Mr. Jonathan Toews

The Blackhawks return to the United Center after a road trip, with results that were less then ideal, to play the Los Angeles Kings in tonight’s only game. There was some bad news to come out of the weekend, Dave Bolland’s lower-back problems are getting worse. He should be out for tonight’s game (second consecutive) and surgery could be an option if Bolland’s back doesn’t improve after some rest.

There is some good news today, however. Jonathan Toews and Ben Eager will return to the lineup tonight. The Blackhawks haven’t been able to roll out any consistent lines sine the Captain went down, and team is having difficulty generating chemistry with their line mates as a result. The return of Toews and Eager should help fix that, but Bolland’s absence from the lineup has led to more jumbling of the lines. Kris Versteeg will see more time at center as he did in Colorado, and Tomas Kopecky will be utilized on the third line as a winger.

The surprising Kings are led by Anze Kopitar and anchored in net by Jonathan Quick – a great name for a goalie. Kopitar, who is just tearing it up right now, leads Los Angeles in goals (13), assists (14) and points (27) of course. Quick has started every game but one for the Kings this season, and he appears to be the piece the organization has been searching for in net the last few years.

It was only a matter of time for the Kings to turn their fortunes around. A capable goalie, and the development of Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty have been key factors into the team’s early season performance – the veteran presence of a guy like Ryan Smyth helps too. The league needed the team based in the second biggest market in the United States to succeed, and now it appears to be the case.

Anyway, the return of Toews should provide some energy at even strength and on the power play. The Kings rank twenty-seventh in the league ok the penalty kill at 75.4%, and the ‘Hawks need to use tonight’s game as a launching pad for their play on the man-advantage. I would hope the return of Toews would remove Kopecky from power play duties.

One last thought on Bolland, the organization should treat him like they have with every other injury on the season. Take care of the injury now no matter how long it takes to mend – a healthy player is more valuable down the stretch rather than playing hurt now. If surgery is required, Bolland could miss about two months.