Chicago Blackhawks: Impact of Patrick Sharp Injury
By Sean Sarcu
@seansarcu
Getty Images
The Chicago Blackhawks‘ 5-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens was cathartic in a number of ways, but the loss of Patrick Sharp for 3-4 weeks tainted the victory quite a bit. It appeared to be a knee injury for the high-scoring winger, who managed to play a full season last year for the first time since 2009-10.
The Blackhawks had been having major problems scoring heading into the game against Montreal and will be hard-pressed to replace Sharp’s production. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire during his 13 games, but Sharp is probably Chicago’s best pure goalscorer and certainly its least hesitant shooter. With Marian Hossa aging, only Brandon Saad can duplicate Sharp’s dynamic speed on the wing — but, of course, Saad has issues of his own to deal with.
One thing that can be said with conviction is that Jeremy Morin‘s chances of staying in the lineup in the near future just spiked. The 23-year-old hasn’t looked great in 2014-15; he’ll need to show more if he hopes to stick in the long term, and Sharp’s injury has provided an opportunity for him to do just that.
The burden of making up for Saad’s absence will fall predominantly on Saad, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, each of whom have performed well below their offensive capabilities to start the season. As the schedule gets significantly tougher in the next few weeks, much will be learned about whether or not this Blackhawks team really has the depth to contend in the spring.
Sean Sarcu is a Chicago Blackhawks writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.
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