DENVER –Faced with arguably the toughest possible challenge to start the regular season, the Blackhawks did what they will likely do a lot this season: They lost.

Four power-play goals for the Avalanche, a team with all the firepower needed to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, doomed the overmatched Hawks to a 5-2 loss Wednesday.

“We felt the heat, and our focus got lost a little bit,” said Luke Richardson, who made his NHL head-coaching debut. “Not that we weren’t trying, we just were unaware. We were unaware when we needed changes and dumps, and we were unaware as forwards that the [defensemen] were pinching up and keeping extended ‘O’-zone time for them.

“Overall, the guys fought to the end, and that’s all we can ask for. But we have to demand more of ourselves.”

After an electric pregame ceremony to raise the 2022 Cup banner, Avalanche stars Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen gave the Hawks’ injured-ravaged defense fits all night and combined for eight assists.

The Avalanche outshot the Hawks in all three periods and finished with decisive advantages in shot attempts (60-34), shots on goal (35-17) and scoring chances (26-19). They went four-for-six on the man advantage, making it look easy at times.

“When they get going, if you get back on your heels a little bit, all it takes is one little wrong move and you’re taking a penalty,” Max Domi said. “[It’s] not even on purpose, right? It’s just, they’re fast. [It was a] learning experience, for sure.”

It wasn’t a completely pitiful performance by the Hawks, who showed some “good fight” in the third period — pulling within two for a while –and converted on two of their own power plays. Domi potted his first as a Hawk, and Jonathan Toews also scored to quickly extinguish any worries about another long season-opening goal drought.

But the end result was a defeat that felt inevitable from the start and about which they couldn’t complain. The other team was simply better. And that’s an explanation for losing that might be applicable many, many more times before April mercifully arrives.

“We probably turned too many pucks over in the neutral zone, especially at their blue line, and they counter really quick,” Richardson said. “Unfortunately, we kind of fed their fuel for a little bit.”

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Matt Eberflus made a unique decision before Thursday’s game

Thursday night football games present a challenge for each coaching staff who has to prepare for them. Many players and coaches don’t care for the stress of playing on Thursday night following a Sunday game. For Matt Eberflus, he was faced with getting the Chicago Bears ready for the Washington Commanders on a short week following a heartbreaking loss in Week 5.

Many NFL teams playing on Thursday choose not to practice on Wednesday. However, Eberflus had the Bears getting some reps in the day before they’d be playing the Commanders in a bid to get the team back to an even record.

According to Courtney Cronin with ESPN, Matt Eberflus thought the practice could give the Bears an upper hand on Thursday:

“I know not everybody does the practice right before but we thought it was an advantage for us to be able to do that, to play with some speed today and the guys did a nice job. They were moving around. Like I said earlier in the week, this is a simulated Friday for us so it’s more of a gold-zone, red-zone type of situation and move the ball there at the end.

The Bears were able to get some reps from previously injured players

The move by Matt Eberflus could help the Bears team with situational football, which needs a lot of practice this season. The Bears’ extra practice on red zone opportunities in Week 5 helped the team convert touchdowns against the Vikings. The Bears also had a chance for wide receiver N’Keal Harry and cornerback Jaylon Johnson to get some reps before the game.

The two were listed as full participants on Wednesday. Johnson was projected as a full participant on the Bears’ injury report Tuesday; Harry was listed as a limited participant. Those were projections as the Bears conducted a walk-through Tuesday.

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This upcoming off-season is going to be arguably one of the biggest in Chicago White Sox history, so who is the right person to lead this team?

Many rumors have come forward about the White Sox managerial job within the last week. One of those rumors came when three names had been mentioned by Bob Nightengale for the White Sox manager job. Those names included, Bruce Bochy, Mike Schildt, and Ron Washington. The White Sox are looking to hire someone with some managerial experience and all three have had a lot of success as a manager.

However, none of these names except for possibly Ron Washington are all that enticing to me. Hiring Bochy would be the exact same thing as hiring La Russa back in 2020. Mike Schildt was a good manager back in St. Louis, but he does not move the needle for me. Washington went to two World Series with the Rangers, and has now been incredibly successful with the Atlanta Braves over the past few seasons. But his age is pretty concerning, which as White Sox fans can attest, that is a big deal.

So who would be the best case scenario for the Sox? In my opinion, Astros bench coach Joe Espada is far and away the best case scenario for the White Sox. Espada has been coaching around the league for the past 12 years. Starting as the Marlins third base coach, then becoming the New York Yankees third base coach until finally becoming the Astros bench coach from 2018.

Espada has also interviewed with the Texas Rangers manager job in 2018 and he interviewed for the Chicago Cubs managerial job in 2019. The Astros have been one of the most consistent and arguably the best team in the American League over the past 5 seasons and getting anyone from their coaching staff is a big win for the Sox.

Another home run hire for the White Sox would be Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro. The Rays have also been one of the most consistent franchises in all of baseball over the past few years as well. In 2014, he was the assistant hitting coach for Cleveland until going to Tampa as their third base coach in 2017. In 2018, the Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo was hired as the Blue Jays manager, so Quatraro filled in as the team’s bench coach. Quatraro has also interviewed with both the Mets and Athletics last year for their open manager jobs.

The White Sox need consistency with their manager, and definitely not someone who has retired in the past few years. Going younger would be preferred and to me, prior managerial experience is not a big deal.

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Patrick Finley and Mark Potash pick the winner of Thursday night’s Bears game against the Commanders, wonder whether games on short rest are making the NFL worse and debate what Justin Fields needs to show in prime time.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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The Saints signed a former Chicago Bears running back Wednesday

On Tuesday, reports came out former Bears running back Jordan Howard was working out with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints waived running back Tony Jones last Saturday, and the Seattle Seahawks picked up that player. The Saints invited several running backs to try out for an open practice squad position this week.

According to Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football Network, the Saints signed Howard to their practice squad on Wednesday.

The former Bears running back could be a steal for the Saints. Howard overperformed for the Bears as a fifth-round pick. He rushed for 4,361 yards and 37 touchdowns during his first six years in the NFL. Howard will head to New Orleans averaging 4.3 yards per rush. Howard also has 653 yards receiving and two touchdown catches in his career. He will have to prove he still can be a threat to NFL defenses on the practice squad before being elevated to playing a game for the Saints.

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DENVER — Jack Johnson’s first game with the Blackhawks on Wednesday will include plenty of deja-vu moments.

Across the ice from him at all times will be the Avalanche players he called teammates up until June, when their last memory created together was — of all things — winning the Stanley Cup.

Skating on the Hawks’ top defensive pair Wednesday alongside Seth Jones, the veteran defenseman will need to reverse his loyalties quickly.

“It’s definitely going to be emotional, [and] it’s going to be weird,” Johnson said pregame. “This is something I’ve never come across. This is different than being traded or just signing somewhere else.

“When you’ve gone through something like that with another team, you’ve got a special bond together, and it was not that long ago. When you line up across from them and you’ve got nothing but love for the guys on the other side, it’s definitely a unique experience.”

The scheduling quirk did allow Johnson to attend the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup ring-presenting ceremony and banquet Monday night, as a silver lining.

But come Wednesday, even that had him contemplating another strange situation. With the Hawks playing in Las Vegas on Thursday and San Jose on Saturday before returning to Chicago, how would he transport the ring? The shoebox-size case it came in didn’t help matters.

“You can’t just slip it in your bag,” he said, laughing. “[I’m] definitely not mailing it. It’s still with me, but I’m just going to carry it with me the rest of the time. I don’t want it to go out of my hands right now.”

Tinordi thrown in

Wednesday’s game will also be weird for new Hawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi, but in a different way.

Just three days ago, on Sunday, he was wrapping up training camp with the Rangers when he was placed on waivers. He had no idea if he was going to get claimed or which team it would be.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Tinordi said. “The clock struck 2:00 [on Monday, and] you’re waiting and waiting. You know you’re going to hear from somebody. [Rangers general manager] Chris Drury texted me [Hawks GM Kyle Davidson’s] number and said, ‘Happy for you.’ Then I talked to Kyle, and that was pretty much it. We started making some plans from there.”

Hawks practice Tuesday and morning skate Wednesday were Tinordi’s only opportunities to skate with his new team before the real thing begins.

“Once I found out I was picked up, I put the kids to bed back home, packed and got ready to fly out in the morning,” he said. “There hasn’t really been a whole lot of time.”

Fortunately, he does have two things working in his favor: Hawks coach Luke Richardson’s new box-plus-one defensive system is similar to the Rangers’ system, and Tinordi already knows his partner, Connor Murphy, from overlapping stretches with the Coyotes and the U.S. National Team Development Program.

“He’s a veteran,” Richardson said. “He has been around different teams, [experienced] lots of change throughout the years during the season. He’s a guy that’s going to be able to adapt to that pretty quickly.”

Tinordi has certainly been around. Over the last decade, he has played in 538 pro games: 109 NHL games for five different NHL teams, and 429 AHL games for six different AHL teams.

“I try to be physical, clear the net front, win my battles in the corners and move the puck quickly,” he said. “Those are the keys to success for me.”

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