BLOG: Blackhawks Shake Up Lines with Hall Out

The Blackhawks announced on Tuesday morning that they placed Taylor Hall on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 21 due to his left shoulder injury. 

With Hall’s big presence out of the lineup for at least the next week, Nick Foligno described the impact it will have on the team but also wants to see the veteran forward be healthy for when he returns. 

“He's a big part of what we're doing here,” Foligno said. “I think it's hard to have a guy like him out of the lineup, because what he means to our team, but, you know, we need him healthy too.” 

Hall suffered the left shoulder injury in the team’s game against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11. He endured a hit from Boston’s defenseman Brandon Carlo that made him exit the game early. He returned to the team earlier than expected against Toronto but reaggravated his injury over the last two games.

Head coach Luke Richardson noted that although he has yet to make it on the goal sheet, he continued to show his offensive presence with his helpers on goals with Connor Bedard. For now, they just hope that Hall continues to have a speedy recovery. 

“So, anything quicker is better than longer for us because he had a good start with us,” Richardson said. “He hasn't scored a goal, but he's contributed a lot on goals and playing hard and physical.” 

Despite their loss on the first now, Foligno boasted about the opportunity that another player can have to try and fill Hall’s roll. With a team still trying to find their line combinations, this gives the team a chance to allow others to step up. 

“But it is a great opportunity for a team that's still trying to find our identity to step up when a guy like that's missing,” Foligno said. “He logs a lot of minutes, a lot of important minutes. Sometimes it's a great opportunity for another guy to step in and show what he can do in a team that's still trying to find who we.”

In Tuesday’s game against Boston, Foligno will join Bedard and Tyler Johnson on the first line after he produced three points (1G, 2A) through six games. 

Now, he hopes to continue to build his chemistry with the rookie forward but also capitalize on their scoring chances. 

“So, it's just about playing on the right side of the puck and then when the opportunities present themselves, we'll make sure we capitalize on them,” Foligno said. “So, nothing changes in the way we play or how I play and hopefully we can complement each other really well.”