Get Well Soon, Blackhawks

By Todd McClamroch in News on Oct 24, 2006 5:16PM

The Chicago Blackhawks' locker room has looked more like a triage unit as of late. The Hawks suffered some concerning injuries over the weekend.

On Friday night in Dallas, the Hawks had a 3-1 lead going into the second intermission. However, in the third period, Martin Havlat left the game due to an ankle sprain that will keep him out for 2-3 weeks. The Blackhawks ended up losing the game 5-4.

In Saturday night's 4-3 loss to St. Louis, center Michal Handzus tore his anterior cruciate ligament. Handzus will miss the rest of the season with this injury. In addition to losing Handzus, netminder Nikolai Khabibulin broke a finger prior the game. He is expected to miss at least a week.

The injuries to Havlat and Handzus serve as a blow to the Blackhawks' offense. Havlat and Handzus have combined to score 10 of the Hawks' 32 goals this season (Havlat 7, Handzys 3). The Blackhawks now have six players on the Injured Reserve list.

During the injury-plagued weekend, the Hawks suffered their first back-to-back losses of the season. The Blackhawks will be looking for players to step up to help bounce back from the losses when the Hawks (4-4) host the Vancouver Canucks (5-4) on Wednesday night at the United Center.