Chicago – As far as Frank Nazar (Mt. Clemens) is concerned, everything is pretty much the same. He wants to get better, and he wants to win.
Speaking a day after agreeing to a contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks, the former member of the Michigan Wolverines insisted he’s the same guy.
“I’m going to go into each season and, you know, each day thinking that I’m the best and just like believing in my process and what I can do,” Nazar said Friday, “and honestly, I don’t really think anything changes for me. … I’m still super motivated and still want to be the best player I can be.”
Nazar’s $46.2 million, seven-year extension begins with the 2026-27 season, and it stamps the flashy forward as part of the core of a Chicago team trying to climb out of the NHL basement. The Blackhawks went 25-46-11 last season and finished last in the Central Division for the third straight year.
Nazar, who turns 22 in January, could have played this season and set himself up for a more lucrative contract next summer. While the supremely confident Nazar believes he is primed for a big year, he also liked the option of a long-term deal in a situation that works for him.
“It wasn’t hard when you put all that stuff together to look at it in the long run,” he said, “and see that, you know, I could be in Chicago for seven years and play with the team basically of my dreams, a team I want to be at and the city that I want to be at with a crew that you want to be with and players you want to be with. So it was an easy decision at the end.”
Nazar was selected by Chicago with the No. 13 pick in the 2022 draft. He made his NHL debut on April 14, 2024, scoring on his first shot on goal in a 4-2 loss to Carolina.
Nazar began last season in the minors, but he was brought up in December. He had 12 goals and 14 assists in 53 games with the Blackhawks.
He said he is staying with his usual preparations as he goes into this season.
“I think one thing that is pretty, pretty big for me that I like to focus on is just conditioning,” he said, “and being able to go out there and play a full game every minute, every shift and just be able to give it my all in all 82 games.”
Nazar really seemed to find his game at the end of last season, collecting five goals and four assists in his last eight games. Then he helped the U.S. win the world hockey championship for the first time since 1933.
He has been invited to next week’s Olympic orientation camp in Michigan, making him a candidate for the U.S. team for the 2026 Games.
“I learned a lot from world championships and from the guys that I played with,” he said. “Such high-end talent and high-end names, and, I mean, when you play with a team that close and just that talented and us being able to put so much together, it’s truly special and that’s what I want to bring to Chicago and to the team here.”
The Big Ten conference announced its full slate of hockey competition for the 2025-26 season on Friday afternoon as the countdown to hockey season begins. Game times and television selections will be announced at a later date.
Michigan State’s conference schedule features four games (two home, two away) against each of the other six league teams. The Spartans are set to host Michigan at Little Caesars Arena for the annual Duel in the D game on Saturday, Feb. 7.
In total, MSU will play 17 home games (including two exhibitions) at Mason Rink at Munn Ice Arena this season.
Michigan Big Ten schedule
St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Wild signed center Marco Rossi to a three-year, $15 million contract on Friday, following a career-best season for the 2020 first-round draft pick who had become a restricted free agent this summer.
Rossi had 24 goals and 36 assists, both career highs, in 2024-25. He also led the Wild with seven power-play goals. During his first NHL playoff series, Rossi had two goals and one assist in six games after being moved down to the fourth line, which frustrated him. But general manager Bill Guerin said too much was made of the switch.
Rossi said after the season he wanted a top-six role, which the Wild agreed with.
“His production kind of fell off on the back end of last season, but he was still a good player,” Guerin said. “When you’re in a playoff series, you’re constantly adjusting and not really worried about who’s playing with who. You’re worried about winning games.”
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound native of Austria has 45 goals and 56 assists in 185 games for the Wild over parts of four seasons. Rossi has also played in every game for two straight seasons on a streak of 167 consecutive regular-season games played. He is the third Austrian player in league history to record a 50-point season, following Thomas Vanek and Michael Grabner. Vanek did so nine times.
After sitting out the 2020-21 season due to complications from COVID-19, Rossi returned to the ice for the 2021-22 season with the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa and made his NHL debut with Minnesota on Jan. 6, 2022.
“He’s shown steady progress. He went through a lot as a young player,” Guerin said. “He’s just kind of scratching the surface, and I think this three-year contract really gives him a good runway to be the player he can be.”
London, Ontario – A lawyer for one of five former world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault charges last month says the Canadian government will not appeal the judge’s ruling.
Daniel Brown, who represents Alex Formenton, said in an email Thursday he had been informed of that decision.
Formenton, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote were all acquitted of sexual assault. McLeod was also acquitted of a separate charge of being a party to the offense of sexual assault.
The defense deemed the ruling a “resounding vindication,” while the complainant’s lawyer called it devastating.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found the complainant’s testimony was not credible or reliable and that there were “troubling aspects” in how she delivered some of her evidence about the 2018 encounter. The judge said the complainant tended to blame others for inconsistencies in her narrative and exaggerated her level of intoxication that night.
The NHL said at the time of the ruling the players – none of whom is currently on an NHL roster or has an active contract – remained ineligible to play in the league while it reviews the judge’s findings, adding in a statement that the allegations in the case were disturbing, even if not determined to be criminal.
The Players’ Association said the five should have the opportunity to return to the ice, adding that the league’s eligibility ruling was “inconsistent” with discipline procedures in the collective bargaining agreement.
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