Nov. 13--Both Duncan Keith and Michal Rozsival will take the ice for the Hawks on Saturday against the Blues, coach Joel Quenneville said after practice Friday. The Blackhawks officially activated Keith Friday and reassigned defenseman Viktor Svedberg to the Rockford IceHogs.
Keith is coming back from surgery to repaire a torn mensicus in his right knee and will beat the expected timetable of four-to-six weeks when he makes his return Saturday.
"He should enhance all situational plays, power play, penalty killing, 5-on-5, important minutes, first and last shifts of periods and games," Quenneville said. "A lot of times he's a key factor in all those critical shifts."
Rozsival, meanwhile, will make his season debut in his first game since fracturing his left ankle in the Hawks' playoff series against the Wild last season.
To make room for Rozsival, the Hawks re-assigned defenseman Erik Gustafsson to Rockford. The Hawks have not annoucned a corresponding roster move for Keith, but given that the Hawks will be up against the salary cap when Keith returns, it's likely two players could be sent down.
Among the possibilities are defenseman Viktor Svedberg and forward Brandon Mashinter. That would leave the Hawks with 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders on the roster. The Hawks can carry up to 23 players on the active roster.
Andrew Desjardins appears to be a scratch for Saturday's game while Marko Dano will be the latest Hawk to get a crack on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.
