👋 Good morning!

“Patience.”

We’ve been taught to preach it as Chicago sports fans, and we’ve heard countless executives, coaches and players ask for it.

It was Arturas Karnisovas’ big buzzword in his end-of-season address on Thursday, too.

The Bulls have been eliminated in three consecutive Play-In tournaments and haven’t made it beyond the first round of the playoffs in a decade…

What exactly has that team done to earn our patience?

– Patrick Norton

Turning the Page.

It’s been a decade since the Blackhawks won a playoff series, too. Luckily, that series was the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals.

As the Blackhawks prepare to take a big step in what’s been an excruciating rebuild, here’s what interested me from their 2024-25 post-mortem exit interviews on Thursday:

• Captain-In-Waiting? When asked about locker room leadership, 23-year-old defenseman Alex Vlasic (pictured above) told reporters: “I like to think I stepped up a little bit [as a leader]. Next year, I want to try to be a little more vocal.”
   

• Ryan Donato, who posted a career-high 31 goals this season and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, said: “I've made it known I want to be here and be a part of this.”
   
  Donato’s previous career-high was 16 goals scored back in 2021-22 with the Seattle Kraken. Donato also tallied a career-best 31 assists this season.
   

• The Future: Connor Bedard, who is eligible for an extension with the Blackhawks beginning July 1, told reporters it wasn’t something he had spent a lot of time thinking about, but added:
   
  “I’ve said it a hundred times that I love it here and have a great relationship with Kyle [Davidson] and everyone. I know I want to be here for a long time.”

We’ve talked ad nauseam about the importance of the coaching hire in the past week. There seems to be some significant smoke around University of Denver head coach David Carle — a 35-year-old up-and-comer with a long NHL career ahead of him.

Finding the right coach, whether it’s Carle or not, is the first and possibly the most important step of the offseason. Let’s call that 1A.

Locking up Bedard is 1B. His importance to this team is 1A, so why isn’t his extension on the same pedestal? Just because it can happen on July 1 doesn’t mean it will happen on July 1. And without the proper coach, does it even really matter?

The important thing here is that it will happen at some point. Don’t worry about the timeline.

Still, the idea that the 19-going-on-20-year-old wouldn’t want to re-up in Chicago always seemed extremely far-fetched. It's nice to see the young superstar flat-out expressing his desire to remain in town for the long haul.

As for other nuggets from the pressers, Spencer Knight, who is looking for a residence in Chicago, still has a long way to go before he gets acclimated to the city:

“There's a train next to one apartment. I don't like that. That's weird. Why are they above ground and so loud all the time?”

Knight’s entire rant on the house hunt is worth the next couple minutes of your day.

GO DEEPER: The CHGO Blackhawks Podcast went in-depth on yesterday’s pressers, including comments from GM Kyle Davidson.

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Quick Hits

Workload Increase: Kyler Gordon’s days of diminished snap counts could be a thing of the past. While excelling solely as a nickel corner last season, Gordon’s snap count ranged anywhere from 69-95% of the team’s defensive snaps in a given game.

Why? Scheme and positional limitations. If the Bears weren’t in nickel, Gordon wasn’t on the field. So, how can defensive coordinator Dennis Allen keep the newly-extended Gordon on the field more often?

“Does he go outside and compete at outside corner? Does he compete some at safety? I've told him that he needs to be learning both of those spots. We'll figure out where that second position is where he can go and compete.”

GO DEEPER: Adam Hoge’s Bears Things: Five thoughts after meeting Ben Johnson’s new coaching staff.

My Diehard Mailbag will be LIVE this afternoon!

He’s Baaack: So much for the end of the line for the Kris Bryant trade return. After being DFA’d and released by the Cubs earlier this week, RHP Caleb Kilian re-signed with the club to a minor-league deal.

Kilian, along with OF Alexander Canario, who is in the Pirates’ organization by way of the Mets, was dealt to the Cubs at the 2021 trade deadline from the Giants for Bryant.

Having battled injuries throughout his time in the Cubs’ system, Kilian hasn’t panned out as anybody expected when he first arrived. In 27.1 IP from 2022-24 in the majors, Kilian owns a massive 9.22 ERA, striking out 21 but walking 20.

Dan Roushar on watching Jurassic Park Will Campbell:

Today!

📺 CHGO Bears
12:00 on YouTube

⚾️ Cubs vs. Diamondbacks
1:20 on Marquee

📺 CHGO Blackhawks
2:30 on YouTube

📺 CHGO Bulls
5:30 on YouTube

⚾️ White Sox vs. Red Sox
6:10 on CHSN

Talk to you next week!