Danault gets a shot with Hawks

Phillip Danault landed in Edmonton, raced to the rink where the Blackhawks were practicing, hurriedly donned his equipment and skated onto the ice where his teammates had gathered around coach Joel Quenneville.

Once there, the Hawks coach told him to take a quick lap. By the time Danault rejoined the huddle, practice was pretty much over.

Welcome to the bigs, kid.

"I was late," Danault said with a laugh and a shrug. "It was funny for the boys."

But it's awesome for the young center to finally get a chance with the Hawks after making a good impression in camp and then with the Rockford IceHogs in the American Hockey League.

"He had a real good camp and a real good year to date," said Quenneville, who already has Danault penciled into the lineup Saturday against Edmonton. "He's a hard-working type guy who plays center ice and is reliable.

"It's a good opportunity for him."

Asked what he will bring to the team, Danault didn't hesitate.

"Energy," he said. "I know that's what they're looking for. I know Chicago has enough skill already so I'm just going to bring my energy and my passion to the game."

Danault's call-up came because of Andrew Shaw's mysterious upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup Thursday at Calgary and will also keep him sidelined Saturday in Edmonton.

"Shawsie's feeling better today, but he's out for tomorrow," Quenneville said.

The Hawks on Thursday placed forward Patrick Sharp on long-term injured reserve. Sharp is skating and it's still possible he might join the team at the tail end of the circus trip.

He's baaaack:

After not playing in an NHL game since Oct. 25 because of a schedule devoid of many back-to-back games, Antti Raanta will get the start in goal Saturday against the Oilers.

"He hasn't played in a while but we see him every day in practice," Joel Quenneville said. "He had an excellent game (Sunday) down in Rockford, which is healthy for him and for us.

"So here he is. We're excited to get him back in the net and I'm sure he's excited as well."

He said it:

"I think it's great. It keeps everybody honest. It makes internal competition healthy as well."

- Joel Quenneville on the Rockford-to-Chicago pipeline.