When you see Nick Boynton, it’s best you get the hell out of the way. Apparently, Marian Hossa hadn’t heard those words of advice as he collided with Boynton at practice on Monday and limped off the ice not to return. Joel Quenneville was not at practice (He was in Montreal attending Pat Burns’ funeral) nor were any of the regular Hawk beat writers (day off) so we’re left to guess.
Since we heard nothing, it’s all speculation until it’s something else. Not to downplay any kind of serious injury, but Marian Hossa hasn’t been the same player since he returned from the upper body injury he suffered in late October.
In the 10 games he’s played in since returning, Hossa has one goal and 6 assists. While that looks respectable, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that five of those points (1 goal and 4 assists) came in two games. In the other 8 games, he had two assists.
Not exactly the stuff of legend. The Hawks have played pretty well with a less than stellar version of him. There’s no reason they should struggle without him. Anything else is a lame excuse.
–In other news, Dylan Olsen and Brandon Pirri were each invited to the Team Canada’s World Junior tryouts. Last year, Olsen was one of the last cuts and he’ll have his work cut out for him once again as Canada is loaded at defense. Pirri is a longshot to make it but with a strong camp, he’ll have a fighter’s chance at nabbing one of the final roster spots. Either way, it’s a good experience for both of them.
Team USA will announce their camp roster on December 7th. Assuming the Blackhawks give them permission to leave the IceHogs for the two plus weeks, Nick Leddy and Jeremy Morin will most definitely make the team. Something to keep an eye on, for sure.
Fifth Feather 
Hossa being out 2-3 weeks (as being reported on Trib site) could really hurt this team. While he hasn’t been scoring, he has created a ton of chances and is the best backchecker they have. He will be sorely missed on both ends of the ice, but especially on the defensive side. I’m curious where Morin will slot in.
I disagree. Hossa hasn’t been Hossa since he got hurt the first time. A 50% Hossa is just as effective as a 100% Morin. If the Hawks struggle without him, it just means they’re not that good to begin with.
I think you both have valid points. No question that Hoss since he has been back has not been the same Hoss who started the year on fire. So there is no excuse for the Hawks falling apart because of this latest injury. But…I thought the last few games in So Cal Hosa started to have a little more jump in his step, he was more willing to mix it up in the corners. I thought he was on the verge of breaking out. Oh well. The silver lining may be that the extra 2-3 weeks will be good for his shoulder as well. It’s a long season.
We do get some salary cap savings if he goes on LTIR.
Yes, but Hawks management rarely puts players on LTIR – as an example, I’m almost certain that Campbell never touched LTIR even though he would have qualified and would have cleared it by the time he got back. I believe it affects “tagging room” so with the Hawks needing to resign Seabrook this year, that’s coming into play.
Tagging room is definitely not an issue since they are $4m under the league cap due to the bonus carryover penalty. But I still don’t understand the LTIR all that well but you only get cap relief if the replacement player would put you over the cap which Morin or Leddy wouldn’t.
Seabs raise won’t eat up the eniter $4mil. For it to do that, he would have to get $7.5 (7.5 -3.5 current). He will likely eat up 1.5 of that at $5 (current base moves over plus 1.5 to get you to $5. Thus, 4-1.5 is 2.5 left)
Yea, I know all of that, I’d just be interested in knowing why the Hawks don’t ever use LTIR…
After talking to other GM’s it seems like using LTIR is quite gauche