Dec. 16--Defenseman Duncan Keith has an illness and will not be in the lineup when the Chicago Blackhawks face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at the United Center.
Coach Joel Quenneville said the veteran "came in sick" and will miss his first game of the season. With the mumps virus making its way through some NHL locker rooms, Quenneville was asked if Keith's illness could be related to the outbreak.
"I'm not sure about that." Quenneville replied. "I don't know what's wrong. He's sick. Not feeling good."
Quenneville said the Hawks are "doing everything we can to prevent (the mumps). We'll see what happens."
In a recent e-mail to the Tribune, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league has no control in the prevention of what he described as an "unexpected" outbreak of mumps.
"As long as our clubs are doing what they need to do to minimize risk of contraction, we are hopeful that the wave of cases will run their course," Daly said in the e-mail.
Hawks winger Patrick Kane said players are concerned about the outbreak.
"You're trying to do everything you can health-wise and hygiene-wise not to come across that," Kane said. "It seems like it's a pretty ugly disease and something that you don't want and something that can maybe keep you out of the lineup for a while too. Luckily, in our room no one really has come across it. Hopefully, it stays that way, knock on wood. Hopefully, this passes because it's not somenitng you really want to be worrying about."
Meanwhile, Antti Raanta will make his second consecutive start in goal for the Hawks.
