Entering Friday, the Blackhawks were the only U.S.-based NHL team whose 2021 schedule had not changed since its initial Dec. 23 release.
By mid-morning, that was no longer the case.
The Hawks’ game Saturday against the Hurricanes, the second leg of the scheduled back-to-back in Carolina that started Friday, was postponed to a later date.
The change is to accommodate the Lightning, who have endured — unlike the Hawks — a season full of schedule changes. Other teams’ COVID-19 outbreaks and the winter crisis in Texas this week, which postponed two scheduled Lightning-Stars matchups, have limited Tampa Bay to only 14 games played.
The Lightning were already coming into Raleigh to face the Canes on Monday; now they’ll play two games, Saturday and Monday.
The Hawks, meanwhile, won’t play again after Friday until Tuesday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. They’ll try to appreciate the small break and not let the last-second interruption affect their rhythm.
“It is what it is,” Brandon Hagel said after morning skate Friday. “Most of us knew that the season was going to be different and there’d be changes at times. The focus is just on tonight and we’ll deal with that stuff later.”
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters he “would have maybe done something a little different” with his lineup or game plan Friday had he known his team wouldn’t face the Hawks again Saturday.
But Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton seemed less — in fact, not at all — bothered.
“We’ve been pretty lucky so far,” Colliton said. “We’ve been able to stay on schedule. Obviously, we had some COVID issues of our own that we were able to get through. But in this year, you have to be flexible and not let any of those changes affect your mindset. We just have to focus on what we can do, control what we can control.”
The NHL didn’t immediately announce a new date for the postponed game, but April 13 or 14 would fit logically in both teams’ current schedules.
Murphy resumes skating
Defenseman Connor Murphy, who hasn’t played since Feb. 7 due to a right hip injury, was a full participant in morning skate Friday.
Colliton said Murphy has actually been skating for “a couple of days now,” although there isn’t an official date set for his return. He was initially estimated to miss 10-to-14 days.
Murphy’s upcoming return will help the Hawks: his 22:45 average ice time ranks second-most on the team, and Colliton has dressed seven defenseman frequently during his absence to fill his large vacated role. But it’ll also further complicate an increasingly difficult-to-sort logjam of NHL-caliber defensemen on the roster.
Living in an arena?
Hagel spent four crucial years of his development — from 2015-16 to 2018-19 — with the Red Deer Rebels, an Albertan junior team. Reese Johnson played for Red Deer for even longer, from 2014 to 2019.
But they left too early to experience the strangest season imaginable.
The Rebels made headlines this season for moving their entire 25-man team into their arena for COVID-19 containment purposes. Box suites have become bedrooms, the emergency exit area a TV lounge, the concourse a basketball court.
What happens when a junior hockey team moves 25 players into its arena for the season?
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) February 18, 2021
My look inside the suite life of the Red Deer Rebels: https://t.co/cUWguin3yV pic.twitter.com/KlXr4078xf
Hagel grinned when asked about the Rebels’ unprecedented set-up.
“It’s awesome, actually, getting to spend time with the guys, especially if it’s a pretty short period of time,” he said. “It’d be a really cool experience and these kids will remember it for most of their lives. I’ve talked to a few people there and they think it’s pretty awesome.”
