As reported this morning on The Deep Dish, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has been hospitalized for what's being termed a health problem "not of a cardiac nature".
He's supposedly OK, but will not be coaching tonight's game -- that will be left to assistant coach Mike Haviland, according to Chicago Breaking Sports. That same article says that Patrick Kane, who has missed a couple of practices with the flu, will be in uniform and playing tonight:
"There's probably five or six guys who have gotten the same, thing," Kane said following Wednesday's morning skate. "It's not very fun, that's for sure. I'm glad to use the last two days to rest and get ready for (Wednesday night).
"Right now it's pretty tough to eat but I need to get something in my body to get some energy. They put a couple of IV bags in me (Wednesday) morning to try and get some fluids in me. You still don't feel great but hopefully I'll have enough energy to do the same things I want to do out there."
Hopefully all the Blackhawks will have the energy to do what they need to do -- start piling up points, especially in home games. The Hawks are a pedestrian 4-4-2 in their last 10 games while Minnesota is 7-3-1 over that same period. The Hawks stand four points behind the Calgary Flames, who currently hold the eighth and last playoff spot, and the Hawks are 11th overall in the Western Conference. The good news is that so many teams are bunched up that the Hawks are only six points out of fourth place in the conference.
Got to start a winning streak now, though.
Tonight's game begins at 7 p.m. CST and will be televised on CSN Chicago.