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It’s always unfortunate when injuries strike a roster, and the Chicago Blackhawks have certainly been more fortunate than some of their Western Conference rivals like Vancouver and Detroit.
Chicago hasn’t been immune to the injury bug, but that hasn’t kept them from accomplishing one of their goals: beginning November in first place.
Now that November has started, the return of injured players is expected to begin as well.
Brent Seabrook came back on Thursday night last week and was a noticeable influence on the flow of the defense in both Thursday and Friday’s games. Seabrook, of course, isn’t the only key player to be missing from the regular Blackhawks rotation.
Forward Ben Eager has been out since the first week of October with what appears to be post-concussion symptoms.
The team, and the fans, had great expectations for an energetic fourth line of Eager, Colin Fraser, and Adam Burish this year, but Burish went down with a torn ACL in the preseason and Eager has only played in two regular season games.
From watching the Hawks over the last couple weeks, it’s been clear that Eager’s physical presence has been missed.
According to reports over the weekend, Quenneville and Eager both indicated that Eager’s head appears to be back where it belongs (he no longer thinks he’s Batman), and now it’s just a matter of him getting his legs back to full speed before the Hawks put him into a game.
Eager’s an important player in the Hawks’ lineup , but certainly doesn’t carry the cache of a name like Jonathan Toews or Marian Hossa. Hossa hasn’t stepped into a game for the Hawks yet because of summer shoulder surgery, but there’s no questioning his status as an elite scorer.
The Hawks offense has been above average to start the year (2.92 goals per game, 15th in the NHL), and adding Hossa to the mix undoubtedly brings another fear factor to playing Chicago.
The loss of Toews, and the duration of his absence, has been troublesome, though. The Hawks’ 21-year old captain took a nasty shot from Vancouver’s Willie Mitchell on October 21 and hasn’t skated with the team since.
In fact, it now appears that Eager is closer to returning than Toews; if Toews misses the same four weeks Eager did because of his concussion, the Hawks will continue to experiment with lines and hope for results.
Toews’ presence has been obvious on the stat sheet. With their captain in the lineup, the Blackhawks averaged 3.75 goals per game, and Toews was winning over 60 percent of his faceoffs.
Without Toews, the Blackhawks are averaging just 2.00 goals per game, their power play has disappeared, and they’re breaking even in the faceoff circle.
Playing without Seabrook, Eager, Hossa and Toews has allowed coach Joel Quenneville to play with his lines like a fantasy hockey team, mixing up the talented players he has available to find a winning combination.
It’s also presented a golden opportunity to youngsters like Jack Skille and Jake Dowell to get quality ice time with the big club. Even Jordan Hendry got time as a forward in Nashville.
But what happens when Eager, Toews and Hossa return ?
When Toews was healthy, Quenneville appeared to be a big fan of a second line of Dave Bolland between Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane.
In Toews’ absence, he’s stuck with Byfuglien and Kane being together, but has placed John Madden between them more often.
On the third and fourth lines, the wing and center situation has been mixed up pretty regularly in Toews’ absence.
The team acquired Andrew Ebbett from Anaheim
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