Chicago Blackhawks: Dave Bolland's Injury Leaves a Huge Hole at Center

Thanks to a cheap shot by Pavel Kubina, the Chicago Blackhawks could suddenly be doing their best impersonation of a Tim Horton's doughnut.

Namely, the 'Hawks will have a big hole in the middle.

The Tampa Bay defenseman will be taking a three-day vacation from work after the league rightfully handed down a suspension for his head shot on Bolland.

We know Kubina will be back in three games. Can we say the same about Bolland?

I hope so, because losing Bolland is a major thorn in Chicago's recent surge toward the playoffs.

Bolland had five points in the four games prior to the hit and had been doing a nice job directing the second line. The Blackhawks have been rolling four lines and getting contributions from them all.

Thursday's decision by the NHL makes discussion of whether the hit was dirty (it was) and whether the league would bring down sanctions (they did) irrelevant.

The big questions for the Blackhawks are:

1.  How long is Bolland going to be out of the lineup?

2.  Who centers the second line in his absence?

Bolland was woozy but conscious after the hit, skated the rest of the first period, and did not return. He is currently listed as day to day, but injuries to the head have a way of keeping people out for a long time.

Go ask Sidney Crosby.

Bolland could be back in a game or two, or it could be a month or longer. Right now, it is difficult to say.

How do you replace a guy who has been the solution (for now, anyway) in the center of the second line as the season winds down?

The Hawks have a few options.

Michael Frolik took over for Bolland Wednesday and wasn't a bad fit. Even though the recent acquisition prefers to play on the wing, it may be necessary to move him up from the third line.

Second line center is a position with which Patrick Sharp is familiar, having spent portions of the last two seasons there. The problem is in moving a guy off the hottest line in the league. 

The Hawks could send Troy Brouwer back up with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, but the Sharp-Toews-Kane line was the catalyst of the Blackhawks recent win streak.

As much as I like Jake Dowell and what I think he adds to the club, he isn't the guy to get Marian Hossa the puck. Dowell and Ryan Johnson belong on the two checking lines that have worked well for Chicago recently.

Tomas Kopecky can stay right where he is on the fourth line. I don't need to see him back at center.

There's no help in Rockford. Jeff Taffe (who has 50 points for the Ice Hogs but has never been a big scorer in the NHL) could spot Dowell or Johnson but isn't going to add firepower the second line. Neither Evan Brophy or Brandon Pirri are ready to get tossed into a tense scrap for a spot in the playoffs.

To me, the answer to the hole in the second line is to continue using Frolik there and hope Bolland makes a timely return to the lineup. That would depend on Frolik's willingness to play a position he didn't sound thrilled about when he joined the team.

If he plays the good soldier, Sharp can stay on Toews' left wing.

Replace Frolik on the third line with Fernando Pisani, who saw his first taste of game action Wednesday since recovering from his own upper body injury. Taffe could provide minutes as a third or fourth line forward if need be, especially if Bolland misses significant time.

Those fans who believe that Bolland was playing a line too high now face the prospect of him being missing from the second line for some time.

The Blackhawks have been thin at center all season and Kubina's elbow may have taken away a crucial piece of Chicago's playoff puzzle for an extended stretch.