Blackhawks defenseman Bowen Byram got the call from his pregnant wife, Kailey, around 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning: He needed to get back to Chicago.
Byram quickly left the Hawks’ team hotel in Buffalo, landed in Chicago around 10:30 a.m. and was at the hospital when Kailey gave birth to twin girls — their first children — around 3:20 p.m.
“It was definitely a crazy day, but I was happy I was able to get back and support her through it,” Byram said Monday.
“Everything went smoothly. They came a little earlier than we would’ve liked, but they’re doing great. Everything has been going super well.”
The 25-year-old Canadian returned to practice Monday, having unfortunately missed the Hawks’ defeat Saturday against his former Sabres teammates, and should be in the lineup Tuesday for the Hawks’ home opener against the Blues.
“Even just getting off the ice today for practice, I’m so excited to go back and see my baby girls,” he added. “I feel like whenever you go through a major life change, it puts things in perspective. I’m super excited.”
The so-called “new dad boost” is a famous phenomenon around the NHL, and Byram is hoping to experience one of his own this week.
He and the Hawks could use it, considering their opening road trip could hardly have gone worse. They’re 0-3-0 to start a season for the first time since 2021, having been cumulatively outscored 15-5 and outshot 97-56.
Byram liked that the Hawks “got going” by the third period against the Golden Knights, but he admitted the blowout loss to the Mammoth was a “not one of my prouder moments.”
“We had a tough night,” he said. “Obviously, you’re going to have those throughout the season. Do you expect them to be game two? No. But it happened. You’ve got to own it like a man and try to get better. That’s what we’ve done and will continue to do.”
During the preseason, Byram impressively demonstrated his ability to anticipate puck movement with elite vision and get there first with elite skating.
Those skills weren’t as evident in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, which led to him getting out-muscled and out-played. The Hawks were outscored 3-0 and outshot 25-11 during his five-on-five ice time. It would be understandable if his focus was partly elsewhere then, though.
Hawks coach Jeff Blashill switched up the defensive pairings halfway through the Salt Lake debacle, and it’s those combinations that will start together Tuesday: Byram with Artyom Levshunov, Alex Vlasic with Ian Cole and Wyatt Kaiser with Sam Rinzel.
Byram has moved back to his natural left side while fellow lefty Cole has shifted over to the right, where he does have plenty of experience. The Hawks will need either Byram or Cole to play on their off side every game, since Levshunov and Rinzel are their only natural righties.
Blashill hopes splitting apart Byram and Vlasic — arguably the Hawks’ two best defensemen — brings more stability to the unit.
“You’ll have one of those two guys out there for anywhere from 40 to 50 minutes…if they’re not playing on the same ‘D’ pair,” Blashill said. “There’s an advantage in that.”
With their next two games against teams that missed the playoffs last season and eight of their next nine games at home, the Hawks need to right their ship right now.
Connor Bedard taking part in skating/shooting drills with the Blackhawks in practice: pic.twitter.com/4qVtxUsPTL
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 5, 2026
Although Connor Bedard can’t help them right now, he is inching closer to readiness, which could boost morale for everyone else.
Wearing a non-contact jersey, Bedard participated in a couple team drills during practice Monday for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in July. The Hawks haven’t shared any timeline updates, but it seems conceivable he could return by the end of October.
“It’s awesome to have [Bedard] out there,” Blashill said.