One of the reasons the Blackhawks kept rookie defenseman Gustav Forsling in Rockford coming out of their extended break was because veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival was close to returning from injury.
Coach Joel Quenneville said Saturday that Rozsival was now healthy enough to return from a foot injury that kept him out of action since he was hurt in a practice before the All-Star break in late January.
Quenneville let it slip Rozsival had a foot injury instead of using his preferred “lower body” term and added that Rozsival could return to the lineup on Sunday against the Sabres.
“He gives us some depth on the back end, he’s ready to play as soon as we put him in,” Quenneville said.
Quenneville said he expects Forsling back on the roster at some point in the near future. On Saturday, he turned to Michal Kempny to fill the slot next to Brent Seabrook at the Hawks’ morning skate. Duncan Keith was skating with Niklas Hjalmarsson while Brian Campbell was with Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Aside from rotating Kempny and Forsling alongside Seabrook, Quenneville kept his other defensive pairings the same throughout the Hawks’ stretch of games before their break. Campbell said that has helped bring about some consistency in their play.
“I think we’re pretty comfortable,” Campbell said. “There’s a lot less movement going on. I’ve been playing with Trevor and it has been going good. I feel like and we’ve enjoyed that. I think (the defensemen) are … more active, trying to help out the offense more I think there’s a lot more consistency there.”
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