Today’s News Clips May 4, 2018 Chicago Tribune Former Blackhawks enforcer Daniel Carcillo pledges to donate brain to research after death Shannon Ryan May 3, 2018 Former Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo announced Wednesday night that he will donate his brain to the study of traumatic brain injury when he dies. “This is one of the scariest & hardest things I’ve ever had to write but here it goes,” he posted on Twitter. “I am pledging my brain to Ted Carrick and the @Carrickinst (Carrick Institute) to be used for study and furthering understanding of the consequences of traumatic brain injury when I pass.” The enforcer who played 12 seasons in the NHL has become an outspoken advocate for better health care for NHL players and a critic of the way the league deals with injuries. Carcillo twice led the NHL in penalty minutes. He played on two Stanley Cup-winning teams with the the Hawks before retiring in 2015. He has been critical of the league’s punishments during the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. On Tuesday, he blasted the league for not punishing the Capitals’ Tom Wilson after a hit that took the Penguins’ Brian Dumoulin out of the game. Wilson was suspended Wednesday for three games for a hit on Zach Aston-Reese that broke his jaw and gave him a concussion. Carcillo, 33, founded the Chapter 5 Foundation in honor of his friend and former NHL player Steve Montador, who died at 35. Chicago Sun-Times Daniel Carcillo pledges to donate his brain to research on head trauma Satchel Price May 3, 2018 Former NHL forward Daniel Carcillo pledged to donate his brain to the Carrick Institute for research into the effects of traumatic brain injuries. The longtime enforcer who played three seasons with the Blackhawks announced his decision Wednesday night as part of his reaction on social media to a series of illegal hits during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. @CarBombBoom13 This is one of the scariest & hardest things I’ve ever had to write but here it goes. I am pledging my brain to Ted Carrick and the @Carrickinst (Carrick Institute) to be used for study and furthering understanding of the consequences of traumatic brain injury when I pass @NHL Carcillo retired from the NHL in 2015 and has since devoted his time to advocating research into mental health and the effects of concussions. The 33-year-old started the Chapter 5 Foundation in honor of Steve Montador, a best friend and former NHL enforcer who died at age 35. He has been vocal on social media about the need for the league to better handle the risks and long-term effects of playing hockey. One change Carcillo specifically called for Wednesday was the outright banning of hits to the head at the NHL level. The IIHF, NCAA and OHL have adopted those rules, and back in 2011, some big-name players said they were in favor of following that trend. However, the league has been slow to change, instead adopting half- measures meant to discourage and penalize certain head hits without banning all of them. In March, Carcillo joined the concussion lawsuit against the NHL that was filed four years ago by a group of former players. A judge in Minnesota is currently reviewing whether the case should go forward as a class action lawsuit, which would automatically make roughly 5,000 former players plaintiffs and turn up the stakes for the league. “I’m not a bitter guy looking to hurt the NHL,” Carcillo said at the time. “I’m not out for money. I’ll donate anything I get to research. I just want to put pressure on the NHL and educate and advocate for guys.” Carcillo played 429 NHL games over nine seasons with the Coyotes, Flyers, Blackhawks, Kings and Rangers. He won a Stanley Cup with the Hawks in 2013, but said Wednesday that he “would trade my name on the [Stanley Cup] twice over for another conversation with Steve Montador. That’s how much I care about this advocacy work.” Chicago Sun-Times Ex-Blackhawk Marcus Kruger traded to Coyotes in unusual mid- postseason deal Satchel Price May 3, 2018 The Coyotes acquired forward Marcus Kruger and a 2018 third-round pick from the Hurricanes for forward Jordan Martinook and a 2018 fourth-round pick in an unusual mid-playoff deal, the teams announced Thursday. The Hurricanes are also retaining 10 percent of Kruger’s $3.08 million cap hit, so the Coyotes will be on the hook for $2.772 million in cap space. It’s not often that you see two teams, even non-playoff teams, make a deal during the NHL postseason, but Carolina and Arizona began their offseason work early. Kruger, a former member of the Blackhawks, has one year remaining on the deal he originally signed with Chicago in 2016. He was dealt twice last summer – first to Vegas, then to Carolina – after the Hawks decided they could no longer afford paying such a lucrative cap hit to a fourth-line center. The Hurricanes opened the 2017-18 season with Kruger filling that same role in their lineup, but he played only 48 games before the team placed him on waivers. He cleared a day later and spent the rest of the season with the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate, where he recorded eight points in 19 games. It’s a major fall from grace for Kruger, who played a key role on Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015. He became known for his defensive ability in the bottom six and on the penalty kill. For the Coyotes, adding Kruger is about budgeting and asset management more than anything. The forward pushes the Coyotes closer to the salary cap minimum with his cap hit, but he’s only due $2.3 million in actual compensation. And because the Hurricanes wanted to get most of the cap hit off their hands, they sweetened the pot by taking a fourth-round pick for a third-round pick. The Athletic Blackhawks season review: Patrick Kane continues to do his part Scott Powers May 3, 2018 The Blackhawks have to be worried to some extent about most of their core. Jonathan Toews, who just turned 30, hasn’t been the same elite center the past few years. Brent Seabrook, 33, has been on the decline. Duncan Keith, who will turn 35 in July, is coming off his worst season. Corey Crawford, 33, hasn’t played since December and his future is unknown. And then there’s Patrick Kane. At 29 — he’ll be 30 in November — he continues to be a steady offensive star. Kane led or nearly led the Blackhawks in every offensive category again this season and did so after losing the stability of consistent linemates, most notably Artemi Panarin, with whom he shared remarkable chemistry. Kane’s production this season wasn’t at the same level as it was when he played with Panarin, but he still scored plenty of goals and put up a lot of points. Age may eventually catch up to Kane, but it hasn’t yet. Season highlight Kane now ranks fifth in franchise history in both goals (312) and points (828). Denis Savard is fourth in goals with 377, and Steve Larmer is fourth in points with 923. It obviously depends on how long Kane plays, but he has a realistic shot at finishing second in points (Bobby Hull is currently second with 1,153) and probably third in goals (Larmer is third with 406 and Stan Mikita is second at 541). Season lowlight Kane went through a five-game pointless streak in February. He also had a four-game pointless streak earlier in the season. He hadn’t gone more than three games without a point in the previous seven seasons. Kane’s last four-game drought came during the 2009-10 season. He had six- and seven-game pointless streaks during the 2008-09 season. Inside the numbers This was the first season Kane had a negative goal differential in 5-on-5 play. He was on the ice for 56 goals for and 69 goals against for a 44.8 goal percentage. His previous worst percentage was 51.28, which came in his second season. Kane worked well with Nick Schmaltz. They had a plus-2 goal differential (33-31) in 747:30 of ice time together. But in his remaining 477:55 of ice time, Kane had a minus-15 goal differential (23-38). Kane had a minus-8 goal differential with Brandon Saad, minus-5 with Patrick Sharp, minus-4 with Alex DeBrincat and minus-2 with Artem Anisimov and Jonathan Toews. Team rank Overall points: 76 (1st) 5v5 points: 46 (1st) Power play points: 22 (1st) Overall goals: 27 (2nd) 5v5 goals: 17 (t-2nd) Overall assists: 49 (1st) 5v5 assists: 29 (1st) Primary 5v5 assists: 20 (1st) 5v5 Corsi percentage (min. 41 games): 51.59 (11th) Quotable Toews on what impresses him about Kane: “There’s a lot of things. The biggest thing is his skill level, but what he’s able to bring every single night. He’s been doing it on such a consistent basis and it doesn’t matter how hot he gets offensively he stays with it, he stays hungry and he just wants to create more and more and a lot of guys can sit back and rest on their laurels or get satisfied, and he’s always trying to get better.” Kane on taking on more of a leadership role this season: “It’s probably evolved over my career here.