Marian Hossa Out 2-3 Weeks After Collision At Practice Monday

Added on Nov 30, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

Chicago Blackhawks (13-11-2) had a small accident with large consequences at their practice this past Monday. The day after their “circus trip.” Marian Hossa collided with Nick Boynton at practice, and now the Hawks will be out without Hossa for two to three weeks. They collided about halfway through Monday’s session. Both remained down on the ice for a moment, but Boynton was able to get up and continue through the workout. Hossa immediately was helped off the ice.

Boynton said of the collision after the practice, “I just kind of got the wind knocked out of me, personally, so I’m not sure if he got the worse end of the stick or what happened. We both obviously didn’t see each other, I don’t think. So I’m not sure what’s up.”

Despite missing seven games earlier this season with an upper body injury, Hossa is fourth on the team with 18 points. Coach Joel Quenneville following Tuesday’s skate said “Since he came back from when he was injured (earlier), he was progressing, he was coming off a great game in Los Angeles, played a lot of minutes, played him on a couple lines. He’s useful in so many different areas, power play, penalty kill. Obviously, there’s a void there. At the same time, you’re always going to be missing players over stretches of games or in games. So it’s something that you have to adapt to. It’s an opportunity for some other guys.”

The Hawks are coming off their Circus Trip, the road trip happens every year when the Circus comes to town in Chicago, and they are happy with the results. They went 4-2 over the six games. The Hawks will miss Hossa’s stick, and expect them to drop from 8^th place overall in the Goals Per Game category with an average of 3. Also on the mind of Blackhawks coaching staff is that they are 25^th overall in Penalty Killing Percentage, and this is one area they will have to tighten up now that Hossa is gone.

The Hawks have their first home game tonight after a six game road trip. Jeremy Morin, who was called up from the AHL Rockford, will take Hossa’s slot on the team. They will be playing the St Louis Blues (12-7-3, 27pts) , and the game will be broadcast on Versus. The Blues are coming off of 2 losses to the Dallas Stars, but they have defeated the Blackhawks once out of the two times they played late in October.