Calvin de Haan, Adam Boqvist and Wyatt Kalynuk have all left in the first or second period of recent games with injuries, but all three were back on the ice by Wednesday.

Jeremy Colliton has been frequently put in tough spots lately when the Blackhawks have lost defensemen to mid-game injuries.

Calvin de Haan left in the second period Apr. 10 against the Blue Jackets with a hip pointer. Adam Boqvist left in the first period Apr. 12 against the Jackets with a concussion. And Wyatt Kalynuk left in the first period Monday against the Predators with his own hip injury.

“It just seems to be a constant thing here where we’re playing a lot of games with 5 ‘D’, and it’s hard on our guys,” Colliton said Monday night.

The good news is the injuries at least keep turning out to be minor. Come Wednesday, de Haan, Boqvist and Kalynuk were back in the lineup.

“Our guys…have done a great job taking care of themselves, taking care of their bodies, making sure they get the rest they need,” Colliton said. “They’ve been able to stay healthy and relatively fresh as we go through this grind of a schedule.”

The stability didn’t last long, though. Colliton dressed seven defenseman — and thus only 11 forwards — Wednesday to give the Hawks more defensive insurance, and it ended up being a wise move. De Haan exited after the first period after re-aggravating his hip.

The Hawks lead the NHL in terms of CHIP this season, a holistic stat to measure injury impact that multiplies raw man-games lost with the per-game cap hit of the players accounting for those man-games lost. The Stars, Blues, Lightning and Ducks round out the top five, per the blog NHL Injury Viz.

But a sizable chunk of the Hawks’ CHIP comes from players the team knew back in December would miss most or all of the season: Brent Seabrook, Jonathan Toews, Alex Nylander and Zack Smith.

Counting only players who began the season healthy and have since been injured, the Hawks are in the middle of the pack — roughly 13th, depending on exactly who is included — in CHIP.

And looking solely at defensemen (excluding Seabrook), the Hawks are 19th in CHIP, meaning their defensive unit has been in the healthier half of the league. De Haan has missed three games, Connor Murphy six and Boqvist 11 (of which nine related to COVID-19) but those have been the only notable absences.

“I don’t think anyone has missed a significant amount of time this season on the back end,” de Haan said Wednesday. “They’re just bumps and bruises for the most part.”

De Haan said he could’ve played through his hip pointer if it was “Game 7, Stanley Cup Finals.” Given the Hawks’ current situation, though, it didn’t make sense for him to play at 70% while someone else at 100% sat out.

Of greater big-picture concern are his shoulders. A “black cloud” has hung over them for much of his NHL career, causing numerous season-ending injuries (including in 2019-20), but they’ve finally stayed intact this season.

“I’ve got to give credit to the medical staff,” de Haan said. “My support staff back home has done a good job with me this past offseason, as well. It’s been good, but everyone knock on wood and cross their fingers for me.”

Fans a possibility?

Colliton reacted Wednesday to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Tuesday comment telling Chicagoans to “expect before seasons end there will be fans in the United Center.”

“I’ve heard about it,” Colliton said. “That would be great. We certainly would welcome the support and the atmosphere in this building… There’s been a lot of work done in the organization to try to make that happen for a long time.”

With only six home games left and the last one only 18 days away, the involved parties will need to operate very quickly to make it actually happen, though.

Read More

Two people were found fatally shot less than an hour apart in West Pullman on the Far South Side.

Eight people were shot, three fatally Wednesday in Chicago, including a woman who was killed in a shooting in West Pullman on the South Side.

The woman, whose age was unknown, was sitting in a parked car about 10:30 p.m. in the 12000 block of South Indiana Avenue, when someone fired multiple shots, Chicago police said. She suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Less than an hour prior, a 20-year-old man was fatally shot in West Pullman on the Far South Side. Officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert found the man unresponsive about 9:55 p.m. in the front yard of a home in the 12200 block of South Harvard Avenue, police said. He had multiple gunshot wounds to the face and chest and was taken to Roseland Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A man was shot to death in Lawndale on the West Side, according to police. Someone shot the man in the chest and shoulder about 7 p.m. as he stood outside in the 1400 block of South Millard Avenue, police said. The man was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

In non-fatal shootings, a 50-year-old man was shot in Grand Crossing on the South Side. About 11:35 p.m., he was walking in the 1300 block of East 75th Street, when someone approached him and opened fire, police said. He was struck in the pelvic area, and brought to the University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition.

A 23-year-old man was shot Wednesday night while traveling in a car in Englewood on the South Side. About 8:40 p.m., the man was riding in a car in the 6700 block of South Lafayette Avenue when someone in a passing white SUV fired shots, police said. He was struck twice in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was listed in fair condition.

Minutes prior a 31-year-old man was shot in Englewood on the South Side. About 8:30 p.m., he was outside in the rear of a home in the 7300 block of South Winchester Avenue, when someone fired shots at him from the alley, police said. He was struck in the back and brought to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition.

An 18-year-old man was shot Wednesday evening in West Pullman on the Far South Side. About 6:45 p.m., he was in the 200 block of East 116th Street when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He was struck in the leg and brought himself to Roseland Hospital where he was listed in good condition.

In the day’s first reported shooting, a 19-year-old woman was shot while she rode in a car in South Chicago on the South Side. About 1:35 a.m., she was the passenger in a moving vehicle when several males fired shots from the sidewalk in the 8400 block of South Escanaba Avenue, striking her in the left leg, police said. She was brought to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.

Three people were shot Tuesday citywide.

Read More

It took three decades for city leaders to elbow state lawmakers into authorizing a Chicago casino.

It’s been almost two years since Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office finally hit the jackpot in Springfield.

And it could be another four years before the long-sought big city gambling mecca finally opens — but state regulators better not let the process drag on longer than that, an “impatient” Lightfoot warned this week.

As the first-term mayor prepared to formally invite casino developers to the table on Thursday to submit proposals to build and run Chicago’s first legal gambling house, Lightfoot threw down an early gauntlet to the Illinois Gaming Board, which has the final say on who gets the coveted casino license.

“A big part of the issue is making sure that the Illinois Gaming Board really puts in the time and resources that are necessary,” Lightfoot said Tuesday, previewing the city’s request for casino bids.

“Once we present a proposal to them, we’ve got to move forward expeditiously. And again, I don’t want to prejudge it, but I’m looking at the time, like the time it takes for the Gaming Board to do its work — it’s got to speed up.”

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

That’s been the complaint of leaders in some of the five other municipalities that were granted new casino licenses as part of a massive gambling expansion signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the summer of 2019. Seventeen months and counting since the other casino applicants submitted bids to the board, just one project has gotten off the ground — and that was only after months of public prodding from Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara.

Chicago’s mega-casino is already months behind the state’s other bids because Lightfoot’s team had to go back to Springfield last spring to push a legislative fix lowering the gaming tax rate that a state-hired consultant deemed “too onerous” to attract any developers.

Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter has pinned licensing delays on the COVID-19 pandemic and said during a meeting Wednesday that his agency “has been and will continue to studiously follow the rules and requirements for the new casino licensing process.”

But with her other cards falling into place, Lightfoot doesn’t want to see a drawn-out investigative process delay an “exciting opportunity” for a city clamoring to pump new tax revenue into its desperately underfunded police and firefighter pension funds.

“This is 30 years of futility finally coming to fruition, so it’s an exciting moment for us and I want to move forward as expeditiously as we can,” Lightfoot said. “I’m confident that we’ll work with the governor and his team to emphasize we’ve got to bring this casino online as quickly as possible. We’ve done our hard work, we’re gonna continue to do that hard work, and we can’t have unnecessary regulatory delays slowing us down.”

For now, the dice are in the city’s hand. In soliciting proposals Thursday, Lightfoot’s office also released its most thorough timeline yet for the city’s selection process.

Developers have until Aug. 23 to submit proposals, and will make public presentations in late September, according to the mayor’s office.

Lightfoot’s office will pick “one or more qualified applicants” and, through the end of the year, hold community meetings and negotiate “host community agreements” with those potential developers.

John Locher/AP file

“We will take the lead in making sure that we’re being responsive to local residents, based upon what they articulate to us as to what their needs are,” Lightfoot said.

Then, early next year, the mayor’s office will select a final applicant to put up for approval from several city agencies and ultimately the City Council. After that, the chosen developer would apply for Gaming Board approval.

Lightfoot said she expects the finished casino to open by 2025, though an operator can set up shop at a temporary site once the developer gets state approval.

The biggest question remains unanswered: where will the casino break ground?

The city is leaving it up to developers to draw up visions at their preferred sites.

“I obviously have my thoughts about where I think the best location would be, but I’m gonna leave that to the operator,” Lightfoot said. “I don’t need to tell these folks how to do their business.”

Provided by Res Publica Group

It’s a safe bet applicants will suggest a downtown location. Eight of 11 development groups who responded to an informal city request for information last fall said a central site would be most lucrative.

But “it’s not just the location that’s important,” Lightfoot said.

“It’s going to be: Who is the operator, what’s your track record of success? What is the vision for this entertainment complex and how does that match up with our time?” she said.

Among other requirements, Lightfoot wants developers to commit to at least 26% minority business enterprise participation and 6% for women-owned businesses, with 50% of work hours set aside for city residents.

As for the structure itself, the city wants to see “a high-quality, architecturally significant design” that fits “seamlessly into Chicago’s existing landscape and communities.”

Read More

Moon Alert

Avoid shopping and important decisions from 9 to 8:30 a.m. Chicago time. After that, the moon moves from Leo into Virgo.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

You have a strong focus on money and earnings. Actually, this focus will continue for the next three weeks. This is why you will ponder expenses, important purchases and your available spending potential. You’re seeing what you can juggle in financial terms.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Now and for the next few weeks, you can recharge your batteries for the rest of the year. It’s appropriate to put yourself first because this is the only time all year the sun is in your sign. You will attract people and favorable resources to you, which is an excellent advantage.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You are a strong communicator and enjoy good times with friends and those who adore you. (She said modestly, looking coyly over her left shoulder.) However, in the next few weeks, your desire to be low-key and remain behind the scenes is suddenly quite strong. Curious.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

A heart connection with a good friend will be meaningful to you in the next few weeks. This person might have helpful suggestions for you or be of assistance in some way. They might even encourage you to change your future goals. Friends are important.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

You have the good fortune of making a great impression on people in authority in the next several weeks. (They think you’re eligible for sainthood.) Note to self: Because you create such a great impression, now is the time to make your pitch and go after what you want.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

You know more trivia than any other sign in the zodiac because you’re a fact junkie. It so happens that in the next three weeks, you will adore learning new things, which makes this the perfect time to take a course online or attend a webinar or do something to expand your world!

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

You can’t escape the fact that you have to deal with red-tape details regarding taxes, debt, shared property and insurance matters now and in the next few weeks. It’s gotta be done. Don’t procrastinate. Be strong and do it.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Your focus on close friends and partners is strong now and will continue for the next few weeks. You will notice that you have more objectivity and detachment than usual, which means you see these relationships with more clarity. Lucky you.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

You like to work hard and party hard. Now and in the next three weeks, you will work hard because you want to get better organized. You want to feel that you’re working smart and making the best use of your time. Yes!

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

You have a strong urge to do your own thing. Ideally, you would slip away on a vacation. However, travel is difficult and we all face restrictions. Nevertheless, in the next three weeks, relax and have fun. Enjoy the company of children, sports and creative activities.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Some of you are more involved than usual with a parent. If so, this increased involvement with a parent and home and family will continue for the next three weeks. This is why you want to pull in your reins and keep your world small.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Have you noticed your daily pace is increasing? This pace will stay accelerated for the next three weeks due to short trips, errands, tasks, increased reading, writing and studying as well as Zoom sessions with relatives and friends. Busy you! (Gasp.)

If Your Birthday Is Today

Rock musician, singer, songwriter Peter Frampton (1950) shares your birthday. You have original talent. You are sensible, practical and many of you love animals and the outdoors. You value family. You like a predictable outcome. You will work hard for what you want. In fact, this year you will gladly work hard because you sense you are building something important — and you are. You will introduce more structure into your life.

Read More

Opening weekends for Marz and Imperial Oak taprooms. Plus Beer with yoga and crafts.Read More

A woman was killed in a shooting Thursday night in West Pullman on the South Side.

The woman, whose age was unknown, was sitting in a parked car about 10:30 p.m. in the 12000 block of South Indiana Avenue when someone fired multiple shots, Chicago police said.

She suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not yet identified her.

There were no witnesses to the shooting, police said.

Police did not provide any additional details.

Area Two detectives are investigating the shooting.

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

Read More

The Hawks scored three times in the third period and once in overtime to beat the Predators 5-4 on Wednesday. If anything can jumpstart a postseason push, it’s probably this performance.

The Blackhawks will need a miraculous three-week comeback to make the playoffs.

But they proved Wednesday they are capable of miraculous comebacks, at least over 15-minute spans.

Given up for dead when trailing the Predators 4-1 with 10 minutes to play, the Hawks scored three times in a 2:59 span of the third period to tie the game before winning 5-4 in overtime on Brandon Hagel’s goal.

It has been years since the Hawks won a regular-season game of this significance, much less in this fashion. If anything can jumpstart a postseason push, it’s probably Wednesday’s performance.

“We never gave up,” Vinnie Hinostroza said. “If you want to be a playoff team, you have to win some games like that. It just shows the character we have in the locker room. Every guy on our team battled today.”

“It could be a big boost, but we’ve got to make that the case,” coach Jeremy Colliton added.

Entering Wednesday, the Hawks had scored three or more goals on the Predators just two times in 22 games since the start of the 2017 playoffs. They’d yet to do it in six meetings against the Preds this season, all of which had been losses.

But Wyatt Kalynuk’s goal off a Patrick Kane feed midway through the third lit some kindling. Hinostroza finishing a pretty give-and-go play with Kirby Dach — cutting the deficit to one — then ignited a fire rarely seen in the Hawks since 2017.

“It seemed like when we got that one, we got a little bit of a jolt,” Colliton said. “But then to get the second one, the group really got the burst of energy.”

In the weeks since Connor Murphy’s momentous April 8 quote, when he called the Hawks “fragile” for their unwillingness to pick each other up after mistakes, the team has somehow manufactured quite a bit of never-give-up attitude. They’ve gone 4-2-0 since that night and come from behind for three of those wins.

Colliton didn’t need to deliver a rousing public speech Wednesday like he did April 10 in Columbus — jumpstarting that eventual 4-3 victory — but instead said “everything that needed to be said” at the second intermission. Whatever he did, it translated onto the bench in the third period.

“You look left and you look right, every guy’s got the fire in their eyes,” Hinostroza said. “They’re ready to get on the ice. Whether it’s backchecking or finishing a check or getting the puck out of the zone, everyone here wants to win. We all have the same goal of getting in the playoffs. We never had self doubt.”

Goalie Malcolm Subban, making a third straight appearance for the first time in his Hawks tenure, kept the hosts within striking distance with 26 saves — some of which were spectacular — on 40 shots.

He nearly lost his mind when, from the opposite end of the rink, he watched Hagel lift the puck over Juuse Saros’ near-side shoulder and off the net’s back bar for his second overtime winner in a row.

“[I was thinking], ‘Oh my gosh,’” Subban said. “Just like, ‘We did it. We did it.’ It was an unbelievable feeling.”

The Hawks will need yet another win Friday in their final regular-season matchup against the Predators, then plenty more after that, to make the playoffs. But at least they now have a reason for belief.

“Down the stretch, there’s going to be some bigger games,” Hagel said. “We’re trying to take every game one by one, and this is the biggest one so far. Now it turns to the next game, probably the biggest one of the year. And on and on.”

Read More

It wasn’t always certain what the Cubs would get from their left-handed options in the bullpen during spring training, but the lefties in the bullpen have started to show what they can do.

There were few left-handed bullpen options for David Ross last season before the team acquired Andrew Chafin at the trade deadline. This season, they’ve gotten quality innings from Chafin, Rex Brothers, Justin Steele and Brad Wieck.

The four relievers have a combined 3.26 ERA in 19 1/3 innings this season.

“I think [Chafin] we knew coming in, we had a lot of confidence from seeing him last year and how he competes,” Ross said. “Rex, to me, was probably our best pitcher overall in spring training that I saw. Just the stuff that we knew was there. … He looks like he’s in a really good place. The balls come out of his hand really well.

“Justin Steele, Brad Wieck, we’ve got some really good lefties. Kyle Ryan is still down there working his way back. We’ve got a lot of confidence in the lefties and they will be and they have been a big part of this team. I have a lot of confidence in those guys.”

Happ enjoying podcast co-hosts MLB debut

Center fielder Ian Happ’s podcast, “The Compound ” has taken off since it launched during quarantine last year and one of his co-hosts got his first taste of the big leagues on Wednesday. Former Cub, now Tigers’ prospect Zack Short, made his MLB debut for Detroit against the Pirates and Happ was able to watch his good friend’s big accomplishment before the Cubs took on the Mets.

“We found out a couple days ago,” Happ said. “Obviously, couldn’t speak to it [when we found out], but we were super excited. Dakota and I were texting with him the last couple of days. I’m just really fired up for him to have that opportunity.

“It’s just really awesome. Just very Zack Short-esque two at-bats today, working two walks, great defense diving. But just really excited for him, his family, and a lot of long days at the yard, some injuries he’s overcome, but to have a chance to debut is really, really special.”

Alzolay to return Saturday, start vs. Brewers

The Cubs optioned right-hander Adbert Alzolay to the team’s alternate site last week, but the young right-hander won’t be in South Bend much longer. Ross said before Wednesday’s game that Alzolay would be back with the club on Saturday and start against the Brewers.

Alzolay is 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA in two starts this season but pitched well in his last start against the Brewers on April 12. The Cubs are using this season to monitor Alzolay’s innings and workload as he pitches in a full Major League season for the first time in his career.

The most innings Alzolay has thrown during his professional career was 126 innings in 2017.

Read More

Read More

The indictment relies to a large extent on wiretap recordings of Burke’s phone calls, and a major element of his defense is trying to convince Judge Robert Dow that prosecutors never had probable cause to justify getting approval for the wiretaps in the first place. 

Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), having no shame, took his normal seat Wednesday at the City Council as that august body resumed its in-person deliberations for the first time since its pandemic hiatus.

It was easy to forget about Burke this last year while the Council was meeting only remotely via video, the once powerful Finance chairman just another box in the Hollywood Squares except when he opened his yap, which was mercifully far less frequently than when he was the chamber’s loquacious ringmaster.

But there he was Wednesday, back in our face, a reminder that he hasn’t gone anywhere despite a federal corruption case now pending more than two years with no trial in sight. That’s his right, of course, having been duly reelected by the voters of his Southwest Side ward, which makes it no less galling.

And that’s why we can give you a fresh photo of a masked Burke from Wednesday when federal prosecutors made public a lengthy — and heavily redacted — court filing responding to efforts by his lawyers to toss out the charges against him, or in the alternative, to quash some of the government’s best evidence.

Burke has some very good lawyers, Joseph Duffy from Loeb & Loeb, and Charles Sklarsky and former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas from Jenner & Block, and in re-reading their filings from last summer, I have to admit they gave me pause to consider the possibility that their client might yet go free altogether.

I’m as guilty as anyone in the news media of losing sight of the presumption of innocence and presuming instead that when federal prosecutors bring charges against a big fish like Burke they will make something stick, even if their track record certainly bears out that way of thinking.

It’s even harder to keep an open mind when it’s someone like Burke, who I’ve always believed was using his public office to leverage clients for his law business, although I might have imagined he was a little more subtle about it than described in the indictment accusing him of extortion and bribery.

That indictment relies to a large extent on wiretap recordings of Burke’s phone calls, and a major element of his defense is trying to convince Judge Robert Dow that prosecutors never had probable cause to justify getting approval for the wiretaps in the first place.

They argue federal investigators had no evidence of Burke attempting to commit a crime, just because he was talking with Ald. Danny Solis (25th), at the time working as a government mole, to help him get law business from developers of the old central Post Office building.

One of their contentions is that Burke offered to take no official action on the developer’s behalf and really wasn’t in any position to do so because the matter was before Solis, not him.

I thought prosecutors answered that pretty well, making it more clear to me than ever that their theory of the case is that Burke was using the threat of official action by Solis — who was in a strong position to block the project because it was located in his ward — to leverage legal fees for himself, which he was then promising to split with Solis.

That is just the sort of bank shot I would have always expected from Burke, and in this case, he was allegedly proposing to cover up the payment by channeling it through another lawyer, which also fits.

Another complaint from Burke’s lawyers is that federal investigators got permission to tap Burke’s phones based on the Post Office investigation, but then stumbled upon phone calls dealing with another alleged shakedown with which he was eventually charged involving the remodeling of a Burger King in his 14th Ward.

Burke’s lawyers say investigators should have stopped listening when the subject switched to the Burger King. In wiretap law, that’s called minimization.

Prosecutors say, in very precise legal language, that’s just Burke’s tough luck.

In making the point that investigators took seriously their duty to “minimize” the calls on which they eavesdropped, prosecutors noted: “Numerous calls were minimized (and even subject to automatic minimizations in some cases) once it was determined that the call concerned a non-pertinent subject or was with an individual who had a personal or private relationship with Burke.”

That came as close to anything I’ve seen to answering a question I’ve had since the start of this case: What did the feds do when Burke was talking on the phone with his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke?

I think they were under orders not to listen. A footnote that might have provided the answer was completely redacted.

Burke may not be going anywhere, but neither is this case.

Read More