Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was a missing member of the Blackhawks’ VIP list when they rallied from a two-goal first-period deficit to tie Colorado 2-2 Sunday night.
Spacek, who contributed two goals and an assist to the Hawks’ three straight victories last week, had to leave the game because of an injury to his left shoulder. He went to the bench in pain midway through the opening period and didn’t return.
“He was checked into the boards. Nothing serious,” said Boris Mironov, Spacek’s defense partner. “He’ll be OK.”
According to coach Alpo Suhonen, X-rays were negative and the injury is thought to be merely a bruised muscle.
A major injury to Spacek would be a serious blow to the Hawks. He has a plus/minus rating of plus-16 since arriving Nov. 6 in the trade that sent Anders Eriksson to Florida.
In Spacek’s absence, “Stephane Quintal and Alexander Karpovtsev carried a huge load in key situations,” Suhonen said. “The other defensemen–Jamie Allison and Chris McAlpine and Boris Mironov–also played very good games.”
If Spacek can’t play in Wednesday’s home game against the Florida Panthers, Kevin Dean is the likely replacement. Dean played in every game through Dec. 31. When his infant son was hospitalized with a serious viral infection, Dean left the lineup and he has been scratched for six straight nights.
Norfolk bound? Rookie center Mark Bell, the Hawks’ first-round choice in the 1998 draft who began the season in Norfolk, was a healthy scratch for the third game in a row.
“If he’s not going to play, we’ll send him back,” General Manager Mike Smith said.
Finally! When Alex Zhamnov scored a short-handed goal on David Aebischer in the second period, it ended a string of 91 scoreless minutes for the Hawks against the Colorado goalie.
Demand a recount: Captain Tony Amonte was the leading Hawk vote-getter in the fans’ balloting for the Feb. 4 NHL All-Star Game in Denver. Amonte received 58,978 votes to place 11th in the voting for the North American All-Star wings.
Three Hawks–Zhamnov, Mironov and Spacek–were on the World All-Stars’ leader board. Zhamnov was 13th among centers with 15,376 votes.
