Keith, Toews have plenty to say, but Hjalmarsson mostly mum on suspension

You know it's a strange day on the Blackhawks beat when Patrick Kane walks into the locker room, sits at his stall for over a minute and not one single reporter approaches looking for an interview.

How could that happen? Well, there was a lot going on, so let's get right to it.

No comment:

Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson had very little to say about the high hit he delivered to St. Louis' Ty Rattie on Saturday that earned him a four-game suspension.

Said Hjalmarsson, who will miss the season opener against the Blues on Oct. 12: "I said everything I had to say yesterday in my hearing. It's always disappointing to miss one regular-season game, but I'm glad Rattie's fine. … That's all I'm going to say about that."

Hjalmarsson hit Rattie in the head with 65 seconds to go in the Hawks' win over the Blues. The scrappy game featured a fight between Joel Edmundson and Jordin Tootoo in the second period, and a lengthy scrum in the third period in which Edmundson threw a cheap shot at Ryan Hartman. Edmundson and Hartman both received 10-minute misconducts.

Coach Joel Quenneville declined to give his opinion on the ruling. It will leave the Hawks a bit short-handed, but this team is so deep on the blue line that it may not matter much.

"We feel all eight guys can play against the best players on the other team," Quenneville said.

Keith feeling good:

Duncan Keith saw his first preseason action against Detroit on Tuesday. The veteran defenseman, who had a pair of assists and saw 19:41 of ice time, wanted to get into a game before they start counting.

"It had been a while since I'd played last, so excited to get back out there and get in front of the crowd playing a real game," Keith said.

Keith again said the knee feels fine and that he's not worried about it becoming a long-term issue.

"At the end of the day, it's not something (where) I can really look too far ahead," Keith said. "I want to do (the) best I can in the immediate future.

"Right now it doesn't really affect me out there, so I just want to keep it that way."

Happy returns:

Back with their teammates for the first time since winning the World Cup with Team Canada, both Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford were rarin' to go during Tuesday's morning skate.

Because of the long off-season, Toews said he expects the Hawks to get off to a fast start when the regular season begins. He also expressed excitement about producing with whatever line combination Joel Quenneville throws his way.

"People were asking about (Marian Hossa) and I and whether we might be together or not this year," Toews said.

"I speak for myself more than anything that I want to focus on my own game and making sure that I'm playing the right way and playing well early on. …

"Regardless of who I'm playing with, it's up to me to make sure I'm trying to enable those other two guys to be the best they can be as well."

Toews did not play Tuesday and is unlikely to play in the preseason finale at St. Louis on Saturday.

Odds and ends:

• Marian Hossa was at the United Center on Tuesday but did not partake in the morning skate before the Hawks played Detroit. He is also unlikely to play in the preseason finale at St. Louis on Saturday.

• The Hawks assigned forwards Pierre Cedric-Labrie, Spencer Abbott and Sam Carrick, and defensemen Viktor Svedberg and Cameron Schilling to Rockford.