Eric Daze has had a stiff, sore back for the last week, but Saturday in Nashville he said “it felt really bad.”
Still, Daze wanted to play, so Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter suited up the big left winger. Sutter said he never questions himself but admitted maybe he should have rested Daze.
Daze didn’t play Sunday against Detroit and it’s unlikely he’ll play Wednesday against Phoenix or Thursday in Dallas.
“If he doesn’t play [Wednesday], he certainly won’t play the next night,” Sutter said.
Daze said it’s doubtful he’ll be in the lineup.
“My back still hurts,” he said. “But it’s more spasms than anything else.”
Daze’s absence creates a hole on the left side of one of the Hawks’ better units lately. Rookie center Tyler Arnason and Steve Sullivan make up the rest of the line, and Sutter put banger Ryan VandenBussche in Daze’s spot Sunday.
VandenBussche won’t be an option for Sutter on Wednesday or Thursday. He sustained an injured hand against Detroit and was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.
Daze said he’s not worried about serious damage to his back because test results taken Monday were fine. He had surgery on his back during training camp and missed the first 15 games of the season.
Sutter doesn’t profess concern either.
“I’m not any more concerned right now than I was after he came back,” he said. “He had a serious enough operation that if it was any of us, we’d still be recovering from. He came back and jumped into what was going on.”
Daze’s most recent surgery was his second on the back, and stiffness is something he may have to deal with for the remainder of his career.
“This is still something I have to work on in my rehab,” he said. “I don’t want this to come back.”
It’s also something the Hawks coaching staff is going to have to monitor closely. The Hawks will begin a grueling stretch of games Sunday when they play five games in seven days, including a pair back-to-back that will involve travel.
“You certainly have to manage those types of injuries differently than others,” Sutter said.
Daze said he doesn’t want to get into a situation where he’s playing one night and sitting the other end of back-to-back games.
“When I go back in, I want to play all the games,” he said.
Daze said his back was bothering him last week while the Hawks were on a four-city trip. It’s not the back-to-back games as much as the travel that aggravates his back he said.
Daze has eight goals, 19 points and is plus-12 in 24 games this season.
His last goal came seven games ago, Dec. 22 against the Los Angeles Kings at the United Center. He had a hat trick Dec. 11 in New York against the Rangers.
Against the Predators on Saturday, Daze played 13:57 and had three shots on goal.
