Blackhawks' Burish tears ACL, to miss 6 months
After a summer filled with negativity for the Blackhawks, things were supposed to be different once the regular season arrived.
But the Hawks took another punch to the stomach on Tuesday with the news fourth-line spark plug and heart-and-soul winger Adam Burish would miss the next six months with a torn ACL in his right knee.
Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith said he and his teammates aren't buying into the theory of bad karma surrounding the team ever since its trip to the Western Conference finals last spring.
For the record, Burish's injury follows on the heels of the firing of popular general manager Dale Tallon, Marian Hossa's shoulder surgery, investigations of the Hawks by the NHL over Hossa's contract and the late filing of qualifying offers to their restricted free agents, and Patrick Kane's arrest in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.
"It's something that we as players can't focus on," Keith said. "Our job in this dressing room is to do the work out on the ice. We've got enough guys in here with enough maturity that when something happens that's out of our control there's no point in worrying about that sort of thing. We as a group in here decide what goes on out on the ice."
The Hawks are going to miss Burish, who expects to have surgery Friday after tearing his ACL in Sunday's preseason loss at Minnesota.
"This will be my fourth year pro and this is probably the toughest news I've heard since I've been a pro," Burish said. "I guess I'm kind of reminded of when I was 18 years old, I went through a serious car accident and a quote that stuck with me was, 'Make every obstacle an opportunity.' I'm going to try to find a way to do that and make this an opportunity."
Burish vowed to return in March ahead of schedule.
"I'll be 100 percent for the playoffs, I guarantee," he said.
Burish didn't think anything of the hit from Minnesota's Benoit Pouliot in the first period other than he felt himself in an awkward position going into the boards.
"To get hurt 10 minutes into your first exhibition game after all the hard work I did this summer is what's difficult for me," Burish said. "If it was the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals you could take out both my knees."
Burish is a significant loss for the Hawks, whose fourth line was one of the best in the NHL last season.
"It's a tough loss because he means a lot to us," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's a big part of our team. He means a lot to the guys and is a competitive guy.
"It's tough to replace his energy. From shift to shift he brings that energy and that attitude that you want on your team. That line last year might have been the best of that type of energy line. They scored a lot of big goals and had a lot of meaningful shifts."
Burish said he got a call from every one of his teammates on Monday when word spread of the seriousness of the injury.
"There are so many things that he brings to our table that we'll miss, but we have the guys in this room to step up and do the job," Keith said.
"He brings a lot to our locker room, his character and his energy in practice and on the ice," captain Jonathan Toews said. "He's a great presence for us and to not have him all around is going to be different.
"He makes a huge difference for us on the ice. We're going to have to work super hard to make up for the role he fills for us."
The injury to Burish might improve Jack Skille's chances of making the team and filling that fourth-line spot, although it's also possible Quenneville could open the year with a fourth line of either Tomas Kopecky, Colin Fraser or Jake Dowell between Ben Eager and Troy Brouwer.
"Skille has been having a good camp, pushing here, and would be one guy you have to look at for sure," Quenneville said.
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