC / WESTMONT

at Westmont

Elmwood Park vs. UC-Woodlawn, 3:00

Latin vs. South Shore, 6:00

Glenbard South vs. Westmont, 4:30

Christ the King vs. Taft, 7:30

at IC Catholic

Alcott vs. Reavis, 3:00

St. Edward vs. Eisenhower, 6:00

Catalyst-Maria vs. Fenger, 4:30

Evergreen Park vs. IC Catholic, 7:30

JACOBS

Streamwood vs. Jefferson, 9:00a

Elk Grove vs. Marian Central, 10:30

Johnsburg vs. Jacobs, 1:30

Grant vs. South Elgin, 12:00

Cary-Grove vs. Bartlett, 3:00

Larkin vs. Prairie Ridgem 4:30

Barrington vs. Grayslake Central, 6:00

Crystal Lake South vs. Hoffman Estates, 7:30

KANKAKEE

Blue Division

Cissna Park vs. Clifton Central, 9:00a

Grant Park vs. Manteno, 12:00

Momence vs. Herscher, 3:00

St. Anne vs. Peotone, 6:00

Maroon Division

Butler vs. Dunbar, 10:30

Schurz vs. Hansberry, 1:30

Lindblom vs. Von Steuben, 4:30

Jefferson (IN) vs. Kankakee, 7:30

LA MOILLE

Hiawatha vs. DePue, 4:30

LaMoille vs. Lowpoint-Washburn, 6:00

LITTLE VILLAGE

TBA

MAINE EAST

Bulls Prep vs. Argo, 9:00

Richards (Chgo) vs. Sullivan, 10:30

Jones vs. Sandburg, 3:00

Metea Valley vs. Crane, 4:30

Vernon Hills vs. Westinghouse, 12:00

Ridgewood vs. Addison Trail, 1:30

Niles West vs. Leyden, 6:00

Providence vs. Maine East, 7:30

MARQUETTE (OTTAWA)

Somonauk vs. Gradner-So. Wilmington, 9:00a

Indian Creek vs. Flanagan-Cornell, 10:30

St. Bede vs. Woodland, 12:00

Dwight vs. Putnam County, 1:30

Hall vs. Earlville, 3:30

Lexington vs. Wilmington, 5:00

Serena vs. Reed-Custer, 6:30

Seneca vs. Marquette, 8:00

NORTH BOONE

Alden-Hebron vs. Durand, 2:00

North Boone vs. Harvard, 3:30

PEKIN

Limestone vs. Comer, 11:00

Plainfield South vs. Perspectives-MSA, 12:30

Lake Zurich vs. Lake Park, 2:00

Boylan vs. Richwoods, 2:00

Normal West vs. Washington (IL), 11:00

Lanphier vs. Pekin, 12:30

Morton (IL) vs. Hersey, 5:00

Moline vs. Mount Carmel, 6:30

PLANO

Mendota vs. Morris, 9:00a

Newark vs. Hinckley-Big Rock, 10:30

Sandwich vs. Lisle, 12:30

Plano vs. Coal City, 2:00

Yorkville Christian vs. Ottawa, 3:30

Northridge vs. Streator, 5:30

Kaneland vs. Marmion, , 7:00

Notre Dame (Peoria) vs. Burlington Central, 8:30

PONTIAC

Plainfield North vs. Oak Park-River Forest, 9:30a

Manual vs. Bloomington, 8:00a

Warren vs. Danville, 2:30

St. Charles North vs. West Aurora, 6:00

Bloom vs. Benet, 1:00

Lockport vs. Joliet West, 11:00

New Trier vs. Curie, 4:00

Simeon vs. Pontiac, 7:30

Consolation Semi-Final, 9:00

PROVISO WEST

Bowman (IN) vs. Zion-Benton, 11:00

Crete-Monee vs. Southland, 12:30

Bogan vs. Clark, 2:00

Hammond Central (IN) vs. Fenwick, 4:00

St. Rita vs. Proviso East, 5:30

Young vs. Kenwood, 7:00

RICH

Thornton vs. Tinley Park, 9:00a

Thornridge vs. Longwood, 10:30

Thornton Fr. South vs. Bremen, 12:00

Noll (IN) vs. St. Francis de Sales, 1:30

Francis Parker vs. Thornwood, 3:30

De La Salle vs. Agriculutral Science, 5:00

Perspectives-Lead vs. Hyde Park, 6:30

Rich vs. Hillcrest, 8:00

WHEELING

Maine West vs. Prosser, 9:00a

Antioch vs Wheeling, 10:30

St. Viator vs. Buffalo Grove, 12:15

Niles North vs. Englewood STEM, 2:00

Hampshire vs. Deerfield, 3:45

Prospect vs. Notre Dame, 5:30

Libertyville vs. Neuqua Valley, 7:15

Fremd vs. Glenbrook North, 8:45

WILLIAMSVILLE

Roanoke-Benson vs. Havana

YORK

Leo vs. Stagg, 8:30a

Montini vs. Highland Park, 9:00a

Minooka vs. Nazareth, 11:30

St. Francis vs. Downers Grove South, 12:00

Schaumburg vs. Batavia, 3:00

Hinsdale South vs. Andrew, 4:30

Glenbard West vs. Wheaton North, 3:30

Glenbard North vs. St. Laurence, 5:00

Lake Forest vs. Timothy Christian, 10:00

Waubonsie Valley vs. Conant, 10:30

Naperville North vs. Yorkville, 1:00

St. Patrick vs. York, 1:30

Riverside-Brookfield vs. Palatine, 6:00

Glenbrook South vs. Lemont, 7:30

St. Ignatius vs. Lyons, 6:30

Rolling Meadows vs. Bolingbrook, 8:00

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Bears fans want an elite wide receiver

Chicago Bears fans are suffering through a tough season. The Bears are 3-12 heading into Week 17. One bright spot for the team this season has been the offense. Second-year quarterback Justin Fields has made significant progress. But he needs his healthy wide receivers to step up his passing game, as his current crop drops a lot of passes and run poor routes. Fans think Davante Adams might be a fit after shocking news came out on the Las Vegas Raiders Wednesday.

The Raiders are benching Derek Carr for their last two games and starting Jarrett Stidham in his place. Analysts believe Carr will not be back for the Raiders at quarterback next season. The Raiders could bring in another quarterback, or they could look to trade Adams, who doesn’t seem happy about his future prospects in Las Vegas. It’s speculated the Raiders will try and trade Adams this offseason. We’ll see if that happens; Adams chose the Raiders to be near family.

Adams would fit on the Bears

Adams coming to Chicago would be a godsend. The Bears could have a pass-catching scheme that includes Adams, Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney, and Cole Kmet. Sort of a lite-Kansas City Chiefs-esque group when Tyreek Hill was helping put the team in Super Bowls. Bears fans on Twitter seem excited about the prospect. Here are the best takes on Twitter about Adams being possibly traded to Chicago.

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The Sun-Times’ experts offer their picks for the Bears’ game Sunday at the Lions:

RICK MORRISSEY

Lions, 31-27

The Lions’ playoff hopes are dangling by a thread. At 7-8, they need this game. The Bears need the season to be over so they can get down to the business of getting better players into their locker room. But they still have Justin Fields, who will enjoy a domed stadium that has sure footing. Season: 11-4.

RICK TELANDER

Lions, 26-18

You want to win games, but then you don’t–not when you’re in a race to the bottom with the terrible Texans. The prize of course is finishing last, or first. The draft is all — 3-14 could be a winner. Season: 9-6.

LAURENCE HOLMES

Lions, 34-30

Dan Campbell and his Lions are desperate. They need a a playoff berth to vindicate their struggles over the last two seasons. On top of that Jared Goff has played some of his best football this season. Amon-Ra St. Brown could have a field day if the Bears can’t sustain a pass rush. I love that this game will be played indoors. Expect a shootout. Pew-Pew!!! Season: 9-6.

PATRICK FINLEY

Lions, 40-38

Only one team has allowed more points than the Bears’ 393: the Lions, who have given up 401. The slit-film turf at Ford Field is more a threat to Fields than the Lions defense. Be careful, Justin: that’s the surface that the NFLPA considers the most dangerous. Season: 8-7.

JASON LIESER

Bears, 29-26

The Bears should’ve beaten the Lions when they met at Soldier Field last month and, while they’re certainly outmanned again, this is a winnable game for a team with a lot of pent up frustration. It hurts their draft pick, but the players aren’t thinking about that. Season: 8-7.

MARK POTASH

Lions, 30-27

In more comfortable working conditions at Ford Field, even a short-handed Bears offense will produce against the Lions’ 32nd-ranked defense. But with their defense vs. the Lions’ fourth-ranked offense, the Bears will have to play keep away to pull off the upset. Season: 9-6.

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It would’ve been easy for coach Billy Donovan to focus on the now, especially with the Bulls’ 119-113 signature overtime victory Wednesday against the Bucks at the United Center.

After all, the rally from 11 down with just over three minutes left in regulation spoke volumes.

“I think our compete level was really high,” Donovan said. “Our guys stayed together and kept battling, kept fighting, and I give them credit.”

The Bulls (15-19) now have two wins each against the Bucks, Celtics and Heat as well as a victory over the streaking Nets.

“The record against the better teams shows that, and the record against teams under .500 shows it, so if we come with the same mentality, I think we’ll be all right,” guard Zach LaVine said. “We’ve got a lot of confident guys, and we have confidence in each other.”

But there’s that other side of this team, and it was still eating at Donovan almost 48 hours after the embarrassing 133-118 loss to the Rockets. It wasn’t just the way his team played, but what was expressed afterward. A lot of “we were looking past” the young Rockets and “we lacked urgency.”

Even LaVine said, “They came out playing harder than us.”

But rather than pointing the finger solely at his players — especially the veterans — for underestimating the Rockets, Donovan first blamed himself.

“The thing that really bothered me in the game was I talked about [overlooking the Rockets] in the shootaround, and I feel like I didn’t do a good enough job doing it, to be quite honest,” Donovan said. “You can say, ‘Listen, DeMar DeRozan has been in the league for 10-plus years, so has Andre Drummond. Zach LaVine nine years. These guys should know.’ And I’m not sitting here saying they shouldn’t know, I’m not taking any onus off them, but as I look and evaluate myself — because I look at the day — I take responsibility.”

The preparation for this game against Milwaukee was night and day. Donovan made sure of that.

That’s why most of the game was a back-and-forth battle that almost led to an actual fight.

With 6:55 left in the third quarter and the Bulls trailing by four, Patrick Williams was called for a foul after pushing Grayson Allen.

Allen fell into DeRozan with an apparent forearm, sending DeRozan to the floor. DeRozan quickly got up on his feet and had to be restrained from getting at the former Duke player.

Allen became public enemy No. 1 for Bulls fans last season when he all but tackled Alex Caruso in midair during a game on Jan. 21, leaving Caruso with a broken wrist and Allen with a suspension.

“I just felt the hit,” DeRozan said. “Felt like I went across the middle in a football game and tried to catch a slant route and got hit.”

When asked if Allen apologized, DeRozan said, “No, I wasn’t expecting him to.”

So why did DeRozan get so angry?

“His track record,” Allen said. “If it was Boban [Marjanovic], I wouldn’t have done nothing, but who knows? I don’t know if it was on purpose or what happened. I just felt that it was an excessive hit.”

It sparked DeRozan and the Bulls. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 45 points and 22 rebounds, but DeRozan countered with 42 points, including 10 of the Bulls’ 13 points in the overtime.

“That’s the type of player [DeRozan] is,” LaVine said. “You don’t want to fire up someone like that.”

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The Chicago Bears are adding depth to their secondary

The Chicago Bears have a few defensive backs on injured reserve before their Week 17 game against the Detroit Lions. The Bears signed cornerback Greg Stroman Jr. to the practice squad this week. The Bears still needed depth in the secondary. They added a cornerback Wednesday.

According to Aaron Wilson with KPRC, the Bears waived defensive end, Taco Charlton. They signed cornerback Michael Ojemudia off waivers.

Ojemudia was a 2020 third-round pick by the Denver Broncos. The Broncos waived him on Tuesday. The second-team All-Big Ten cornerback played college football for Iowa. According to Larry Mayer with the Bears, Ojemudia has regular-season playing experience in all three years he’s been in the NFL:

Ojemudia was selected by Denver in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Iowa. He appeared in all 16 games with 11 starts as a rookie, registering 62 tackles, six pass breakups and four forced fumbles. But he has played in just five games the past two seasons, two in 2021 and three this year.

Charlton played in five games for the Chicago Bears this season. He earned a 44.0 overall grade by Pro Football Focus for his play this season. Charlton played 67 total snaps of defense for the Bears. He amassed two tackles, one pressure, and one stop.

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The defensive numbers state the obvious when it comes to guard Alex Caruso.

Yes, the Bulls guard is still one of the better defenders on the team, evident by the 110 defensive rating.

But it’s more than just numbers for Caruso. That’s what coach Billy Donovan was trying to again convey on Wednesday, with Caruso sidelined.

“I think he’s huge because besides on the ball, his disruption there, he can see things happening as they’re in progress,” Donovan said of Caruso. “He can anticipate it and do things to kind of take things away. A lot of it is his physicality in recognizing screens that are coming at him or toward him, that he can kind of beat the guy to the screen, blow it up, get physical. Some of our younger guys, they see [screens] coming and it’s too late, and they’re trailing the play.”

Which led to the obvious question of if what Caruso does can be seen on film – clips that Donovan admittedly has cut for the team to watch – why don’t veterans like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan try and mimic it a bit more? At least from a defensive-effort standpoint.

According to Donovan, the effort has been there, but what Caruso does was more than just a will to do it. It’s a high IQ and awareness to defend like that.

“Does Alex Caruso watch Zach LaVine shoot the ball? Why can’t he … there’s just certain things where it’s just instinctive, and I don’t know if a lot of guys can instinctively make a play like that. [Caruso] can see it and do it really quickly. It’s just a talent that he has.

“DeMar can recognize stuff, Zach can recognize stuff. With those guys we’ve got to have more of a presence on the ball. We get hurt when there’s not a presence on the ball. If there’s one thing you’d recognize with Alex it’s his presence on the ball with the screening action and his physicality. I think that’s an area we can all get better at.”

So when exactly can the Bulls count on getting their top defender back?

The good news was Caruso was out of the concussion protocol, and actually went through a light scrimmage. The issue, however, remained a sprained right shoulder.

Donovan said that he was able to go through full basketball activity, but the medical staff still had reservations about his style of play leading to another slam in the shoulder and an even longer setback.

The Bulls have already tried to be careful with his workload this season, but they also have to be able to take Caruso off the leash and let him eat.

Donovan said the last thing they would ask of him would be to change his playing style.

“He’s gotta be who he is,” Donovan said of Caruso. “If we’re telling him, ‘Hey Alex, don’t play as hard and physical,’ then you’re taking a guy and his greatest strengths in what he does, and to me, making him into a very mediocre player. I would never do that.”

Green machine

Javonte Green returned to a rotation spot against the Bucks, missing eight of the last 11 games in dealing with right knee soreness. Green was on a minutes restriction, and will continue to be for the time being.

The other injury concern was Derrick Jones Jr., who was still out with a left ankle sprain. Jones suffered the injury in Miami last week, and hasn’t played since.

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Just two weeks after a sobering scene at Soldier Field in which right guard Teven Jenkins was carried off on a stretcher with a neck injury and taken to the hospital, he plans to play Sunday against the Lions.

Jenkins practiced in full Wednesday, his first on-field work since suffering a strained neck when Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat hit him in the head Dec. 18. The game stopped for about 10 minutes as players and staff surrounded Jenkins on the field.

Jenkins said it was “very scary,” but he was reassured by doctors hours later that there was no major damage and he already feels relatively normal.

“I never imagined myself to be injured like that and get carted off,” he said. “Anytime I can, I try to get off the field [by myself] if I’m hurt. That was one of those instances where they told me to stay down because it was a neck injury and they had to keep it stable.”

When asked if a situation like that made him question whether he wanted to keep playing football, Jenkins said, “Never. This is just part of my job. I’m not gonna change my play style at all. I’m not scared of it at all.”

Jenkins has been steady for the Bears this season amid nonstop upheaval on the offensive line. The former administration drafted him last year to be a left tackle, but when that didn’t work out under the new staff, he successfully switched to right guard shortly before the season opener.

“It’s super relieving — it’s good to have somebody like that back, especially the way he plays,” running back David Montgomery said. “He’s been an [essential] piece to a lot of the success that we’ve had in the run game and pass game. He’s done an awesome job.”

Eberflus’ experiments

This could’ve started a long time ago, but Bears coach Matt Eberflus said he wanted to use the final two games in part to evaluate some players who haven’t gotten much playing time and experiment by moving others to different positions.

The example he gave was shifting defensive tackle Justin Jones to defensive end. If he shows promise there, the Bears could look for a top defensive tackle in free agency or the draft and still get production from Jones on the outside.

“It’s all opportunity,” Jones said. “If they feel like I’ll help the team best at end, I’m gonna do my best to learn that [stuff] and play it to the best of my ability. Obviously I enjoy playing three-technique more, but if the need right now is the end and they think I’m the guy to do it, then my job is to do it.”

Jones played defensive end for the Chargers in a 3-4 defense last season and had three sacks, but that’s similar to a defensive tackle role and much different than playing end in the Bears’ 4-3 as a pass rusher.

Few spots are more important to the Bears’ defense than a bulldozing defensive tackle, and they agreed to a three-year, $40.5 million deal with former Bengal Larry Ogunjobi before withdrawing over medical concerns. They pivoted to Jones on a two-year, $12 million contract, and he has eight pressures, including two sacks, 43 tackles and a fumble recovery.

Draft watch

All the Bears (3-12) need over the final two weeks to secure the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft is to lose both games and the Texans (2-12-1) win at least once. Former Bears coach Lovie Smith, now with the Texans, sounded intent on continuing to push for wins rather than focus on draft position.

“Everything is short-term… and we’re going to do everything we can to beat [the Jaguars] — simple as that,” Smith said. “It’s one game at a time, and you do the best you can do in that game. And that’s what we do here… Things work out the way they should in the end [draft-wise].”

The Texans are a 4 1/2-point underdog at home against the Jaguars on Sunday and finish the season with a visit to the 4-10-1 Colts.

Ojemudia in, Charlton out

The Bears claimed cornerback Michael Ojemudia off waivers from the Broncos on Wednesday and cleared a roster spot by waiving defensive end Taco Charlton.

The Broncos drafted Ojemudia, 25, in the third round out of Iowa in 2020. He started the season on injured reserve after hurting his elbow and played just three games after being activated in October.

He played every game as a rookie, including 11 starts, and was in for 78% of the defensive snaps, but has dealt with injuries in the two seasons since and played just five games.

Charlton was with the Bears a month and a half and had three tackles in five games.

Kmet wins Good Guy

Bears tight end Cole Kmet won the Jeff Dickerson Good Guy Award, voted on by reporters who cover the team to honor the player who is most helpful to the media by being available and professional.

The award was given Wednesday on the one-year anniversary of Dickerson’s death, and his parents were at Halas Hall for the presentation.

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ST. LOUIS — Alex Stalock knew it would happen.

“They get mad when I leave the room because the music goes off,” he quipped Wednesday.

The Blackhawks goalie then sauntered over toward the showers, a towel wrapped around his shoulders and his phone cradled in his hand.

And sure enough, the bluetooth speakers inside the visitors’ locker room at Enterprise Center began crackling, making a jumbled mess out of the twangy lines and gentle strumming of “This Bar” by Morgan Wallen.

It’s a thankless job, being the Hawks’ locker-room DJ. The player tasked with it struggles with the same issues that anyone playing music for any group does. Technology isn’t foolproof, no one’s music tastes align exactly and simply thinking of hundreds of songs in order to keep the tunes fresh day after day isn’t easy.

But at least it’s easier than the on-ice portion of being a professional hockey player.

“Oh yeah, if you have a song request, you can give it to me,” Caleb Jones said with a smile. “I’m running out of ideas.”

Jones has operated as the Hawks’ primary DJ most of this season, albeit somewhat involuntarily. It turns out that the Hawks’ decision to trade Riley Stillman right before the regular season started left more than just their defense in a pinch.

“It kind of fell into my lap,” Jones explained. “It used to be Stillman last year. [Jonathan] Toews did it one game [after Stillman left], and then he looked at me and said, ‘I don’t really want to do this.’ So I’ve taken it on every time I’ve been in [the locker room]. I’m used to it now.”

Jones has introduced more country music to the mix than Stillman did. It’s by far the most common genre before and after practices and morning skates, although the beats shift more toward rap on game days as warmups and puck drop approach.

That heavy dose of country has unsurprisingly received mixed reviews around the room.

“He’s got some work to do, for sure,” Max Domi said, grinning mischievously. “We’ve had some conversations. … Part of the art of being a DJ is being able to feel out the room and the time of day. You have to know what to play [and] when. Caleb is still learning that, but he’s getting there.”

Added Reese Johnson, “He definitely doesn’t have the same taste as I do.”

But then there’s ever-friendly Connor Murphy’s assessment: “DJ-ing is really hard because there’s so many games, so many days we’re here. It’s hard to keep it fresh and not get stale with the same playlist. So he has been good. He’s confident with it.”

One thing Jones doesn’t have to handle is the postgame playlist. The team voted before the season opener to make “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, then “Mi Gente” by J Balvin and Willy William, their one-two punch of victory songs.

They haven’t gotten to hear the two drastically different hits too often lately, but after their rare wins, the team’s unheralded training staff ensures both are immediately blaring in the room.

And Stalock, since returning from his concussion, has occasionally stepped up and filled in for Jones (on practice days exclusively). Stalock’s taste is more wide-ranging; before Morgan Wallen came on Wednesday, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” had been maintaining the mellow vibes.

But even that diversity was getting ribbed by the team earlier Wednesday morning, Stalock admitted. That’s just the reality of the job.

“I’ve never heard a DJ on a team — or been a DJ, myself included — where you don’t get ripped by someone,” Domi said. “You can’t please everyone. You have to have pretty thick skin.”

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For young readers, few characters loomquite as large as the Trunchbull.

In Roald Dahl’s 1988 children’s novel “Matilda,” Trunchbull is the formidable headmistress of Crunchem Hall elementary school, where she swings a “naughty” student by her pigtails and forces another to devour an entire chocolate cake. She’s brawny, brutish — and precisely the sort of challenge Emma Thompson was looking for as an actor.

Thompson disappears into the role of the tyrannical Trunchbull in Netflix’s “Matilda the Musical,” a film adaptation (now streaming on Netflix) of the 2013 Tony-winning Broadway show directed by Matthew Warchus. She recalls her first time seeing herself in full makeup and costume.

“It was quite shocking,” Thompson says. “But my main concern was that it would work for Matthew [Warchus, the film’s director] and the team. They had had 12 years of brilliant Trunchbulls [on Broadway and the West End], the first one of whom I’d seen and admired so much, I’d written him a fan letter: Bertie Carvel. He’s very tall and muscular, and I thought: ”Gosh, that’s a big ask. How am I going to live up to that?’ ”

In Danny DeVito’s 1996 movie of “Matilda,” Trunchbull was portrayed by a woman, Pam Ferris. But in the stage musical, the character was primarily played by men dressed as women.

Trunchbull “is a force of malevolence that goes beyond gender, really,” Warchus explains. Given that film is a “more realistic medium,” it felt like a great opportunity to let a woman play the part again.

Knowing that Thompson was already a fan of the stage show, Warchus reached out to her about the role and got an instant yes.

Playing someone as absurd as Trunchbull, “she very much understood that it was an opportunity to flex her muscles in terms of the scale of the performance,” Warchus says. “But also, she understood that you can drill down into the character and build some sort of psychological authenticity for what makes [Trunchbull] who she is.”

Thompson pulled inspiration from a “terrifying” headmistress she had as a child. She also read a biography of British poet Edith Sitwell, who was treated cruelly by her parents and forced to wear heavy, metal contraptions to fix her crooked spine and nose.

“I thought, ‘That’s the sort of thing that could send you right over the edge as a child,’ ” Thompson says. “So I thought: ‘OK, let’s say Trunchbull had a really cruel childhood. Then we could imagine her attacking the children — not because of them, but because of what’s going on inside [her]. She can’t bear the vulnerability of children.’ “

Part of Trunchbull’s backstory in both Dahl’s book and the musical is that she’s a former Olympic hammer thrower. As an athlete, she has broad shoulders and a giant torso, which were achieved in the movie through considerable padding. Thompson also has “such a friendly face,” Warchus says, so prosthetics were used to give her a more severe nose and jawline.

At roughly 6-foot-6, Trunchbull towers over our pint-sized heroine Matilda (Alisha Weir). That illusion of “David vs. Goliath” was created using a variety of inventive camera angles, body doubles and practical techniques such as standing on boxes. Thompson also wore boots with extra-thick soles and was sometimes digitally enhanced to appear much bigger on screen.

In total, it took three hours every day for a team of five people to get Thompson into hair, makeup and costume. Because the film was shot in the heat of the summer, the wardrobe team installed a cooling system inside her costume with pipes and tubes that would pump cold air inside.

“It was a really massive challenge to create all the fittings,” Thompson says. She wanted Trunchbull’s uniform to appear oily and unkempt, “so you knew somehow that her hygiene was horrible.” She also opted not to wear brown contact lenses: “I [needed] as much of myself as possible so that it’s unrecognizable but also very, very real.”

All the prep ultimately paid off for Thompson, who surprised Warchus with her alarming appearance on the first day of shooting.

“I got the team to help me put it all together and I said: ‘I’ll go to the end of the corridor and get him to come up the stairs. Give me a shout and I’ll just come toward him, and we’ll see what effect it has,’ ” Thompson says. “It was very satisfying because he quailed, frankly.”

Warchus says he remembers the moment “vividly” of Thompson storming toward him.

“I would often find myself saying, ‘The thing is, when Trunchbull comes on set, everybody’s pulse has to quicken.’ The effect is the Darth Vader-type thing, where you feel unsettled whether you’re a child or an adult,” Warchus says. “That’s not at all what you feel when Emma Thompson walks into a room’ you feel like you’re with an old friend.

“But when she opened the door and I saw her coming down the corridor, it was genuinely scary in the way that made me giggle. I thought: ‘This is so great. We’ve got our Trunchbull.’ ”

Read more at usatoday.com.

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