Around The NHL: Chicago Blackhawks Coach Back, James Neal To Play Tonight, Pens GM Might Make More Moves

Added on Feb 23, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Coach Q Back On The Ice

Joel Quenneville was back at the Chicago Blackhawks practice this morning, and he was even on the ice. Quenneville missed 4 games while being hospitalized with a bleeding ulcers. Doctors are saying its due to taking asprin, and it lead to the coach having a bleeding ulcer. Quenneville said joking “I was on IR for a week. We’ll call it an upper-body injury.” He continued “It’s all good to go. The only pain I was in was sitting in a hospital and watching games. I think Havy did a great job running the bench. I thought they did a good job.”

Quenneville, who is 125-66-25 in his 3 seasons with the hawks, and assistant coach Mike Haviland stepped up to the plate. He went 3-1-0 in the four games, and its crunch time. Chicago, which returns to action Thursday in Nashville, came into Wednesday one of four teams tied for eighth in the Western Conference with 68 points. After tiebreakers factor in, the Blackhawks rank 10th in the conference.

James Neal To Play With Penguins

James Neal arrived at the Consol Energy Center and is set to play tonight against the San Jose Sharks. Neal, who was acquired from Dallas, would rather play with Crosby, but he is still recovery from his concussion.

Neal said “If you should get traded, there’s no better team to come to, It’s a real exciting time.” He continued “I want to do the same thing I’ve done throughout my career, and obviously that’s put the puck in the net. There’s no added pressure to do that. Hopefully, I’ll find a way.” He also spoke of his injured captain, Neal concluded “Hopefully, he gets back soon. I can’t say enough. I’m so excited.”

Coach Dan Bylsma was clear on what he expected of the 23 year old. He said “Neal needs to e a handful. Work on bringing a physical, offensive zone presence all the time.”

Pittsburgh GM Talks Of Trades

Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero is saying he is not sure if he is done making changes or not. He said on NHL Live, “I would like to add another forward if possible, but it depends on what is going to be available and the price is going to be. This year I’m not into trading our first-round draft pick or something like that. That might take me out of some things, but if there is a right player, a rental, that makes sense for us, I’ll be interested.”

Shero was asked if Sidney Crosby’s injuries were playing a role in the moves he was making. He answered “It is an easy answer to that — our expectation is to win whether it is with Sid or without Sid and Geno. I think our goaltender is playing great, as good as anybody in the League. I think our defense has been strong all year. I think we have guys here that have won. I think the additions of Neal and Niskanen help solidify us and if there’s another player or two out there and if there’s another player or two out there that can help us, I think we can still be a good hockey team.”