BLOG: Hall Hopeful to Return in Matchup Against Panthers

After a full participation in Friday’s practice at Fifth Third Arena, Taylor Hall feels hopeful to return to the Blackhawks’ lineup soon. 

Chicago placed the forward on injured reserve after he suffered another his left shoulder injury this season. 

“There's a good chance that I'm in tomorrow, but I could also not play,” Hall said. “I just have to see what [the medical staff is] feeling and give them my thoughts on how I felt today.” 

The veteran forward practiced on the team’s third line along with Jason Dickinson and Tyler Johnson as he rejoined the team on the ice. As for now, head coach Luke Richardson will decide on where he will place Hall once he does return due to the chemistry the first line created with Connor Bedard, Philipp Kurashev and Nick Foligno.

Richardson also feels optimistic about Hall’s return in Saturday’s contest especially after his strong performance in practice. 

“He's probably the closest to coming back, so we're hoping he's available tomorrow,” Richardson said. “Today, he did full practice, which was great, so we're going to let him just settle and see how he feels.” 

Hall admits that he reinjured his shoulder after he returned too early after he previously suffered the injury against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11. Instead of seeing improvement from his first return, he and the medical staff agreed to take some more time off to heal. 

After a few days of rest, he feels ready to ease back into the game. 

“It feels a lot better than I did,” Hall said. “I just thought that at that moment that the shoulder would just get better day by day and it didn’t it just probably needed some time.”

As the team prepares to take on the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils this weekend, Hall now wants to focus his safe return. 

“I just want to make sure everything's good and it's not easy coming back from an injury on a back-to-back, too,” Hall said.