PHOTOS: Renovated Lincoln Park home: $3MChicagoNow Staffon May 11, 2020 at 2:35 am

ChicagoNow Staff Blog

PHOTOS: Renovated Lincoln Park home: $3M

ChicagoNOW

PHOTOS: Renovated Lincoln Park home: $3MChicagoNow Staffon May 11, 2020 at 2:35 am Read More »

Release Radar 5/8/20: !!! vs The Kooksradstarron May 11, 2020 at 12:23 am

Cut Out Kid

Release Radar 5/8/20: !!! vs The Kooks

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Release Radar 5/8/20: !!! vs The Kooksradstarron May 11, 2020 at 12:23 am Read More »

Local Beer: Hopewell Lil BuddyMark McDermotton May 11, 2020 at 4:21 am

The Beeronaut

Local Beer: Hopewell Lil Buddy

Local Beer: Hopewell Lil BuddyMark McDermotton May 11, 2020 at 4:21 am Read More »

Chicago Blackhawks: Yaroslav Askarov would be a brilliant pickVincent Pariseon May 10, 2020 at 1:00 pm

The Chicago Blackhawks could put another piece of a future core in place if they drafted goaltender Yaroslav Askarov in the first round.

The Chicago Blackhawks know that the future beyond Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook is something they need to somewhat start thinking about. Well, they have a young core budding with players like Kirby Dach, Alex DeBrincat, Adam Boqvist, and Ian Mitchell. One thing they don’t have is a guy you can point to as the goalie of the future. They might look to add one of those in this year’s draft.

They traded Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights at the trade deadline which shows that they probably didn’t have much mutual interest in a long term deal with him. Corey Crawford is one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the franchise but he is on an expiring contract as an older player. He might get a short term contract with them again if he wants to stay but they still need a goalie of the future to join this budding core.

There is one player like that available in the 2020 NHL Draft. Obviously, there might be some other good goalies who bloom in the future from that class but Yaroslav Askarov is almost can’t miss. Whenever a goalie gets the type of praise that he has gotten, they usually go on to be good in the NHL. It is rare for a goalie to be selected in the draft this high but that is going to be the case with Askarov.

Everyone always wants comparables when discussing NHL draft prospects. Well, Askarov gets compared to Andrei Vasilevskiy and Carey Price. Those are two goalies who are some of the best in the world and some of the best of their eras. If Askarov becomes that good, a Vezina Trophy could be in his future just like them. We all know how good Corey Crawford was and still is but if he does go on to be as good as Price or Vasilevskiy, he could be even better for whichever team drafts him.

Askarov currently plays in his native Russia. The top league in Europe is the KHL. Well, Askarov plays in their minor league system. SKA St. Petersberg is famously known for being the best team in the KHL year in and year out and Askarov currently plays for their top-minor league affiliate. In 18 games for them this season, he had a 2.45 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. He also played one game for SKA in the KHL where he gave up two goals and had the same .920 save percentage. He should be able to translate that game to the NHL.

The Hawks are one of many teams in the market for a goalie of the future so they better get one quick. There might not be a goalie in the draft as god as Askarov in a long time. If they feel that he can be their guy in a short amount of time then he would be worth the draft pick. As mentioned before, it is a rarity to draft a goalie in the top-ten but Askarov is worth it.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Yaroslav Askarov would be a brilliant pickVincent Pariseon May 10, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: Roddy White forgot about these black quarterbacksRyan Heckmanon May 10, 2020 at 12:00 pm

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Chicago Bears (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The subject of the Chicago Bears, Deshaun Watson and black quarterbacks has been hot lately. One former wideout forgot what he was talking about.

Over the past couple of days, the Chicago Bears have been in the center of a social media storm created by Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Well, others have been involved, too, but it is all based on Watson and the pre-draft process back in 2017.

Friday night, Watson quoted a tweet regarding the Bears and himself saying the Bears “never once” talked to him. This prompted plenty of folks to be outraged, initially dumping all over general manager Ryan Pace for his mistake. But, I don’t think everyone knows the full truth around this situation.

After Watson’s tweet, plenty of old posts surfaced. One in particular was a bit telling, and it was a video of Rich Eisen on air, talking to Watson on the phone back in 2017, before the draft took place.

In the video, Watson tells Eisen that he had spoken to the Bears. So, who is really telling the truth and who is lying? It seems like there are a lot of forgotten conversations, here.

Following Watson’s quote tweet, former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White quoted the quarterback’s post calling the Bears “trash” and saying that he had never seen a black quarterback on their roster.

U didn’t need to be there anyway they trash and in my life time I haven’t seen a black qb on there roster. They would’ve never embraced u like Houston. https://t.co/7mgUBg8Urn

— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) May 9, 2020

Funny enough, there have in fact been black quarterbacks on the Bears roster — even during the time when White was in the NFL. That’s the irony of this entire situation.

Out of respect for the black quarterbacks whom have recently played for the Bears and to serve White a little bit of humble pie, let’s look back at some of them and highlight some of the things they accomplished in their careers.

Next: Henry Burris

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Chicago Bears: Roddy White forgot about these black quarterbacksRyan Heckmanon May 10, 2020 at 12:00 pm Read More »