The World Cup of Hockey hasn’t even officially started yet, but the Chicago Blackhawks may already be facing an injury concern for one of their key veteran players.
That player is Marian Hossa, who played in Team Europe’s exhibition opener against North America on Thursday night. The forward didn’t play a single shift in the third period of the game, and some bad news came across on Twitter from Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports:
According to Lavoie, Hossa left the arena in Quebec City in a car and headed to the hospital for X-rays on an unknown injury. He didn’t appear to suffer the injury on any type of hit, but even with the lack of an easy explanation for what happened to the veteran forward, it’s still not good news that he’s dealing with a potential injury already.
Later in the evening, Scott Powers of The Athletic Chicago reported that Hossa suffered an injury when he was hit in the skate with a puck, but he made the trip to Montreal with his European teammates and told training staff that he was feeling fine after the injury:
"Hossa was taken to a hospital for X-rays on Thursday night. The source described the injury as a bruise and did not believe it was serious.
"ESPN's Craig Custance reported Hossa rejoined his Team Europe teammates on Thursda night and would travel with them to Montreal."
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Once the regular season starts, Hossa will need just one more goal to reach 500 for his career. He’s coming off one of the lowest offensive outputs of his career last season, and although it’s unclear if he’ll begin the year as a top six forward, he’s looking to make a step forward in what will be his eighth season with the Hawks.
