First Alex Zhamnov, now Bryan Berard. Slowly but surely, the list of the Blackhawks’ walking wounded gets shorter.
Berard, who missed his 10th straight game with a groin injury Wednesday, is expected to be back in the lineup Friday when the Hawks play host to the surging San Jose Sharks.
“It has felt good the last few days,” Berard said Thursday after another session of rigorous skating.
“It has been longer than I thought, but I haven’t felt [pain] in the last five practices.”
Berard might have been able to play in Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks, but coach Brian Sutter wanted to wait an extra two days to make sure.
“You can’t blame [Sutter],” Berard said. “He’s sick of injuries, and we are, too, so we wanted to make sure it was good to go.”
Berard said he first suffered the injury shortly after signing with the Hawks on Oct. 31. He tried to play through it–he did miss a game on Nov. 22–only to make it worse. He played seven more games before having to sideline himself.
“I knew it was a pretty good strain and it just didn’t want to get any better,” Berard said. “I was playing on it and hoping I could get through it, and it finally just gave out.”
If Berard can play Friday, the complexion of the Hawks will have changed in a week’s span.
Zhamnov and Berard are two highly skilled veterans the Hawks have been without and sorely need.
Their experience, along with the demotion of Igor Radulov and Mikhail Yakubov to the minors, makes the Hawks a more mature team than they were at the start of the week.
If Berard is activated, the Hawks are likely to send either defenseman Burke Henry or Johnathan Aitken back to Norfolk.
Although he isn’t a classic defensive defenseman, Berard should help the Hawks in their own end. He is the best passer among the Hawks’ blueliners, who consistently have trouble making the first pass out of their defensive zone.
The game-winning goal Wednesday came after the Hawks failed to clear their end.
“If I’m on the ice with Bryan, I better expect the puck a little quicker,” Sutter said.
The Hawks hope Zhamnov plays the rest of the season like he did Wednesday, when he scored his first goal of the season and led the team with six shots on goal.
In four games this season, Zhamnov has 18 shots on goal. Zhamnov has been criticized in the past for not shooting enough. He vowed Wednesday–again–to pull the trigger more.
“That’s what I want to do the rest of the season, shoot the puck,” Zhamnov said. “That’s how you score goals, right?”
