The Chicago Blackhawks received a welcome sight on Tuesday: Connor Murphy back on the ice.
The defenseman missed four days of training camp, ruled "unfit" to participate. He and Drake Caggiula warmed up before the start of practice at Fifth Third Arena today. However, Jonathan Toews wasn't at practice after leaving midway through Monday's session.
Coach Jeremy Colliton said Monday that he was "just trying to keep him fresh. Nothing other than that." But on Tuesday, Colliton said Toews was "unfit to participate" and that NHL policy prohibits him from going into detail.
Toews' absence going into a second day is notable.
Murphy is a key member of the defensive unit that also saw Olli Maatta miss time and has been without Calvin de Haan, who has been excused for a family emergency and worked on the second rink earlier today.
Murphy logged the second most minutes among Hawks' blue liners, about 21 minutes per game, trailing only Duncan Keith's 24:23. He was second among defensive players with five goals and his 14 assists ranked third.
