On this day off for the Blackhawks, they have good reason to celebrate a Happy New Year.
↵Chicago Breaking Sports reports that the injured Jonathan Toews took part in practice this morning and is now "day-to-day", a much better prognosis than the original forecast that he would be out for up to two weeks. Toews will be traveling with the team on their trip to California -- but don't get excited about him possibly being able to play, because he had been scheduled to go anyway; the entire team is going on what's been dubbed the "Moms Trip".
↵Also today, the Blackhawks signed their 2009 No. 1 draft choice, Dylan Olsen, according to the Duluth News-Tribune:
↵Former NHL first-round draft pick Dylan Olsen, a Minnesota Duluth sophomore defenseman from Calgary, Alberta, signed a three-year, two-way contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and will join the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Ill., following the World Junior Championships.↵
Olsen was the 28th overall pick; he's playing for Canada in the World Junior Championships, which run through Jan. 5. The Blackhawks often promote younger players quickly if they're talented; Jeremy Morin, also playing in the World Junior Championships and the same age as Olsen -- 19 -- has already been up and down several times between the Blackhawks and Rockford this season.