Hawks in shock over Montador's death
When it comes to tough news off the ice, few teams lately have had it as hard as the Blackhawks.
On Dec. 21, the Hawks had to deal with the news that assistant equipment manager Clint Reif had died at 34.
Then Sunday morning, before they took to the ice to play the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center, the Hawks learned that former teammate Steve Montador had died. According to police, a female friend found Montador unresponsive at 2 a.m. in his Mississauga, Ontario, home. He was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m.
Montador, who it appears died of natural causes, was just 35. He played for the Hawks during the 2011-12 season.
"A couple guys passing away who were young guys," said the Hawks' Patrick Kane. "It just seems kind of surreal. Very, very sad news."
Said Patrick Sharp: "It's amazing that the Blackhawks family is dealing with this again. Right now we're thinking about Steve's family, and we're going to try and support each other and get through it."
Montador played in 52 games with the Hawks, scoring 5 goals. His season ended because of a concussion. He played 14 games of the 2012-13 campaign with the Rockford IceHogs.
Montador broke into the NHL in 2001-02 with Calgary and played for six teams in a 10-year career.
Kane was asked what he remembered about his former teammate.
"He was a happy guy," Kane said. "He was always around the room making jokes. Very sociable. Wanted to be part of the team and wanted to make friendships. I'll always remember him as a good, nice guy."
Although no foul play is suspected, an autopsy is planned.
"He's one of those guys (who) was a very likable teammate," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "One of the guys."
Back at it:
Ben Smith returned to the lineup Sunday after being a healthy scratch for the first time Friday. He logged just more than 13 minutes of ice time and took 3 shots on goal, including a point-blank chance midway through the third period.
Daniel Carcillo took part in pregame warm-ups but ended up being the healthy scratch against the Penguins.
When asked about the situation, about all Hawks coach Joel Quenneville would say was, "It (playing Smith) was an option that we visited after (warm-ups)."
Odds and ends:
Patrick Kane, who had just 4 penalty minutes all season before Sunday, doubled that number when he took a second-period holding penalty and a third-period slashing penalty. ... Jonathan Toews extended his points streak to four games with his second-period assist. ... Corey Crawford stopped 61 of 63 shots (.968) in the Hawks' last 2 victories.
He said it:
"They're a line that likes time and space. We were trying to take away from that. We held them in check for a good portion of the night."
- Penguins forward Beau Bennett on Patrick Kane's line