Chicago Blackhawks: Dave Bolland's Injury Leaves an enormous Hole at Center

Thanks to a low cost shot by Pavel Kubina, the Chicago Blackhawks could suddenly be carrying out their best impersonation of a Tim Horton's doughnut. Namely, the 'Hawks may have a big hole in the middle. The Tampa Bay defenseman is going to be taking a three-day holiday from function after the league rightfully handed down a suspension for his head shot on Bolland. We all know Kubina is going to be back in three games. Are we able to say the identical about Bolland?

I really hope so, due to the fact losing Bolland is a key thorn in Chicago's recent surge toward the playoffs. Bolland had five points in the four games before the hit and had been performing a great job directing the second line. The Blackhawks have already been rolling 4 lines and getting contributions from them all. Thursday's selection through the NHL makes discussion of whether the hit was dirty (it was) and regardless of whether the league would reduce sanctions (they did) irrelevant. Bolland was woozy but conscious following the hit, skated the rest of the very first period, and did not return. He is at the moment listed as daily, but injuries towards the head have a way of keeping folks out for a long period.

Bolland could be back inside a game or two, or it could be a month or longer. Right now, it's hard to say. How do you replace a guy who has been the solution (for the time being, anyway) inside the center of the second line as the season winds down? Michael Frolik took over for Bolland Wednesday and wasn't a poor fit. Though the latest acquisition would rather play on the wing, it may be essential to move him up from the third line. Second line center is a position with which Patrick Sharp is familiar, getting spent portions from the final two seasons there. The issue is in moving a guy off the hottest line in the league.

The Hawks could send Troy Brouwer back up with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, however the Sharp-Toews-Kane line was the catalyst of the Blackhawks current win streak. As much as I like Jake Dowell and what I assume he adds to the club, he is not the guy to get Marian Hossa the puck. Dowell and Ryan Johnson belong about the two checking lines that have worked nicely for Chicago not too long ago. Tomas Kopecky can stay right exactly where he is on the fourth line. I do not need to visit him back at center.

There's no support in Rockford. Jeff Taffe (who has 50 points for that Ice Hogs but has by no means been a big scorer within the NHL) could spot Dowell or Johnson but won't add firepower the second line. Neither Evan Brophy or Brandon Pirri will be ready to get tossed into a tense scrap for any spot in the playoffs. To me, the answer towards the hole inside the second line is to continue using Frolik there and hope Bolland makes a timely return to the lineup. That will depend on Frolik's willingness to play a position he did not sound thrilled about when he joined the team.

Replace Frolik on the third line with Fernando Pisani, who saw his 1st taste of game action Wednesday considering that coping with his own upper body injury. Taffe could provide minutes like a third or fourth line forward if need be, specially if Bolland misses important time. Those fans who think that Bolland was playing a line excessive now face the prospect of him getting missing in the second line for some time. The Blackhawks have been thin at center all season and Kubina's elbow may have taken away a essential piece of Chicago's playoff puzzle for an extended stretch.