The Kraken nearly overcame a three-goal deficit Wednesday against the Blackhawks. | Steph Chambers/Getty Images

The Hawks nearly blew another multi-goal lead — a recurring problem for them lately — on Wednesday against the Kraken.

SEATTLE — The Blackhawks waited a long time earlier this season to finally enjoy a lead.

Now that they’re going ahead on a regular basis, however, the challenge has shifted to protecting those leads.

“That should be the fun time to play hockey,” Patrick Kane said Wednesday, and he’s right.

Yet the Hawks are having trouble forgetting their scars from October — when every goal against seemed to break a dam and break the Hawks’ spirits — even when they should be having fun.

“Winning’s still a little new to us this year,” Alex DeBrincat astutely noted.

After rushing out to a 2-0 lead in 22 minutes Wednesday against the Kraken, the Hawks slipped back into bad old habits.

The Kraken dominated the Hawks 51-18 in shot attempts over the remaining 38 minutes. And although it took them a while to translate that superiority onto the scoreboard, they very nearly tied the game after scoring twice in the final six minutes and swarming Marc-Andre Fleury with threats of a third goal.

“Once they scored that goal, we got a little reserved,” interim coach Derek King said. “We kind of sat back. It’s almost like maybe those feelings of earlier when they were losing the games and [thinking], ‘Oh, here we go,’ [came back]. We’ve got to get over that hump.”

The Hawks have already blown two-goal leads three times this season — Oct. 27 against the Maple Leafs (an overtime loss), Nov. 3 against the Hurricanes (a regulation loss) and Nov. 9 against the Penguins (a shootout win) — and very nearly one-upped themselves Wednesday.

They’ve found a way to survive their nerve-wracking finishes lately — thus the four-game winning streak — but not in especially confidence-inspiring fashion. And they won’t be able to keep surviving this way forever.

The problem stems from, as DeBrincat put it, the Hawks “panicking” when they do gain possession in late-game situations.

Instead of looking around, finding an open teammate and starting their own push into the offensive zone, they’re flipping the puck aimlessly in the neutral zone. That strategy relieves the immediate pressure but kills minimal time and allows the opponent to promptly attack again.

“You get out in the neutral zone and you do your neutral-zone forecheck, the puck gets by you and you spend the time in the ‘D’-zone,” Kane said. “You chip it out and then the next line comes out and does the same thing… It’s not really the recipe for success.”

“A lot of times when that ice is tilted…we do get the puck at times, we’re just not skating. We’re like frozen in cement. We’ve got to get our foot moving, get our head up and make a simple play.”

Controlling play when holding a lead is difficult: a losing team’s desperation and risk-tolerance will typically help it to produce more chances. Accordingly, only six of the NHL’s 32 teams have an even-strength scoring chance ratio above 50% when leading this season.

But the Hawks have been particularly bad. Their even-strength scoring chance ratio when leading is an abysmal 35.3% — 59 chances for, 108 against. Only two teams (the Rangers and Coyotes) have been worse. The Hawks’ 47.1% even-strength scoring chance ratio when tied or losing isn’t exactly impressive, either — it’s fifth-worst in the NHL — but it’s a whole lot better.

On the bright side, though, the fact the Hawks are even discovering this problem indicates progress from a few weeks ago.

Their first-period performances — which were often dooming them right out of the gate — have been stellar lately, as evidenced Wednesday when they conceded only three shots on goal in the first.

And four straight ugly wins are still four straight wins — and four much-needed wins, at that.

“We’ll keep working at it,” King said. “Hey, if we’re on heels because we’re up 3-0 in a game, I’ll take that.”

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A dealer resets a deck of cards during a break in poker play at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 2013. | Julie Jacobson/AP file

A Wisconsin tribe claims Waukegan’s casino developer selection process was “rigged,” while the north suburb says they’re using the courts to appeal a licensing decision.

The lengthy process to select the developer of a new casino in Waukegan just got longer.

State regulators were expected to name a winner in the two-years-and-counting race for the coveted north suburban gambling license Thursday, but the Illinois Gaming Board deferred action due to an ongoing legal battle waged by a spurned operator that claims Waukegan officials “rigged” their selection process to favor a bid backed by a former state senator.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community sued the city in 2019, shortly after the Wisconsin tribe was eliminated from consideration among four bidders to break ground on the new casino. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a massive gambling expansion into law that year, which requires host communities to sign off on bids before they’re vetted by the state.

Waukegan advanced three proposals, including the two remaining finalists being weighed by the Gaming Board: Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts, and North Point Casino, which is led by former Grayslake state Sen. Michael Bond, who also runs a slot machine business.

The third group, a joint venture between billionaire casino mogul Neil Bluhm and Churchill Downs Inc., withdrew from consideration earlier this fall.

Potawatomi lawyers have questioned why they were eliminated despite scoring well on a city-contracted consultant’s scoring system for the bids.

Provided
Rendering of the first phase of development for the proposed North Point Casino.

And in a lawsuit court filing unsealed last week, Potawatomi lawyers alleged former Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham told aldermen which bids to approve, “the culmination of a rigged process.” Bond poured thousands of dollars into local elections through his video gambling machine company Tap Room Gaming ahead of the state gambling expansion.

Attorneys for Waukegan have dismissed Potawatomi’s claims, writing in court filings that “this scorched earth lawsuit is factually suspect,” intended to stifle development and protect the tribe’s Milwaukee casino from potential competition. They accuse the tribe of using “the federal court’s jurisdiction as a means of appealing the city of Waukegan’s licensing decisions.”

Provided by Full House Resorts
Artist’s rendering of the proposed “American Place” casino in Waukegan.

The Gaming Board was scheduled to issue preliminary approval to one of the remaining casino hopefuls at a meeting Thursday, but administrator Marcus Fruchter said the agency would delay its vote indefinitely “out of respect for the judicial process.”

“This decision is in no way a comment about or reflection of the IGB’s views of the respective merits of the pending lawsuits or of any claims in those lawsuits,” Fruchter said.

A North Point spokesperson declined to comment on the suit but said in an email “we respect the Illinois Gaming Board’s decision today and remain committed to building a world-class entertainment destination in Waukegan.”

A federal mediation on the Potawatomi lawsuit is scheduled for Nov. 30. The Gaming Board next meets Dec. 8.

Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
Illinois Gaming Board administrator Marcus Fruchter speaks at an August 2019 meeting.

Pritzker’s gambling expansion authorized six new casinos, but only one has opened since he signed the law in June of 2019. The Hard Rock Casino Rockford took its first bets at a temporary site last week.

Tax revenue from the expansion is earmarked for the governor’s $45 billion capital infrastructure improvement plan.

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Community groups celebrate immigrant worker protections expected to be implemented next month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. | Brian Rich/Sun-Times

The push comes after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a memo stating it would end mass immigration enforcement operations at workplaces and shift to enforcement efforts against employers who exploit workers.

Labor advocates in Chicago are urging federal officials to publish enforceable guidelines that will protect immigrants who speak up about workplace safety hazards.

“Workers are and continue to be scared to speak up about unsafe working conditions over fear of retaliation from their employers,” said Marcos Ceniceros, the associate director of Warehouse Workers for Justice, at a news conference Thursday outside of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Chicago office. “Unsafe working conditions like poor to no training, no PPE, poor safety protocols, infected co-workers without letting them know and much more.”

Their push comes weeks before federal agencies are expected to publish updated guidelines and policies about how to protect immigrant workers who speak out about workplace issues. Ceniceros said they would like to see “strong firewalls” that will prevent immigration agents from ignoring the updated guidelines.

He and other labor advocates Thursday said that they still hear from workers who fear employers will call ICE if they speak out.

Brian Rich/Sun-Times
Community groups celebrate immigrant worker protections expected to be implemented next month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.

In October, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a memo stating it would end immigration enforcement operations at workplaces and shift to enforcement efforts against employers who exploit workers.

“These employers engage in illegal acts ranging from the payment of substandard wages to imposing unsafe working conditions and facilitating human trafficking and child exploitation,” the memo stated.

The memo also called on federal agencies such as ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to present in December recommendations and updated policies to alleviate the fears of victims and witnesses of labor trafficking and exploitation.

Fasika Alem, from the United African Organization, said more protections for immigrant workers could have prevented the death of Adewale Ogunyemi, who died this past summer in a workplace accident.

“Immigrant workers like him need an outlet for workers to report workplace issues in order to not only prevent tragedies like this, but also to protect the basic rights that all workers deserve,” Alem said.

The Will County coroner’s office confirmed their office was investigating the death of Oguynyemi, but it did not immediately have further details about the death.

Genoveva Ramirez, 71, of Berwyn, has worked for 13 years at a cleaning company. And while she has never received direct threats at work regarding her immigration status, she said the end of immigration enforcement operations at workplaces is a welcomed relief.

Ramirez had spoken out in the past about her immigration case, and she was granted “deferred action,” in 2017.

“It’s a big relief for families because you work more peaceful knowing ICE won’t show up for a raid like it did when people were taken away,” Ramirez said. “It’s a big relief for families and their children.”

Brian Rich/Sun-Times
Community groups celebrate immigrant worker protections expected to be implemented next month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.

Elvia Malagon’s reporting on social justice and income inequality is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.

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Arlington International Racecourse at 2200 Euclid Ave in Arlington Heights. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

Regulators at the Illinois Racing Board on Thursday tabled a request from Arlington to keep operating its off-track betting parlors even though owner Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the historic track nearly two months ago and announced a pending deal to sell the land to the Chicago Bears.

The corporate owner of shuttered Arlington International Racecourse has gotten out of the live horse racing game in Illinois — but it still wants a piece of the action.

Regulators at the Illinois Racing Board on Thursday tabled a request from Arlington to keep operating its off-track betting parlors even though owner Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the historic track nearly two months ago and announced a pending deal to sell the land to the Chicago Bears.

Arlington president Tony Petrillo said the company’s controversial request highlights its “commitment to thoroughbred racing in the state,” but Racing Board commissioner Alan Henry suggested they were trying to squeeze more money out of a struggling industry they’ve already abandoned.

“What I see in these requests seems an awful lot like the farmer who sells his prized Holstein [cow], then expects to still get paid for some of the milk it produces,” said Henry, a former Chicago Sun-Times editor.

The final races at the 94-year-old track were run Sept. 25, leaving only two other tracks remaining in the state. Days later, Churchill Downs announced it would sell the 326 acres to the Bears, who are considering building a new stadium there.

Arlington didn’t apply for racing dates next year and had already passed on the opportunity to open a casino adjacent to the northwest suburban oval, drawing the ire of the horse owners and trainers represented by the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. That group has said Churchill Downs is more concerned with protecting its other Illinois asset: Rivers Casino in nearby Des Plaines, which is the most lucrative casino in the state.

But the company still wants to take bets on races broadcast at its several OTBs scattered across the suburbs.

Petrillo said he would expect the OTBs to take about $76 million in bets, generating $8 million for purses and fees going to the Chicago area’s only surviving track, Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney.

He estimated Churchill Downs would turn a profit of about $300,000. Meanwhile, Churchill Downs remains “committed to finding another solution and another location” to restart racing, Petrillo said.

Henry pushed back, saying “common sense tells me that inter-track wagering licenses should only be granted to viable track operators that actually want to engage in horse racing.”

The dispute hinges on interpreting a vague part of state horse racing law and whether it requires tracks to have actual racing dates in order to operate OTBs, or if they only need to have run races in the past calendar year.

Racing Board staffers sided with Arlington. The agency’s general counsel, John Gay, noted two other former suburban tracks — Maywood and Balmoral — operated OTBs even though they didn’t have any race dates before they shut down for good.

Board members voted 10-0 to delay a vote on the matter until their next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 16.

The Bears $197 million deal to acquire Arlington Park is expected to close in late 2022 or early 2023.

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Chicago Police Supt. David Brown | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

“I am not at all … happy with CPD and their leadership. They need to step up in a big way and stop this crime pandemic themselves,” Ald. George Cardenas (12th), the mayor’s deputy floor leader, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot should give her top cop a few months more to get a handle on Chicago’s “crime pandemic” — but if he can’t, she should dump Police Supt. David Brown and his leadership team, her deputy floor leader said Thursday.

“I am not at all … happy with CPD and their leadership. They need to step up in a big way and stop this crime pandemic themselves. They need to find a way to recruit more people. That’s on them. The mayor can only do so much. That’s on that leadership,” Ald. George Cardenas (12th) told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“And I will urge the mayor — if that is not happening, she ought to change that leadership immediately.”

Does that mean giving the ax to the retired Dallas police chief?

“I said the leadership. That means the entire group if things don’t change as we get into 2022,” Cardenas said.

“If things don’t change and there’s not a different plan to deliver safety for Chicago — to deliver justice in the way people expect — then we need to bring in [someone else]. You’ve got to make the changes when things aren’t working out.”

But the mayor responded coolly to the comments about her hand-picked chief.

“The statements attributed to Alderman George Cardenas are ill-informed and lack an appreciation for the complexities of public safety in this time of COVID,” she said in a statement late Thursday. “If the solutions were easy, we would have solved the challenge long ago, but they are not. The root causes of community violence are deep, complex, and generations in the making.”

The statement continued: “We are focused on fighting gangs, taking dangerous guns off the street, and continuing to make investments that we know will solve these problems in the short term and long term. We have to continue to push our partners at all levels to hold themselves accountable, and anyone who wants to join me and Superintendent Brown is welcome to join that fight.”

Shortly after taking office, Brown told his deputies he wanted to hold Chicago murders under 300 a year for the first time since 1957. He called it one of his “moonshot” goals.

Instead, Chicago has recorded 715 murders with more than a month to go in 2021. That’s up 3% from last year’s alarming level and 59% from 2019.

Through Nov. 16, Chicago has seen 3,975 people shot, compared to 3,671 people in 2020, an increase of 8%, and compared to 2,352 shooting victims in 2019, an increase of 69%, according to the department’s most recent data.

Carjackings have spiked even more. The number of carjacking victims has risen almost 31% through Nov. 16 with 1,807 people carjacked compared with 1,380 people through the same date in 2020. Carjacking victims have nearly tripled from the 615 in 2019.

Lightfoot had her sights set on Brown from the moment she fired Eddie Johnson for “lying to me and lying to the public” about the circumstances surrounding a drinking and driving incident in October 2019 that left him slumped over the wheel of his police SUV near his Bridgeport home.

A former Chicago Police Board president whose recommendations were ignored by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Lightfoot said the selection process “only has legitimacy if you follow it.”

But she ignored her own advice and chose Brown one day after the Police Board made public its list of three finalists and made certain that the other two finalists had nowhere near Brown’s experience so that the choice would appear obvious.

That helps to explain why, at least six times during Brown’s 19-month tenure, Lightfoot has publicly declared her unwavering support for the superintendent and shot down what she called “dangerous, destabilizing and insulting” rumors that Brown was on his way out.

In April, the mayor brushed aside complaints from a handful of aldermen that Brown has been about as low-profile a superintendent as Chicago has ever had even during high-profile cases like the police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

“The superintendent has been appropriately present in the right places at the right time. He has been out in the community. … He has been out there at roll calls and doing what, I think, a superintendent must do who is still forming relationships with a range of different people,” the mayor said.

Lightfoot said then that “standing up and holding a press conference in full regalia” is not the measure of leadership — it’s the “quiet things you do sometimes to build real, authentic relationships” and “be there” for people who need help.

“That is the way that David Brown leads, and I support him a thousand-plus percent,” she said.

Just this week, the mayor argued that except for murders, shootings and carjackings, “every other category” of crime is down.

She also cited significant progress in detectives solving homicides — from the dismal teens to 45% — and pressured Magnificent Mile merchants victimized repeatedly by smash-and-grab robberies to do more to improve their own security.

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Bears tight end Jimmy Graham could not make this catch against Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton last week, but made a 28-yard catch in the fourth quarter that led to a touchdown in the Bears’ 29-27 loss on Nov. 8 at Heinz Field | Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The four-time Pro Bowl tight end knows he can provide more than the two receptions for 39 yards, but still takes pride in helping Cole Kmet grow. “It takes a big humbling pill to humble yourself and realize where you are in your career and where you can be useful.”

Jimmy Graham — remember him?

The four-time Pro Bowl tight end was signed by the Bears last year to accelerate the development of Matt Nagy’s offense. And even when that evolved into a role as a mentor for Cole Kmet in his second season, Graham still figured to play a key role, if only in the red zone.

But he’s been a non-factor for most of the season. In fact, his 28-yard reception against the Steelers on Nov. 8 — ballyhooed as “probably a top-three throw in the NFL this season” by coach Matt Nagy — was his first catch since Week 1 against the Rams.

In seven games — he missed Weeks 7-8 against the Buccaneers and 49ers while on the reserve/COVID-19 list — Graham has two receptions for 39 yards on just six targets. He’s playing 18 snaps per game — not much for a player whose $5.34 million cap hit ranks eighth on the roster.

“Obviously, we’re all very competitive human beings,” he said. “For me, it takes a big humbling pill to humble yourself and realize where you are in your career and where you can be useful.”

Graham accepted the mentor role with grace. The not-playing role has been a little tougher, but he’s handled that well, too. But it’s a long road to get there for a player like Graham, who at his peak was an athletic freak who was a dominant offensive weapon.

And even today at 34 (he turns 35 next Wednesday) still has enough left to be productive in a good NFL offense. Graham caught eight touchdowns just last season with the Bears. He had 10 touchdowns with the Seahawks in 2017. He was the best tight end in football with 86 receptions for 1,215 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2013 with the Saints.

“Yeah, [it’s] a little different,” Graham said. “Missing games — I think I’d missed seven games in my career before [this year]. So that was terrible, going through that. I hadn’t really sat and watched my team play since I blew out my knee in Seattle [in 2015], so that was tough. But [it] really gave you perspective.

“I know I’ve got to be ready when my number’s called. But I know I also have a leadership role with these young guys and with my boy Cole and getting him right and seeing his growth this season is awesome. I celebrate every guy’s success on this team because I was there and had so many helping hands to get me where I am today … Sean [Payton], Drew [Brees], David Thomas, Jeremy Shockey, the list goes on … Marques Colton.

“I had these guys prepping me when I was a young kid who knew nothing about the game, knew nothing about life. That’s my role right now and I take that on. I didn’t think I’d be the old guy ever in the locker room, but here I am.”

What makes the transition sweet for Graham is almost an irony. A player who has been blessed with freakish athletic ability also learned the nuances of his position and the game. That’s why he’s still all-in on a 3-6 team where he plays 18 snaps a game.

“For me, it’s the game itself — I’ve got a great mental grasp on it. It makes it more entertaining when I am helping other guys out. When you’re able to put this knowledge — route running and what I know about defenses — and help out guys, it makes it fun. It makes every week fun, especially when you’ve got young guys who want to listen. That’s what’s cool. We’ve got guys that are hungry to learn. It makes every day interesting.”

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It’s not a secret to the All-Star guard that critics – starting right here – have questioned the idea of maxing him in free agency next offseason. He discussed it one-on-one, explained where he’s coming from, and may have just pulled off one heck of a sales pitch.

PORTLAND – The barbershop was open.

Zach LaVine was willing to sit in the chair, put the safe answers and cliches away, and have a good old fashioned sports debate.

What made the one-on-one unique was the debate was about him and his value as an NBA player headed toward a max contract.

Not a topic most professional athletes are willing, or even feel the need to sit down with a writer and discuss.

Then again, that’s why the Bulls writers have always respected LaVine. He’s an All-Star that still handles himself like the kid next door.

“You have a job to do, and I get that,” LaVine said. “It’s your opinion, and I’ve always respected that.”

That didn’t mean he agreed with it.

And I respected that.

LaVine and the max always made me nervous. Enough so that I had been very outspoken over the last year about the Bulls not maxing him if they could avoid it.

“I’m basing it on history,” I told LaVine, as we walked towards the locker room in Portland. “Name me an off-guard who was not a two-way player that was maxed, and I’ll tell you all the teams that regret that decision and never won a title … cause there’s a bunch of them.”

LaVine nodded his head in agreement the entire time.

Then he stopped.

“I get the argument,” LaVine said. “But you’re assuming that I’m done.”

And just like that the kid next door had a point. One that had staying power with me, and enough to start swaying my take.

The business of sports writing used to be about accountability. A strong opinion should be able to be debated by the subject person-to-person, face-to-face. It’s an art that’s been slowly dying for years.

It’s not a tough-guy mentality to face an athlete you are critical of and discuss it. It’s just being a human.

Discuss it we did.

“How’s my defensive rating now?” LaVine said. “It’s better. What does that tell you?”

He wasn’t wrong. Through the first 14 games of last season, LaVine ranked 415th in defensive rating (117.5) and 211th amongst NBA starters. Through the first 15 games a season later, LaVine had a 103.4 defensive rating, putting him 79th among starting players and 199th overall.

“It’s your job to have opinions, and one of my jobs as a professional athlete and a guy that’s extremely competitive is to go out there and try and prove people wrong,” LaVine said. “Am I going to get that right every time? No, but that’s the fun of sports. I get to have chips on my shoulder and bring that extra stuff to the game.

“Look, I get it, I do want to improve on everything, and I know that I haven’t had the best narrative for defense. I know people know me as a hard worker, a great guy, someone that goes out there and can obviously score the hell out the ball, but I want to be known as a winner and a complete player. I mean I’m not putting all this work in just to be a regular guy in the NBA. I think I’m proving that each and every year.”

He’s not lying.

LaVine looks the part of a player that can still rip out the soul of an opposing defender with his shot-making, but is also now willing to rip the ball.

He’s had some moments where he still loses his man deeper in the possession this year, but since playing the role of defensive stopper for Team USA in the Summer Olympics, the eye test alone shows how well he’s been active on defense.

So of course he had to be asked why now? What took so long?

“There wasn’t one point that I just said, ‘Let me work on it,’ but also nothing happens overnight,” LaVine said. “So many people in this basketball culture, like even draft picks, you’re supposed to be who you’re supposed to be. That’s not how it happens. Some guys mature later. I’m going to be a worker regardless. I’m going to be a worker until I retire, and that’s what keeps me going. Little things that the media says, I critic myself, the way coaches and other players view you, that all adds fuel to the fire.”

Expensive fuel at that.

Maxing LaVine would be five year, $210 million. That puts him with the game’s elite: Steph Curry, James Harden, LeBron James, Paul George, Jimmy Butler. But there’s also some clunkers in that area code: John Wall, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris.

I’m now willing to bet he’ll work to being in that first group. I’ll take that leap with him.

But there will be a cost. In adding almost $200 million in contracts last summer, the Bulls gave LaVine the best supporting cast he’s ever had. Unless he forfeits money, those days are gone. His response to that double-edged sword.

“I’ve got a great agent in Rich Paul, and I think he’s going to take care of all that,” LaVine said laughing.

Then there’s also a scenario in which he could be eligible for the “super max” if he makes All-NBA. The $210-million price tag could go to $230 million if all the boxes are checked.

That’s still a price that’s hard to swallow.

We’ll discuss it when the time comes.

The barbershop chair is always open.

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