Le Journal

RALEIGH, N.C. — With Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard back in action, the Blackhawks’ lineup is the deepest it has been all year.The Hawks’ lineup -Thursday against the Hurricanes was jumbled by veteran center Jason Dickinson falling ill, but that isn’t a long-term concern.Bedard centered Ryan Greene and Andre Burakovsky, Nazar centered Ilya Mikheyev and Tyler Bertuzzi, Oliver Moore centered Ryan Donato and Nick Lardis and Nick Foligno centered Landon Slaggert and Colton Dach.Even once Dickinson returns, it sounds as if coach Jeff Blashill intends to keep Moore at center for the time being. Blashill brought up Moore’s recent growth as one of the biggest silver linings to come out of Nazar and Bedard’s absences.“Since [Oliver has] gone to center, his game has improved,” Blashill said. “Now is it because of that, or is it because he’s gotten more comfortable? I can’t answer that. But I do know that he looks like a guy who potentially is better at center than at wing.”With Bedard, Nazar, Dickinson and Moore all playing center, the solution might be to keep their respective workloads relatively balanced, especially since Thursday marked the first game in a busy stretch of six in nine days.“I want four lines that can go out [frequently], so the minutes will be a little more equal than they were prior,” Blashill said. “That can be a positive for us.”Balanced lines might also help make up for the Hawks’ lack of high-end scorers beyond Bedard. One way to frame it: If you don’t have a formidable top six, why have a top six at all?Rockford optionsNot only will Dickinson’s return force one forward out of the lineup, but Teuvo Teravainen’s return from his upper-body injury — which Blashill said Wednesday isn’t too far off — will force another out.At that point, the Hawks might have no choice but to send one or two players down to Rockford. Lardis, Slaggert and Dach are all exempt from waivers, so they would be the most likely candidates. Entering Thursday, Lardis had five points in 18 games, Slaggert had five points in 23 games and Dach had nine points in 48 games.Slaggert has already been up and down several times, whereas Lardis might benefit most from more AHL development time in a starring role.Dach’s physicality and toughness add specific elements to the lineup, but Blashill has talked about how Dach needs to move his feet more consistently — “skating to disrupt,” he called it — to make a greater impact. He appeared on track to be a healthy scratch Thursday before Dickinson fell ill.Since Rockford has three games scheduled during the NHL’s Olympic break in February, the Hawks could also send players there temporarily. But Blashill mentioned that getting some rest could be more valuable for them.Extra guySam Lafferty, a healthy scratch 32 times now, would pass through waivers if the Hawks wanted to explore that option. His $2 million salary-cap hit ensures it.The Hawks seem to like keeping Lafferty around as roster insurance. Blashill recently raved about the veteran’s admirable attitude in a tricky situation.“If he’s frustrated, which I’m sure he is at times, he never, ever lets it take away from the team,” Blashill said. “He’s the best ping-pong player. He’s the best golfer. He’s a guy who guys love being around. And he’s been an awesome pro.” Latest on the Blackhawks Blackhawks Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar set to return from broken jaw Nazar, who has six goals and 15 assists, will play Thursday against the Hurricanes. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   By Kyle Williams read Blackhawks Will Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom's subpar results open the door for Drew Commesso? Soderblom ranks 62nd out of 64 NHL goalies this season with an .868 save percentage, and the Hawks ought to figure out what they have in Commesso before his contract expires this summer. [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]   By Ben Pope read Blackhawks Blackhawks shut out Jets as Caleb Williams,…

Bears coach Ben Johnson hates ambiguity. His clarity and precision will continue to be vital next season as the organization seeks to win its first championship since 1985.Johnson spoke from the heart this week when he said he would “forever be grateful” to players and staffers for their efforts in turning the Bears from a pitiful mess to a team that went 11-6 and won a playoff game. But his mind raced to what’s next. The urgency in his voice sounded like next season was right around the corner, not about eight months away.“We go back to square one,” Johnson said. “We’re back at the bottom again. . . . If you feel otherwise, you’re probably missing the big picture. We’ve got to start from scratch.”He even fired a warning shot about training camp, which, by the way, isn’t until July.“A lot of guys talked about how difficult [last] training camp was,” he said. “I didn’t feel like it was anything out of my ordinary. They know what the expectation is.”This guy has no chill.Thank goodness.The Bears have been missing that kind of fire for a while. Matt Nagy always tried to put a sunny spin on their struggles and offered exasperatingly vague solutions. He’s still looking for those elusive whys. Matt Eberflus constantly claimed it wasn’t as bad as it looked. It was.Johnson, who just took the NFL by storm in his debut head-coaching season, is mad that it wasn’t better. He bordered on sounding angry at times as he targeted specific improvements that must take place this offseason:† Johnson needs to “shore up” his offensive play-calling.† Quarterback Caleb Williams has to fix his footwork.† Williams and his receivers’ cohesion has a long way to go.† Receivers can’t keep dropping passes.† An offense that was No. 6 in the league in the regular season hasn’t “even scratched the surface of what we’re fully capable of yet” because of various hiccups.His refusal to sugarcoat has become standard practice at Halas Hall. General manager Ryan Poles echoed Johnson by saying as impressive as the playoff performances against the Packers and Rams were, “it’s important to take a step back” and evaluate the entirety of the season rather than allow the analysis to be skewed by those games.Johnson was particularly irritated by dropped passes. Imagine the time that goes into engineering and practicing a play, then it works in a game but fails because a ball bounces out of someone’s hands. It must be maddening.The Bears had 29 drops, according to Pro Football Reference, the fifth-most in the NFL. That total included six by running back Kyle Monangai, five by wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and four apiece by wide receiver Luther Burden III and running back D’Andre Swift.No. 1 wide receiver Rome Odunze was charged with two drops out of 90 passes thrown to him but had a brutal one in the divisional-round playoff game against the Rams that cost the Bears a touchdown.“I can tell you right now: That’ll be a point of emphasis for us when they come back in the springtime,” Johnson said, undoubtedly dreaming up drills for organized team activities in May.None of Johnson’s points should be news to anyone on the Bears. He has been voicing them all season. It has been one of the most effective — and refreshing — aspects of his coaching style.That’s especially true for Williams, who has embraced Johnson’s blunt feedback. They’ve reached a point where Johnson can say, as he did this week, he’s “his No. 1 believer” and still hammer Williams’ throwing accuracy, footwork and chemistry with receivers.It goes back to one of his core philosophies.“If you live in the gray, that’s where the bad stuff happens,” he told the Sun-Times last year. “I’ve seen more bad football in this league than good football, and one of the issues with some of those bad teams is the ambiguity. . . . The clearer we can be, the better off we’re all going to be.”He was speaking specifically about player development, but that truth applies broadly, as well.The Bears are in the gray right now. They’re…

When Alex Maragos joined NBC 5 Chicago as a reporter in 2015, he began eyeing the Olympics. NBC had been the U.S. rights holder for the Games for over a decade, and he figured if he could prove himself in his day-to-day work, he might get a chance to cover them.He raised his hand for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and again for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo that were delayed a year because of the pandemic. His third try was the charm. He got the call to cover the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.“The funny thing is, other than Dyersville, Iowa [for MLB’s Field of Dreams game], and a couple stories in Wisconsin and Indiana, my first time ever getting on a plane for a story was going to China,” said Maragos, a Chicago native.After also covering the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, Maragos, 34, will be in Italy for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics next month. The weekday news anchor again will be the only local-TV reporter on site for the Games, which run from Feb. 6 to 22. He departs next Friday.Maragos will be joined by NBC 5 videographer Mike McGovern, who will be covering his fifth Olympics. The two will collaborate with their counterparts from 11 other NBC owned-and-operated affiliates to cover their local athletes.Preparation began about six months ago, with Maragos compiling a list of potential Olympians with Chicago-area ties. Eight are set to compete, four of whom are on the women’s hockey team. Maragos connected with each and even attended the U.S. speedskating trials in Milwaukee. He has become an authority on the local Olympic community.“Alex is one of the most committed people that we have in this building,” NBC Chicago president and general manager Kevin Cross said. “When we gave him the Olympic assignment years ago, he put everything he had into it. He’s now our go-to expert when it comes to who are our local Olympians. Alex has kind of cornered the market here in Chicago.”In Milan, Maragos will put in long hours. He’ll follow a schedule nearly identical to the one he followed in Paris because Milan is in the same time zone. He’ll wake up at 4 a.m. so he can be on camera at 5, which in Chicago is the start of the previous night’s 10 p.m. newscast. He’ll do his live shots across the street from the Duomo di Milano cathedral.He’ll return to his hotel for breakfast and to plan the day. His next hit is at 1 p.m. local time, which is the start of that day’s 6 a.m. newscast at home. Then his day begins in earnest covering the competitions, which go well into the night. Afterward, he’ll put together videos from the events and write scripts. If he’s lucky, he’ll be in bed by midnight, only to get up four hours later.“I love it,” Maragos said. “The energy of the Olympics, it’s infectious. Between the world’s best athletes and their fans being in one place, the energy is all around. I’ve never covered a Super Bowl, but I imagine it’s like that for 17 days because all the energy is there. It’s a privilege to be able to present it.”Maragos isn’t just presenting it on TV. He has social-media obligations, as well. He’ll be on Instagram posting videos of his coverage and experiences and filing more to NBC 5 digital producer Gabi Rodriguez for other use. Maragos wants to bring viewers to Milan and give them a taste of Italian culture.“What I’m always trying to do every day I’m working is: What do you, the audience, want to see?” Maragos said. “How does it serve you? Not how easy is it for me to put together. How does it help you understand this thing that I’m talking about. In that mindset, you have to do each thing a little differently according to what the audience expects from that.”Maragos is looking forward to the winter athletes celebrating the Games’ return to normalcy after the Beijing Games were burdened by the lingering effects of the pandemic.“Summer got theirs,” he said. “They had Paris, and it was beautiful in every way. Winter athletes haven’t had that yet. That’s also a great human connection I’ll try to…

More police officers are making their presence known on CTA trains and platforms in a new program designed to deter crime, the CTA's boss said Thursday.Officers began patrolling platforms in groups of six to eight this week in the CTA's new Transit Rider Interaction Program, Acting Chicago Transit Authority President Nora Leerhsen said at a City Club of Chicago lunch.As part of the program, officers line a platform, check in with operators and riders, and take the train to other stations, where they will perform the same duties, Leerhsen said."This visible law enforcement presence will serve as a deterrent to crime, one of the key components of creating a safe environment on CTA," Leerhsen said.Leerhsen spent much of her 45-minute keynote touting her accomplishments during her nearly one year on the job. Leerhsen has been leading the agency in an interim capacity since former CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. resigned last January. Mayor Brandon Johnson has not named a permanent replacement.The past year has been busy for the CTA.The agency was saved from drastic service cuts and layoffs last fall when state legislators passed a $1.5 billion bailout for Chicago-area transit. The law shifts power from the CTA — like the ability to set fares — to the incoming Northern Illinois Transit Authority, which will replace the Regional Transportation Authority in June.And the CTA has been under increasing pressure to address transit safety, despite reported transit crime falling since after the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows a series of high profile crimes, including a horrific November attack on a Blue Line train, in which a man set a 26-year-old woman on fire.The Federal Transit Administration cited that attack when it demanded in December that the CTA improve its security plan or face federal funding.In response, Leerhsen said the agency was boosting its volunteer Chicago Police patrol by more than 40 officers a day. But the FTA blasted the plan as “materially deficient” and threatened to pull $50 million in funding. The FTA gave the CTA a March 19 deadline to submit a revised plan that addresses its concerns.Speaking with reporters after her speech, Leerhsen said the CTA plans to respond to the FTA by the March deadline but declined to elaborate on how the safety plan may be revised. She also declined to say whether the CTA has requested CPD increase the number of officers on its public transit unit, which is separate from the volunteer program that was increased in December. The unit had 133 officers as of December, according to the city’s Office of the Inspector General dashboard.The CTA has spent millions on private security guards and K9 units. But Chicago police officers play the primary enforcement role on the public transit system.It's security guards, not police officers, who expend the most manpower on the L, according to CTA's initial response letter to the FTA in January. Private security guards, who don't have arrest powers, worked an average of 65,000 hours monthly over the previous six months, according to the letter. By comparison, CPD officers in the public transportation section worked 21,000 hours, and officers in the volunteer unit worked 17,000 hours. Leerhsen said officers in the new Transit Rider Interaction Program come from both of the CPD volunteer and transit units.Illinois' new transit law, which goes into effect June 1, gives the incoming Northern Illinois Transit Authority board the power to make a systemwide police force, which could be set in motion next January.

Bally’s executives said Thursday they hope to have their $1.7 billion casino and entertainment complex in River West “substantially completed” by the end of this year and do not anticipate needing all of a proposed yearlong extension now pending in Springfield.The bill that State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) introduced last week at Bally’s behest would extend the casino giant’s license to operate its temporary casino at Medinah Temple until September 2027.That would give Bally’s up to another year to complete and open the mega-project, which is now 13.8% complete.But the Bally’s team assured City Council members on Thursday the mega-casino that Chicago mayors have coveted for decades is “on track to speed through completion,” and they have no intention of needing or using the entire one-year extension.“We’re still targeting to try and get to substantial completion by the end of this year,” Chris Jewett, Bally's chief development officer, told a City Council committee during an annual hearing on casino compliance reporting.“There’s always unknowns. There’s challenges with permits," Jewett said. "We’re going to be highly dependent on one of our entryways, which is that Chicago Avenue bridge. You don’t want a one-way-in, one-way-out for a casino. So there’s a lot of variables. We’re moving as fast as we can. Our goal is to get open. We’d love to be open today.”Mike Anzelc, vice president of project development for Bally’s, described the Chicago Avenue bridge project as “absolutely critical.”Assistant Transportation Commissioner William Higgins assured Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett (27th), whose ward includes the permanent casino site, that the Chicago Department of Transportation is “on track with the Halsted and Chicago [Avenue] projects, and we anticipate being done with construction by December 2026.”The list of casino-related infrastructure projects includes: removing the temporary Chicago Avenue bridge over the Chicago River and replacing it with a tied-arch bridge; removing and replacing the Chicago-Halsted viaduct; adding dedicated CTA bus lanes; and removing and replacing street lights and traffic signals.With the financing, construction and contracting problems that Bally’s has already encountered, Buckner told the Sun-Times last week that it’s reasonable to question whether the need for another extension signals long-term viability concerns.Buckner said he shares those concerns, particularly about whether, even if the permanent casino does get fully built, the revenue produced would be enough to save police and fire pension funds hovering dangerously close to bankruptcy.On Thursday, the Bally’s team downplayed those concerns and glossed over the lackluster performance of the company’s temporary casino at Medinah Temple.The Medinah casino so far has generated just $35 million in gambling tax revenue for police and fire pension funds. More troubling is the fact that the city’s share “dropped slightly” from $16.1 million in 2024 — less than half the original projection in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first budget — to $15.8 million last year.“We realize that the temporary [casino] has had challenges — from parking and access. … It’s really amenity-related,” Jewett said.“Once you can add in a true entertainment aspect — a 3,000-seat theater, a 500-room hotel, a rooftop bar, multiple sit-down restaurants, a food court, a riverwalk and then, really a campus feel — that casino doesn’t exist in the state today. … So we are highly confident that we can meet the projections for the permanent casino.”City Council members have their doubts.Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) said her South Side ward is filled with senior citizens who have no idea there’s a casino in downtown Chicago, let alone where it is. Chinatown Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) said the city "needs to get control over the number of buses coming in, essentially stealing away potential gaming customers."Taylor added, “People are still going to Indiana. They are not visiting the one in…