Chicago Blackhawks to honor all-time great Stan Mikita on Friday
The Blackhawks will honor Hockey Hall of Fame member Stan Mikita with their "One More Shift" promotion by having three of Mikita's grandchildren skate onto the ice on his behalf before Friday's game against St. Louis at the United Center.
Charlie, Billy and Tommy Gneiser will join the Hawks during the national anthem. Stan, who is 77, has been suffering from Lewy body dementia for more than three years.
"This isn't about my kids. There are six other grandkids," said Jane Mikita Gneiser, Stan's daughter. "This wonderful honor is about Stan. Would give anything for him to be able to skate out himself."
Mikita's No. 21 was the first sweater number to be retired by the Hawks. He played his entire career for the franchise (1958-80) and is the all-time leader in games played (1,396), assists (926), points (1,467) and second to Bobby Hull in goals (541).
Mikita will be the fifth former player to be honored this season with "One More Shift," joining Bryan Bickell, Al Secord, Eric Daze and Troy Murray.
Toews ready:
Jonathan Toews, who has missed five games with an upper-body injury, practiced at MB Ice Arena on Monday and should be ready to play at St. Louis on Wednesday.
"I feel great," said Toews, who has 20 goals on the season and needs 1 more to avoid setting a career low. "It was good to get to get out there with the guys on the ice today. … I (have to) say it's no fun to sit on the side and let the guys battle it out. It's nice to feel better and to be ready to get back in the lineup."
John Hayden, who has missed three games with an upper-body injury, also practiced but he isn't ready to play yet. Anthony Duclair (upper body) did not practice.
Crawford update:
With five days left in the regular season, it's safe to say that Corey Crawford will not play in one of the Hawks' final three games. Crawford, who has been on injured reserve since Dec. 27, hasn't been on the ice since Feb. 12 in Arizona.
Anton Forsberg, Jeff Glass, J-F Berube and Collin Delia have combined to go 15-24-5 since Crawford last played.
"(He) was definitely missed," said coach Joel Quenneville. "It was a good opportunity for some guys to look to grab it. I still think our team game wasn't as solid in front of the goaltending as well as we've gone along here. Everybody should assume that (we weren't) quite good enough as we went down this last part."
So long, Sedins:
As the Blackhawks practiced Monday, news broke that Vancouver's Henrik and Daniel Sedin announced their decision to retire at the end of the season.
Daniel Sedin has 391 goals and 647 assists in 1,303 games, while Henrik has 240 goals and 828 assists in 1,327 games. Against the Hawks, Daniel had 24 goals and 34 assists in 61 games, while Henrik had 16 goals and 43 assists in 59 games.
"Their effectiveness with the give-and-go and being able to make it more of a 2-on-1 game than a 1-on-1 game is something that helped change the game to what it is now," said Patrick Kane. "They'll definitely be missed. Two very special players."
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