Blackhawks defenseman Bowen Byram got the call from his pregnant wife, Kailey, around 5:30 a.m. Saturday: He needed to get back to Chicago.
He quickly left the Hawks’ hotel in Buffalo, landed in Chicago around 10:30 and was at the hospital when Kailey gave birth to twin girls — their first children — around 3:20 that afternoon.
“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.”
Byram returned to practice Monday, having missed the Hawks’ 4-3 defeat Saturday to his former Sabres teammates, but the 25-year-old Canadian should be in the lineup Tuesday night for the home opener against the Blues at the United Center.
“Even just getting off the ice today for practice, I’m so excited to go back and see my baby girls,” he said. “I feel like whenever you go through a major life change, it puts things in perspective. I’m super excited.”
The “new dad boost” is a famous phenomenon in the NHL — one Byram hopes to experience this week.
And he and the Hawks certainly could use it after an opening road trip that couldn’t have gone much worse. They’re 0-3-0 to start a season for the first time since 2021, having been outscored 15-5 and outshot 97-56 over those three games.
Byram liked that the Hawks got going by the third period against the Golden Knights in their season opener a week ago but admitted their 6-0 blowout loss to the Mammoth last Thursday was “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 [in] Game 2? 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 demonstrated his impressive ability to anticipate puck movement and get to it first with his elite skating.
Those skills weren’t as evident in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, where he was generally out-muscled and outplayed. Although it’s understandable his focus was partially elsewhere, the Hawks were outscored 3-0 and outshot 25-11 during his five-on-five ice time in those games.
Hawks coach Jeff Blashill switched up the defensive pairings halfway through the debacle against the Mammoth and will start those combinations again 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 left-hander Cole has shifted over to the right, where he also has plenty of experience. The Hawks will need either Byram or Cole to play on his off side in every game, since Levshunov and Rinzel are the team’s only natural right-handers.
Blashill hopes that splitting Byram and Vlasic — arguably the Hawks’ two best defensemen — will bring 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 with eight of their next nine games at home, the Hawks need to right the 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 star center Connor Bedard can’t help them at the moment, he’s inching closer to being ready after his recovery from shoulder surgery in July; that could boost morale for everyone else.
Wearing a non-contact jersey, Bedard participated in a couple of team drills Monday for the first time since his surgery. The Hawks haven’t shared any timeline updates, but it’s conceivable he could return by the end of October.
“It’s awesome to have [Bedard] out there,” Blashill said.