[A] Montador to IR; Olsen Returns

[Ton]

Joel Quenneville stated Montador was unlikely to play against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday after he missed every practice due to suffering an upper body injury against the Avalanche. Following up today, the Blackhawks have officially placed defenseman Steve Montador on injured reserve.



Montador has complied 14 points in 51 games this season along with a plus-4 rating with the Blackhawks. Although his physical presence has regressed since coming to Chicago, Steve has found a home on the Blackhawks power-play despite having prior history as a short-handed specialist.



Olsen will return to the line-up in Montador's absence. Dylan was unable to record a point earlier in the year when he appeared in two games, making his debut on January 5th, but he did seem to bring a physical presence to the blueline.



Unfortunately, coming off a six game losing streak the Blackhawks must hope that Olsen can provide stability on an otherwise wonky blueline as he will see at least three games this time around, barring any movement on the trade front.



Sami Lepisto will also get another crack at making an impact in the line-up against the Sharks with Hjalmarsson also missing time due to what Quenneville describes as an upper-body injury. Hjalmarsson will not play this weekend but may return against Nashville on Tuesday. Perhaps this is Lepisto's final hurrah before finding a ticket out of Chicago.



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[BigPete]

So "no heart" is now an upper body injury? Well shoot, I guess we should have a lot more players on IR...

 

[Ton]

I take it you are not a Montador fan? Why?



IMO he's totally misused here.

 

[MassHavoc]

I take it you are not a Montador fan? Why?



IMO he's totally missed here.

Ooohhh u.....

 

[the canadian dream]

Has been misused here. Wonder though how healthy he has been this season and if that accounts for some of the misuse? He hasn't been the same since the injury earlier in the season and that's really when the questionable minutes and use came full force. One might want to ask those kind of questions before jumping on coaches or a players compete level etc.

 

[the canadian dream]

Olsens been okay. Really good first game against the Sharks..mediocre game against the Yotes. He need to work on his speed and his skating though for the NHL level. I like the kid and he has lots of promise. Lets be careful with him though i could see him on the roster in the next year or so if things go right. It's been a pleasure watching him with the big club these two games (too bad other shits that not pleasurable have been getting in the way).

 

[Rex]

don't worry, Q will ruin his confidence by only playing him in spots that aren't suited for him.

 

[Pez68]

Olsen is SOOOO fucking slow.

 

[Tater]

Olsen is SOOOO fucking slow.

Love the kid, but definitely needs to work onhis skating.

 

[Shantz My Pants]

Olsen doesn't have great foot speed and you really can't teach that unfortunately. I haven't watched his stride so I don't know if it's one that can be broken down or not, but hell if Seabs who isn't the fastest can make things work then all Olsen needs is to work on his positioning.

 

[PatrickSharpRules]

Olsen is SOOOO fucking slow.

Yea dude, he's like Paul Konerko slow.

 

[Rex]

Andrew Brunette slow?

 

[the canadian dream]

Olsen doesn't have great foot speed and you really can't teach that unfortunately. I haven't watched his stride so I don't know if it's one that can be broken down or not, but hell if Seabs who isn't the fastest can make things work then all Olsen needs is to work on his positioning.

Its a bit of a strange stride in my opinion. A little choppy and bit too wide of a power stance like Burrows (that guy has a really odd stride though like he is playing roller hockey..or having hot dogs shoved up his ass). That could improve but yah I agree it's hard to change a guys speed that much.



He has good positioning though and a good size and that is what I liked about him. Probably won't be a top 3 blueliner in the game at any point but he could certainly fill a good 4/5 spot in the future. Reminds me of Seabs a little bit although Seabs has a better stride.