In this edition of Hawks Headlines, we take a look at the performance of Bryan Bickell so far in the playoffs, whether or not Andrew Shaw will suit up for Game 3 in the series, and examine whether Joel Quenneville’s insistence on shaking up lines is going to pay dividends or not as the series wears on.
-We start out with Bickell, who picked up a career high three points in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night. After a successful playoff run in 2013, he was given a four year contract extension. He struggled a bit during the regular season, but he really has picked up his play yet again. [CSN Chicago]
-Before Game 2 on Sunday, Quenneville said that Shaw was “likely” to play in Game 3 when the series shifts to St. Paul, but there is no definitive answer yet as to whether or not the forward will rejoin the lineup as the Hawks look to take a stranglehold on this series. [Daily Herald]
-With Kris Versteeg and Jeremy Morin inserted into Sunday’s lineup (and with Brandon Bollig as a healthy scratch), Quenneville was forced to make some changes to the lines, but he isn’t unfamiliar with the art of tinkering. [ESPN Chicago]
-Could the Blackhawks’ spate of late season injuries to players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane actually benefitted the team’s playoff chances? [Chicago Sun-Times]
-The Blackhawks may be up 2-0 in the series, but they still aren’t taking anything for granted. [Chicago Tribune]
-If you’ll indulge us in a bit of self-promotion, our column on advanced statistics, and the battle to get hockey fans to begin buying into them as a viable source of information, appeared in Sunday’s edition of the Committed Indian. [Real Fans Program]
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-Finally, we take a look at a video from the World Championships. The Blackhawks themselves aren’t participating since they are still in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but prospect Teuvo Teravainen is over there. He made the highlight reel over the weekend for all of the wrong reasons:
