The Chicago Blackhawks are going to miss Jason Dickinson while he's out with an injury.. He does everything well for them. However, it seems to be better than initially feared.
The Chicago Blackhawks rely on Jason Dickinson to do a lot. He is their best defensive forward and he contributes a fair amount of offense.
In Wednesday night's overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Dickinson left the game with an injury to his left leg.
After the game, he walked out of the locker room with a walking boot. Someone asked him if it was serious and he said that he hopes not.
During his usual postgame presser, interim head coach Anders Sorensen said "It doesn't look good" when he was asked about the injury to Dickinson.
Dickinson was, as expected, absent from practice on Thursday but there was some good news. Sorensen said after practice that Dickinson is going to have some imaging done on Friday but it appears that he has a high-ankle sprain.
It sounds like there is a chance that he will miss the final two games (Friday vs Nashville Predators, Saturday at St. Louis Blues) before the Four Nations Faceoff and that's it. The two weeks off for Four Nations may be enough time to get him back.
If that ends up being the case, the Hawks won't be missing one of their most important players for too long.
Even the players who spoke to the media postgame sounded disturbed at the idea of Dickinson being away for a long period.
"Very (tough)." Ryan Donato said when asked about how tough it is to lose Dickinson to injury. "I mean, he's the ultimate teammate, ultimate guy, he's such a great person off the ice and such a great leader on the ice. Hopefully, everything is okay with him".
The praise for Dickinson and what he means to this group felt infectious. There is no doubting his importance to the locker room.
"That's a guy you can't just replace". Alec Martinez, who knows a thing or two about irreplaceable players, said of Dickinson.
These quotes came before we knew it was just an ankle sprain and it appeared to be much worse. The sentiments about him as a player and person still stand as he seems to be loved by his teammates.
If Dickinson does only end up missing these last two games before the Four Nations Faceoff, the Hawks dodged a major bullet. Even if he misses a few games after and that's it, the Blackhawks avoided a truly bad situation. Only time will tell.
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