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After taking Tuesday off, the Blackhawks were back on the ice for practice on Wednesday.
Two players were not, though: Adam Boqvist and Calvin de Haan. Boqvist remains in the concussion protocol after taking a puck to the face during Monday’s game against Columbus, while de Haan is still hobbled by a hip pointer. Their status for Thursday’s game against Detroit remained up in the air, per this comment from coach Jeremy Colliton:
Colliton says De Haan and Boqvist are both day-to-day. https://t.co/1rOSFqyRWG
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 14, 2021
With two blue-liners hampered by injuries, the Blackhawks may be in need of reinforcements at the NHL level. That’s likely why Nicolas Beaudin and Ian Mitchell were re-assigned to the taxi squad on Wednesday, along with goaltender Matt Tomkins. Mitchell has not played for the Blackhawks since the March 25 game against Florida while Beaudin has been out of the NHL lineup since skating in back-to-back games against Nashville on March 27 and 28.
In other news, the Blackhawks players had their first chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 on Thursday. No specific numbers were reported, but it sounds like several players took advantage of that opportunity:
Colliton on how many Blackhawks players opted to get the vaccine today: "I think it's a good number that took it. I got it, so obviously I'm in favor of it. Every single person that gets vaccinated is a step closer to getting back to normal both as a team and in public life."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 14, 2021
Recently acquired Adam Gaudette was traded from Vancouver, which was in the midst of the NHL’s worst COVID-19 outbreak of the season while Gaudette was there. He was removed from COVID-19 protocols on Sunday and made his practice debut:
Jeremy Colliton on Adam Gaudette, who joined the #Blackhawks for practice today: "He's a full go, as far as I'm concerned. Just trying to get him up to speed, get him in and back in shape after quite a bit of time off." https://t.co/kZGqEIP1cJ
— Brandon Cain (@brandonmcain) April 14, 2021
Gaudette will wear No. 11 for the Blackhawks whenever he makes his on-ice debut.
Chicago is back on the ice Thursday night in Detroit for the first of a two-game set with the Red Wings.