Hawks’ O’Donnell happy to be back on the ice
As the hours ticked down to Sunday’s game against Nashville — almost a month to the day from when he last saw game action — veteran defenseman Sean O’Donnell admitted it.
“I’ve played a lot of games in this league, and I’m nervous,” O’Donnell said. “Not nervous about can I do it … but nervous because you haven’t done it in almost a month. But it’s good. It’s good to be 40 years old and to be nervous for a regular-season hockey game.”
On the heels of Duncan Keith’s five-game suspension for an elbow to the head of Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin and Steve Montador’s recovery from a concussion, coach Joel Quenneville turned to the veteran O’Donnell, who had watched the previous 11 games from the press box.
“I’m well rested,” O’Donnell said with a laugh. “You can’t replace a guy like Duncan. But Jonathan Toews has got some qualities you can’t replace. Everyone has to step up.
“I’m not going to say it helps, but sometimes other guys play more and situations where they wouldn’t normally play in and get more confidence.
“Sometimes for the short term, these aren’t bad things. I think you’ll see the D elevate its game for the loss of Duncan. It’s only five games, so I think we’ll be OK.”
In his first game back in an eon, O’Donnell and his defensive partner, rookie Dylan Olsen, each saw about 11 minutes of ice time in an ugly 6-1 loss to Nashville.
That after sitting for 11 straight games.
The pair was back together Tuesday in New Jersey, though their minutes were reduced with the return of Montador to the lineup.
But after sitting for so long, O’Donnell gladly will take reduced minutes over no minutes at all. “It’s certainly not a country club when you’re not playing,” he said.
His coach knows exactly where O’Donnell’s coming from on that point.
“As a former player being in that spot later in my career I know what he’s feeling,” Quenneville said. “Everybody wants to play. Everybody wants to be a part of it.”
O’Donnell was signed as a free agent last July as much for his leadership as to add depth to the defensive corps. How that translated into ice time was the great unknown.
“I didn’t know what to expect early on,” he said. “I thought somewhere between 50 to 60 games.”
If he stays in the lineup until Keith returns, O’Donnell will have played in 50 games, though in an off-and-on fashion.
“It’s not easy; you miss two or three in a row and that’s not a huge deal, but then when you start getting to 9, 10, 11 … you start getting a little antsy,” he said. “The rest of your day doesn’t go as smoothly when you’re not playing. It’s fun to get back in.”
With Montador’s status up in the air after leaving Tuesday’s game in the third period following a collision with Mark Fayne, O’Donnell figures to be in the lineup for the next few games.
After that, who knows?
“He should be commended for hanging in there,” Quenneville said. “Trying to be upbeat in that process … it’s almost like ‘OK, OK,’ but the important part is to keep yourself in the mix because at the most important time of the season we’re going to need you.
“We’re going to need him now. Let’s play.”
mspellman@dailyherald.com