Oct. 12: 7:57 a.m.: Hall is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, head coach Luke Richardson told reporters postgame. After splitting their first two games of the season, Hall’s absence likely means one of Mackenzie Entwistle or Reese Johnson will make their season debut Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Oct. 11, 9:02 p.m.: The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that veteran forward Taylor Hall left tonight’s game with an apparent injury he suffered in the first period of their matchup with the Boston Bruins. Little is known about Hall’s status as he did return in the second period of the game to take a shift on the powerplay but then left the ice and went straight up the tunnel immediately after.
The injury likely occurred when Hall took a hit in the neutral zone from former Bruins teammate Brandon Carlo. He stayed on the ice for some time before returning to the bench and making his way to the dressing room. The Hawks then ruled Hall out at the start of the third period leading to speculation about the severity of the 31-year-old’s injury.
Hall was expected to be a big part of the Blackhawks’ offense this season as they traded for him to be rookie Connor Bedard’s winger. With Hall out of action, veteran Andreas Athanasiou filled in along with Bedard and Ryan Donato. The Blackhawks don’t exactly have the depth to manage a long-term injury to a top 6 winger, and while they hardly view themselves as contenders this season, they likely want to give Bedard every opportunity to thrive with offensively capable linemates.
Hall didn’t have a very good season last year in Boston and was looking for a bounce-back campaign in Chicago. The former Hart Trophy winner posted just 16 goals and 20 assists last season in 61 games and was traded by the Bruins in a summer move that was basically a cap dump. Hall is now five years removed from his MVP season; however, he still is an impact player that could do a lot of damage with Bedard this season.
If Hall is out any length of time, it could make things more difficult for the Blackhawks to insulate Bedard, as they would have very few offensive weapons to line up alongside the rookie phenom. Chicago has plenty of capable NHLers, but there aren’t many of them who should be playing top 6 minutes in the NHL, and even fewer who should be playing on a team’s top line.
I hope Hall isn’t hurt too badly but Kurashev and Entwhistle can take the spot. Athanasiou can provide a ton of speed to play with Bedard and could be an interesting mix with Donato. All I know is that if the Hawks get the Goaltending they got from Mrazek and Soderblom most of the time, They’re going to give teams fits all year. They just can’t withstand a ton of injuries and maybe Mrazek can make himself a trade candidate if he plays that well.
Blindside hit. Puck not in reach. No headshot, so likely no suspension…
I thought he took more than 2 strides to blast a defenseless player. It should of been charging at least. But you weren’t getting that call in Boston.
But Carlo didn’t really “blast” him, once he saw Hall wasn’t paying attention & wasn’t getting the puck then Carlo actually leans back away from Hall (doesn’t follow through with the full body check) & his eyes switch to following the puck. Maybe interference, but Carlo was assuming Hall would possess the puck by that point, which Hall was trying to do, in which case it would have been 100% clean (shoulder to shoulder) and not 80% clean. Hall was crouched in an already awkward diagonal position reaching the for puck, which made the connection of the hit worse.
I’d like to see Patrick Kane alongside Bedard.
Maybe in an All-Star game……