The Chicago Blackhawks have had some good goaltenders during their run of dominance in the 2010s. With Corey Crawford as the main guy, the backup situation has been mostly good for them. One of them sticks out above the rest.
Scott Darling was the local kid that grew up a Blackhawks fan that realized his dream of playing for the hometown team. He played for the Hawks from 2014-2017 and was a very nice backup.
His role included a run in the playoffs where he relieved Corey Crawford until the time was right to put him back in. It was that same season that Darling’s name got put on the Stanley Cup with the rest of his 2014-15 teammates.
After the 2016-17 season ended, however, Darling made his way to the Carolina Hurricanes where he was expected t be the new franchise goalie. Everyone thought that he was ready to take that next step into a starter role but he clearly wasn’t.
He only lasted there for two years before finding himself out of the NHL. After a few years of playing in other leagues around the world, he finally stopped playing. Since then, he has pursued other things away from hockey. Stand-up comedy is one of the most notable endeavors.
Scott Darling is coming back to the Chicago Blackhawks organization in 2022-23.
Now, he is taking that entertainment phase to the next level. On Monday, it came out that Darling will be a new member of the pre and postgame team on NBC Sports Chicago. He will join Pat Boyle, Colby Cohen, and Caley Chelios on the set to preview/break down games all year long.
This isn’t going to be a great year for the team in terms of wins and losses but there are plenty of reasons to tune in. A guy like Darling will be perfect for breaking down why they are doing what they are doing.
As they try to develop a lot of young talent, it should be fun to watch throughout the year. They have a clear goal in mind and that is to rebuild the right way. There might be some painful moments along the way which is why it will be nice to have a guy like Darling to listen to.
Darling deserves this opportunity. He battled to get to where he was in the NHL and now it is good to see him succeeding in his post-playing days. He is the perfect person to be one of the faces of the team and it will be fun hearing what he has to say all year long.
