McKnight: Hossa Expected To Miss 2-3 Weeks
By Connor McKnight-
Blackhawks' head coach Joel Quenneville told reporters today that Marian Hossa will be out of the lineup for two to three weeks with a lower body injury. Quenneville stated that this injury is "independent" of any prior injuries which would seem to rule out Hossa having re-aggravated the MCL he sprained in his right knee during the playoffs last year.
Hossa was injured when he collided with defenseman Nick Boynton during practice on Monday.
"Things happen like that," Quenneville said today after the morning skate. "It can happen away from the game too. It's all part of it. You deal with it and I think it's an opportunity for [Jeremy Morin] to come up and hopefully he can take advantage of the chance and the challenge."
Hossa (8 G, 10 A) had been one of two of the brightest stars in the NHL--alongside teammate Patrick Sharp--for the first 10 games of the year. Hossa hot start, however, was derailed when he suffered an upper body injury and sat out from October 27th - November 7th. Jeremy Morin was called up from Rockford to start in Hossa's place.
What makes matters worse is that Hossa was starting to play back to form in the past few games.
"I thought since he came back, when he was injured there, I thought he was progressing," Quenneville said. "He's coming off a great game in LA. I thought he played a real strong game. [He] played a lot of minutes."
As for Hossa's replacement, Morin will likely begin the night against the Blues playing on the third line with Patrick Sharp and Troy Brouwer.
Finally, Corey Crawford will get the start tonight. Crawford has won three straight and tonight will be his third consecutive start. He's posted a 5-4 record so far this year but has a .925 save percentage along with a 2.07 goals against average.
