COLUMBUS, Ohio — The NHL’s roster freeze went into effect Wednesday afternoon, but not before forward Artemi Panarin — the 2015-16 Calder Trophy winner with the Chicago Blackhawks — was traded from the New York Rangers to the Los Angeles Kings. It was a bombshell move right before the league halts its schedule for the Olympics.
Fans will get one more day of marquee NHL action Thursday. The impressive Pittsburgh Penguins will meet the red-hot Buffalo Sabres, the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils will meet in a short-travel battle and the chance of fighting is high in the Sunshine State rivalry between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
Then it all stops — in America, at least. The action will move to Milan, Italy.
January was grueling as the league jam-packed the month to accommodate the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The Hawks played 16 games last month with four back-to-backs.
They will take a 22-26-9 record into the Olympic break after losing 4-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night, their sixth defeat in seven games.
The teams met for the second time in six days after a 4-2 Hawks loss Friday at the United Center. The Blue Jackets won their seventh in a row Wednesday, including a road victory in New Jersey 24 hours earlier.
Ryan Donato took a hit in the first period that left him sprawled on the ice, staring a hole through the referee. He laid a frustration hit on left wing Mason Marchment, and defenseman Ivan Provorov scored in the chaos.
Hawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser was injured and helped off the ice after Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski — who opened the scoring and the Columbus cannon firing — fell on his leg. Kaiser was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game, and his status is to be determined heading into the break.
While the Blue Jackets will look to keep their momentum when they next play Feb. 26 in Boston, the Hawks … well, it will be nice to take a break from the pressure for a few weeks.
“I’m viewing the break to see how long it takes for the family to get sick of me because that generally happens,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It’s been a grind of a schedule right now, so certainly we’ll take advantage of that.”
Connor Bedard has found his post-injury stride despite a quiet game in Columbus. When the Hawks return from the break Feb. 26 in Nashville, he’ll presumably be at full strength and back to his pre-injury self.
“The plan when he gets back is to start taking faceoffs,” Blashill said. “When you’re not taking faceoffs ever, it puts you on the wall a lot. I know he’s healthy enough to play, and so at that point, you’re 100% if you’re out there playing.”
Others are hoping for revitalization during the break. The Hawks are 10 points out of the last playoff spot, so there’s much work to be done upon returning.
The step back from the ice could kick-start that process.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to rebuild our foundation and fundamentals, both individually and as a team,” Blashill said.
Artyom Levshunov has been a healthy scratch the last three games as he takes part in a “program” to touch up his two-way game. Blashill is looking for him to improve in three areas: shooting technique, defensive positioning and footwork, and “delivering the puck in the right spot.”
The defenseman will spend some time during the Olympic break practicing in Florida, where he also spends his summers. He has two goals and 19 assists this season.
“To say that we have a miracle cure in two days is not a reality,” Blashill said Tuesday. “This is something that’s really going to build through when we come back as much as we can over the course of the last month, and certainly this summer, it’s going to be huge.”
Other players will take some time to clear their heads before returning. The number taking that path, though, may have gone down after Wednesday’s game.
“I’d rather after that one to be playing tomorrow night, (but) I think (the break), it’s good for everybody,” said captain Nick Foligno, who was the Blue Jackets captain from 2015-21. “It’s important if we use it wisely, and we’ll come back with a ton of energy and make sure we have a good push here and use the practice time that we have to get better.”
The team will be cheering on its lone Olympian, Teuvo Teräväinen. The 31-year-old forward will have plenty of Hawks support as he heads to Milan to play for Finland.
“We have one player that will be in the Olympics, so we’ll have the majority of our team together,” Blashill said. “So that’s a pretty unique opportunity.”
Added Teräväinen: “Everybody’s cheering for me, so I’m happy about that. A lot of other good teammates here and they’re cheering for me.”
