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29 shot, 2 fatally, over Memorial Day weekend in ChicagoSun-Times Wireon May 31, 2021 at 5:29 pm

Chicago police investigate Saturday night in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times.
Chicago police investigate Saturday night in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

In preparation for the historically violent weekend, the Chicago Police Department canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts while community groups fanned out across the city to draw people out of the line of fire.

Two people have been killed and at least 27 others wounded in shootings across Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.

In preparation for the historically violent weekend, the Chicago Police Department canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. Meanwhile, community groups fanned out across the city to draw people out of the line of fire.

“This is our city that we love, and there is loss of life, and it should make us weep and roll up our sleeves,” said John Fuder of Chicagoland United in Prayer, whose group is sponsoring prayer marches across the city this weekend.

Shootings are up 36% this year compared to the same period in 2020, according to Sun-Times data. Homicides are spiking in areas long afflicted with gun violence.

Last year, Memorial Day weekend saw 10 people shot dead and 39 others wounded — the deadliest Memorial Day weekend since 2015.

Logan Square homicide

In the most recent fatal attack, a 29-year-old man was killed Saturday night in a shooting in Logan Square on the Northwest Side.

Mike Alicea was on the sidewalk about 9 p.m. when someone got out of a vehicle in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue and began shooting, according to Chicago Police.

He was struck in the arm and leg and taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

A family walks by as Chicago police investigate in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times Saturday night.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
A family walks by as Chicago police investigate in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times Saturday night.

Residents in the block watched investigators work from their porches and windows.

“I can’t say I’m shocked,” a woman who was returning home with her husband said. “As soon as it gets warm the shooters come outside.”

“We usually hear about shootings about a block away from here, or in the alleys a block away; it has never made it to our front yard like this,” her husband added.

Lawndale murder

Hours earlier, a 26-year-old man was fatally shot while driving in Lawndale on the West Side.

Luis Poole was driving east on Ogden Avenue when he was shot in the face and chest, police said. The vehicle he was driving came to a rest after striking a light pole in the 3100 block West Ogden Avenue.

Poole was brought to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

4 shot in restaurant parking lot in Grand Crossing

Four teens were shot Sunday night as they stood in the parking lot of a restaurant in Grand Crossing on the South Side.

The group was standing in the parking lot of a Subway, 6718 S. Stony Island Ave., when a dark-colored sedan drove by and someone inside fired shots, police said.

Chicago police investigate in a Subway at 6718 S. Stony Island Ave., where police said four teens were shot Sunday night as they stood in the parking lot of the Grand Crossing restaurant.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Chicago police investigate in a Subway at 6718 S. Stony Island Ave., where police said four teens were shot Sunday night as they stood in the parking lot of the Grand Crossing restaurant.

Two 19-year-old, struck in the legs and feet, were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.

An 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy were struck in their legs, police said. They were also in good condition.

Belmont Cragin shooting

In nonfatal attacks, two men were wounded in a shooting early Monday in Belmont Cragin on the Northwest Side.

The pair were standing outside about 3:45 a.m. in the 5700 block of West Grand Avenue when the male suspect approached them and asked what gang they were affiliated with, police said.

The men responded that they were not a part of a gang, police said. The male suspect then pulled out a handgun and fired shots before leaving the scene.

One man, 33, was struck in the arm and torso and critically wounded, police said. The other, 31, was shot in the leg and in good condition.

Man shot in face on Lake Shore Drive

A man was wounded in a shooting on Lake Shore Drive early Sunday in the Near South Side. The 20-year-old was traveling south about 12:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of South Lake Shore Drive when he heard shots and felt pain, police and Chicago Fire officials said.

He was shot in the face and was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stable, police said.

12-year-old grazed

A 12-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet early Saturday in Great Crossing on the South Side. The boy was with a group of people about 1 a.m. when someone inside a black Dodge Charger fired shots in the 7100 block of South Dobson Avenue, police said.

A bullet grazed his leg and he was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition, police said. He may not have been the intended target, according to police.

At least 19 others were wounded in citywide gun violence over Memorial Day weekend, which lasts from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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29 shot, 2 fatally, over Memorial Day weekend in ChicagoSun-Times Wireon May 31, 2021 at 5:29 pm Read More »

Study blames climate change for 37% of global heat deathsAssociated Presson May 31, 2021 at 4:44 pm

In this Friday, June 26, 2015 file photo, mourners attend a funeral for unclaimed people who died of extreme weather, in Karachi, Pakistan, after a devastating heat wave that struck southern Pakistan the previous weekend, with over 800 confirmed deaths according to a senior health official.
In this Friday, June 26, 2015 file photo, mourners attend a funeral for unclaimed people who died of extreme weather, in Karachi, Pakistan, after a devastating heat wave that struck southern Pakistan the previous weekend, with over 800 confirmed deaths according to a senior health official. A study published in Nature Climate Change on Monday, May 31, 2021, has calculated that more than one-third of global heat deaths can directly be attributed to human-caused climate change. | AP

“These are deaths related to heat that actually can be prevented. It is something we directly cause,” said Ana Vicedo-Cabrera, an epidemiologist at the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

More than one-third of the world’s heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming, according to the latest study to calculate the human cost of climate change.

But scientists say that’s only a sliver of climate’s overall toll — even more people die from other extreme weather amplified by global warming such as storms, flooding and drought — and the heat death numbers will grow exponentially with rising temperatures.

Dozens of researchers who looked at heat deaths in 732 cities around the globe from 1991 to 2018 calculated that 37% were caused by higher temperatures from human-caused warming, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

That amounts to about 9,700 people a year from just those cities, but it is much more worldwide, the study’s lead author said.

“These are deaths related to heat that actually can be prevented. It is something we directly cause,” said Ana Vicedo-Cabrera, an epidemiologist at the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

The highest percentages of heat deaths caused by climate change were in cities in South America. Vicedo-Cabrera pointed to southern Europe and southern Asia as other hot spots for climate change-related heat deaths.

Sao Paulo, Brazil, has the most climate-related heat deaths, averaging 239 a year, researchers found.

About 35% of heat deaths in the United States can be blamed on climate change, the study found. That’s a total of more than 1,100 deaths a year in about 200 U.S. cities, topped by 141 in New York. Honolulu had the highest portion of heat deaths attributable to climate change, 82%.

Scientists used decades of mortality data in the 732 cities to plot curves detailing how each city’s death rate changes with temperature and how the heat-death curves vary from city to city. Some cities adapt to heat better than others because of air conditioning, cultural factors and environmental conditions, Vicedo-Cabrera said.

Then researchers took observed temperatures and compared them with 10 computer models simulating a world without climate change. The difference is warming humans caused. By applying that scientifically accepted technique to the individualized heat-death curves for the 732 cities, the scientists calculated extra heat deaths from climate change.

“People continue to ask for proof that climate change is already affecting our health. This attribution study directly answers that question using state-of-the-science epidemiological methods, and the amount of data the authors have amassed for analysis is impressive,” said Dr. Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Patz, who wasn’t part of the study, said it was one of the first to detail climate change-related heat deaths now, rather than in the future.

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Study blames climate change for 37% of global heat deathsAssociated Presson May 31, 2021 at 4:44 pm Read More »

Boy, 14, charged with arson in fire that destroyed McHenry roller rinkDavid Struetton May 31, 2021 at 4:39 pm

File photo

Two teens trespassed in the former Just For Fun Roller Rink before it was burned down, police say.

A 14-year-old boy is charged with arson after burning down an abandoned roller rink last week in northwest suburban McHenry, police said.

The teen was with another 14-year-old boy last Thursday when they trespassed in the former Just For Fun Roller Rink, 914 N. Front St., McHenry police said in a statement.

The one teen “intentionally lit an object on fire which quickly spread out of control,” destroying the building, police said. No one was injured. A passerby witnessed the teens fleeing the scene, police said.

One teen faces a felony count each of arson, burglary and criminal damage to property. The other is charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to property.

The juveniles were released to their parents and have been petitioned to the 22nd Judicial Circuit’s Juvenile Court system, police said.

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Boy, 14, charged with arson in fire that destroyed McHenry roller rinkDavid Struetton May 31, 2021 at 4:39 pm Read More »

Bears OTAs are here, which raises a question: What does Justin Fields eat for breakfast?Steve Greenbergon May 31, 2021 at 3:43 pm

The Justin Fields watch continues during Bears OTAs. | AP Photos

This You Gotta See: Fields vs. Dalton, Cubs hit the West Coast, White Sox battle inside the division.

It’s organized team activities time at Halas Hall. Those of us in the know like to call them OTAs. But enough stalling: Let’s talk about Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields.

Will he roll out of bed Tuesday a better player than veteran Andy Dalton? How long are we going to have to suffer through this song and dance about Fields not being the starter? Oh, and how does he take his eggs? Can we fetch him some coffee?

Even dyed-in-the-wool Bears cynics will monitor Bears OTAs with expectations of rave reviews of Fields as he pumps iron, soaks up the playbook and heaves the pigskin around. Confidence in the No. 11 pick is so high, it’s easy to forget he was the fourth quarterback selected on draft day. Why did that happen again? Come to think of it, let’s pretend it didn’t.

Fields, 22, comes in bigger and stronger than Dalton, 33, and that’s the case in the arm department as well. The latter player is, at best, a caretaker QB. A placeholder. A seat warmer. Media will watch the goings-on with one question drowning out all others: When? When will coach Matt Nagy end this charade — which, in fairness, hasn’t even started yet — and give Fields the ball?

But it’s only OTAs. It’s not like we’re talking about training camp. When camp rolls around, Dalton vs. Fields will be cranked up from 1 to 10 on the obsess-o-meter. And it’ll be beautiful.

Meanwhile? Here’s what’s happening:

TUE 1

Lightning at Hurricanes (6:30 p.m., NBCSN)

Can anybody stop the champs’ lights-out power play? Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Alex Killorn already have combined for eight postseason tallies with the man advantage.

Padres at Cubs (7:05 p.m., Marquee)

Lefty Ryan Weathers, all of 21, takes the bump for the visitors 20 years after dad David pitched for the Cubs. And who could forget the David Weathers era?

Mercury at Sky (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

Is this when Candace Parker — out with an ankle injury since the season opener — debuts at Wintrust Arena? The Sky have lost four straight without the key to the whole operation.

Denver Nuggets v Portland Trail Blazers - Game Four
Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images
For Lillard, range is never an issue.

Trail Blazers at Nuggets, Game 5 (8 p.m., NBATV)

Maybe neither of these teams — tied 2-2 — is a true Finals contender, but sometimes a fan just has to revel in the spectacular. Pull up from anywhere, Damian Lillard. And don’t ever stop doing you, Nikola Jokic.

Lakers at Suns, Game 5 (9 p.m., TNT)

Maybe both of these teams — tied 2-2 — are good enough to win the whole stinking thing. LeBron James is in serious danger of losing in the first round for the first time since never.

WED 2

White Sox at Indians (12:10 p.m., NBCSCH)

Is it too soon to call it a two-team race in the AL Central? Because — just saying — it’s a two-team race in the AL Central. And that’s assuming the Indians are actually in the race.

Hawks at Knicks, Game 5 (6:30 p.m., TNT)

After all the love Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has gotten this season, here he is with his team down 3-1 and his back against the wall. The man needs more help than Derrick Rose alone can give him.

Mavericks at Clippers, Game 5 (9 p.m., TNT)

Some of us are old enough to remember a time when the Mavs took two games at Staples Center and looked likely to bounce the Clips from the playoffs. It’s 2-2 now — a real pain in the neck for Luka Doncic.

THU 3

Cubs at Giants (8:45 p.m., Marquee)

It’s Game 1 of a wicked seven-game swing through San Francisco and San Diego. Time to see how the best division in baseball lives.

FRI 4

Tigers at White Sox (7:10 p.m., NBCSCH)

Just when everyone assumed the Tigers were terrible, they swept the Yankees last weekend. As you know, the Sox were recently swept at Yankee Stadium. Also, in related news: The Tigers are terrible.

Chicago Red Stars v Houston Dash
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Pugh is carrying more than her share of the load.

SAT 5

North Carolina at Red Stars (1 p.m., Paramount+)

Mallory Pugh is crushing it for the Red Stars, but so far she hasn’t gotten a lot of support from her mates. Time for the home team to step up at SeatGeek.

Sky at Sparks (2 p.m., Ch. 7)

Is this when Allie Quigley — out with a hamstring injury since the season opener — gets back on the floor? There’s a shorthanded overtime loss to the Sparks to make up for.

Belmont Stakes (4 p.m., Ch. 5)

Essential Quality? Hot Rod Charlie? Preakness winner Rombauer? They’re the three horses everyone is talking about heading into the 153rd running of this event. Somewhere, Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit will be choking on their oats.

Cubs at Giants (6:15 p.m., Fox-32)

Kris Bryant? Javy Baez? Anthony Rizzo? They’re the three horses everyone is wondering if the Cubs will hang on to. Look, it’s our job to remind you as often as possible of this sad story line.

SUN 6

Tigers at White Sox (1:10 p.m., NBCSCH)

The Tigers actually have been hovering around the .400 mark, a high point for them in the last five years. Did we say “terrible”? So sorry about that.

MON 7

Cubs at Padres (9:10 p.m., Marquee)

San Diego shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. leads all of baseball in home runs per at-bat and RBI per at-bat and is tops overall in OPS. Other than that, he’s really blowing it out there.

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Bears OTAs are here, which raises a question: What does Justin Fields eat for breakfast?Steve Greenbergon May 31, 2021 at 3:43 pm Read More »

‘Changing the Game’ gracefully examines the dilemma of young transgender athletesRichard Roeperon May 31, 2021 at 2:00 pm

Mack Beggs, a wrestler profiled in “Changing the Game,” identifies as male and wants to compete against boys, but state law allows him only to wrestle girls. | HULU

Hulu documentary profiles three competitors having different experiences because of inconsistent state rules.

Sarah Rose Huckman, Andraya Yearwood and Mack Beggs are like millions of other high school student-athletes who excel at their chosen sport, who get up in the predawn hours to work out, who love to compete, who sometimes feel as if they LIVE to compete. Granted, it’s not always easy to balance studies, athletics, family life and friends — but that’s what all high school athletes experience.

The difference for Sarah, Andraya and Mack is they are transgender teens. They know who they are. It’s certain elements in the outside world that won’t accept that, don’t quite understand it, are at odds about how to react to that.

Director Michael Barnett’s “Changing the Game” is an expertly crafted, empathetic, journalistically sound documentary following three strong, bright, likable and admirably accessible and forthcoming transgender teen athletes: Connecticut track standout Andraya Yearwood, a dominant sprinter who won the state title in the 100-meter dash; New Hampshire skier and activist Sarah Rose Huckman, and Texas wrestler Mack Beggs, who identifies as male but still had to compete against girls because of state laws saying athletes must compete in accordance with the gender on their birth certificate. Beggs became a two-time girls’ state champion, even as he made it clear he wanted to compete with the boys and even as his story made national headlines, with many claiming Beggs had an unfair advantage.


HULU
Skier Sarah Rose Huckman became an activist promoting a change in New Hampshire’s athletic policies.

“Policies for transgender high school athletes vary from state to state,” notes a graphic in the documentary. In New Hampshire, where Sarah Rose Huckman competes, she says, “When I got to high school, the policy was, [a transgender teen] had to have gender reassignment in order to compete on the selected team that you would like to play on.” Sarah Rose becomes an activist intent on changing that rule. But she’s also just a teenage girl who records adorable makeup tutorials on YouTube and works hard on the family farm.

Cut to Connecticut, where students are free to participate in sports based on their gender identity. “It feels amazing just knowing I get to be who I am,” says Andraya Yearwood, who trains with “Coach Brian,” who says simply, “Andraya’s out there competing with the other girls, and that’s the way it should be.”


HULU
Transgender sprinter Andraya Yearwood says it’s “amazing” competing with other girls.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Mack Beggs is living with the grandparents who adopted him when he was 6 years old, and while Grandma Nancy is a 25-year veteran of the Dallas Police Dept., happily rattles off the list of guns she owns, tells us she’s a “hardcore Republican” and staunch conservative, make no mistake about it — she and Grandpa Roy are 100% supportive of Mack and keep reminding themselves to use the proper pronoun.

Clearly an advocacy film, “Changing the Game” acknowledges the viewpoint of the parents of girl wrestlers in Texas who are frustrated seeing Mack win match after match, when even Mack would rather wrestle with his fellow boys, and the parents in Connecticut who feel Andraya has an unfair advantage. For many, this remains a complicated and nuanced issue, and “Changing the Game” handles the subject with grace and illumination.

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‘Changing the Game’ gracefully examines the dilemma of young transgender athletesRichard Roeperon May 31, 2021 at 2:00 pm Read More »

28 shot, 2 fatally, over Memorial Day weekend in ChicagoSun-Times Wireon May 31, 2021 at 2:39 pm

Chicago police investigate Saturday night in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times.
Chicago police investigate Saturday night in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

In preparation for the historically violent weekend, the Chicago Police Department canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts while community groups fanned out across the city to draw people out of the line of fire.

Two people have been killed and at least 26 others wounded in shootings across Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.

In preparation for the historically violent weekend, the Chicago Police Department canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. Meanwhile, community groups fanned out across the city to draw people out of the line of fire.

“This is our city that we love, and there is loss of life, and it should make us weep and roll up our sleeves,” said John Fuder of Chicagoland United in Prayer, whose group is sponsoring prayer marches across the city this weekend.

Shootings are up 36% this year compared to the same period in 2020, according to Sun-Times data. Homicides are spiking in areas long afflicted with gun violence.

Last year, Memorial Day weekend was the deadliest period of the year, with 12 killed and 42 others hurt.

Logan Square homicide

In the most recent fatal attack, a 29-year-old man was killed Saturday night in a shooting in Logan Square on the Northwest Side.

Mike Alicea was on the sidewalk about 9 p.m. when someone got out of a vehicle in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue and began shooting, according to Chicago Police.

He was struck in the arm and leg and taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

A family walks by as Chicago police investigate in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times Saturday night.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
A family walks by as Chicago police investigate in the 3700 block of West McLean Avenue in Logan Square, where authorities said a 29-year-old man was shot multiple times Saturday night.

Residents in the block watched investigators work from their porches and windows.

“I can’t say I’m shocked,” a woman who was returning home with her husband said. “As soon as it gets warm the shooters come outside.”

“We usually hear about shootings about a block away from here, or in the alleys a block away; it has never made it to our front yard like this,” her husband added.

Lawndale murder

Hours earlier, a 26-year-old man was fatally shot while driving in Lawndale on the West Side.

Luis Poole was driving east on Ogden Avenue when he was shot in the face and chest, police said. The vehicle he was driving came to a rest after striking a light pole in the 3100 block West Ogden Avenue.

Poole was brought to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

4 shot in restaurant parking lot in Grand Crossing

Four teens were shot Sunday night as they stood in the parking lot of a restaurant in Grand Crossing on the South Side.

The group was standing in the parking lot of a Subway, 6718 S. Stony Island Ave., when a dark-colored sedan drove by and someone inside fired shots, police said.

Chicago police investigate in a Subway at 6718 S. Stony Island Ave., where police said four teens were shot Sunday night as they stood in the parking lot of the Grand Crossing restaurant.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Chicago police investigate in a Subway at 6718 S. Stony Island Ave., where police said four teens were shot Sunday night as they stood in the parking lot of the Grand Crossing restaurant.

Two 19-year-old, struck in the legs and feet, were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.

An 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy were struck in their legs, police said. They were also in good condition.

Belmont Cragin shooting

In nonfatal attacks, two men were wounded in a shooting early Monday in Belmont Cragin on the Northwest Side.

The pair were standing outside about 3:45 a.m. in the 5700 block of West Grand Avenue when the male suspect approached them and asked what gang they were affiliated with, police said.

The men responded that they were not a part of a gang, police said. The male suspect then pulled out a handgun and fired shots before leaving the scene.

One man, 33, was struck in the arm and torso and critically wounded, police said. The other, 31, was shot in the leg and in good condition.

Man shot in face on Lake Shore Drive

A man was wounded in a shooting on Lake Shore Drive early Sunday in the Near South Side. The 20-year-old was traveling south about 12:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of South Lake Shore Drive when he heard shots and felt pain, police and Chicago Fire officials said.

He was shot in the face and was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stable, police said.

12-year-old grazed

A 12-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet early Saturday in Great Crossing on the South Side. The boy was with a group of people about 1 a.m. when someone inside a black Dodge Charger fired shots in the 7100 block of South Dobson Avenue, police said.

A bullet grazed his leg and he was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition, police said. He may not have been the intended target, according to police.

At least 18 others were wounded in citywide gun violence over Memorial Day weekend, which lasts from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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28 shot, 2 fatally, over Memorial Day weekend in ChicagoSun-Times Wireon May 31, 2021 at 2:39 pm Read More »

Chicago Blackhawks: 3 risky trade packages for Seth JonesVincent Pariseon May 31, 2021 at 1:00 pm

The Chicago Blackhawks are a very weak team defensively. They were not good at all at keeping their opponents from high danger chances and ranked near the bottom of the league. The coach’s system not fitting the roster is a big part of it but not having great players is also a big deal. If […]

Chicago Blackhawks: 3 risky trade packages for Seth JonesDa Windy CityDa Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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Chicago Blackhawks: 3 risky trade packages for Seth JonesVincent Pariseon May 31, 2021 at 1:00 pm Read More »