The impact of the Blackhawks’ recent COVID-19 outbreak on their roster was obvious.
Patrick Kane, Riley Stillman, Jujhar Khaira and Henrik Borgstrom all missed numerous games, and Jonathan Toews was also briefly unavailable.
But the impact on the Hawks’ coaching staff, while less outwardly noticeable, might’ve been even greater. With four people in the COVID protocol and unavailable, coach Jeremy Colliton and assistant Sheldon Brookbank were basically the only high-ranking coaches left.
“In the preparation for the game, and in the meetings and all those things, everyone was taking on a little bit more [responsibility],” Colliton said Tuesday. “And just on the bench, with the feedback to the players, it [was] happening less. Me and ‘Brooky’ are putting the players on the ice, so it’s hard for us to give the feedback immediately or in-between shifts when trying to get the right guys out there.
“When we have less guys on the bench, it’s just tougher.”
The outbreak finally appears to be dying down, and it’s happening not a moment too soon for a Hawks team that is fully vaccinated but desperately needs a winning streak.
Borgstrom is the only player or coach left on the COVID list. Kane returned and scored three goals in the Hawks’ long-awaited win Monday, and Stillman and Khaira reappeared at practice Tuesday.
“For sure, it’s a lift,” Colliton said. “‘Kaner’ stepped in and really helped last night, but we’ve had some guys out who can [also] help and give us some minutes... It just increases the competition for who’s going to play and how much they’re going to play.”
Among the coaches, assistants Tomas Mitell and Marc Crawford, goalie coach Jimmy Waite and video coach Matt Meacham are all back now, too.
During their absences, Chris Kunitz was pressed into behind-the-bench duties — temporarily becoming “more full-time than he usually is,” Colliton said — while AHL goalie coach Peter Aubry filled in for Waite and analytics coordinator Mary DeBartolo filled in for Meacham. The entire staff wore masks for all interactions with players, an eye-catching flashback to last season’s requirements.
Kane said he experienced mild symptoms for the first couple days but otherwise sat around his house, counting the minutes until he could lace up his skates again.
The NHL’s COVID protocols remain strict this season, even for vaccinated individuals. Those with confirmed cases must isolate for at least 10 days beyond the start of symptoms and at least 24 hours beyond the end of symptoms.
“You’re not allowed to leave your place,” Kane said postgame Monday. “[You] can’t really do any conditioning or anything like that — they want you to stay away from that stuff. I just tried to do some light stuff, nothing too crazy, but...just so I was coming back and feeling somewhat OK. It was obviously big for me to be able to skate [Monday] morning, just to feel it out.”
Stillman, meanwhile, said Tuesday he also tested positive but was asymptomatic.
“It’s really nice to get back, and get some legs underneath me and some reps with the guys, and be around everybody,” he added.
Stillman’s return sets up an interesting defensive personnel decision on the horizon. Injured defensemen Wyatt Kalynuk (sprained ankle) and Caleb Jones (strained wrist) have been skating together for weeks now, and Kalynuk participated in full-team practice Tuesday for the first time since training camp . Colliton said Kalynuk is “closer” but “not close enough to really say what day” he’ll be ready.
Their eventual returns will give the Hawks nine defensemen to sort through. And although sending prospect Isaak Phillips back to the AHL would be one easy step, the process of determining the other two odd-men-out will be more telling.
