Dealing with injuries new to Blackhawks' Hossa

Before he got to the Blackhawks, Marian Hossa was one of the more durable players in the NHL.

Starting in 1999, Hossa missed only 30 games over nine seasons.

Now in his second season with the Hawks, Hossa already has missed 38 games, the last eight with an upper body injury suffered Nov. 29 in practice when he collided with teammate Nick Boynton.

“It's definitely not fun to be missing so many games being part of this organization,” Hossa said. “During my whole career I basically had the one knee operation and since I've been here I had the shoulder and now a couple small ones. When you look at my career, I was mostly healthy.

“It's a little frustrating, disappointing, also getting older. Hopefully after this one I'll be able to play the whole season without an injury.”

Hossa skated Friday morning for the first time since Tuesday and didn't rule out returning Sunday against Los Angeles.

“After two days off, coming back on the ice it felt much better,” Hossa said. “I felt progress. I feel it's getting close, but it all depends on how it feels (today) and (Sunday).”

Hossa remembered the collision with Boynton as an unlucky accident.

“He turned a little bit sooner than I expected and I was taking the puck to the net,” Hossa said. “Basically we just collided. It was just one of those accidents.”

Kane hopeful:

Patrick Kane, out since Dec. 5 with a sprained left ankle, skated again Friday with pain but could play Sunday.

“It's part of the injury I had that you're going to feel this pain when you're on the ice at practice or in a game,” Kane said. “It's part of the process and something I'm going to have to deal with for a little bit.

“I think I'm a little bit ahead of schedule. I'm hopeful (for Sunday), but it's something you don't really want to set a time for because you don't really know when you'll be back. I'm really hopeful for Sunday and hopefully it progresses in the next couple of days.”

Johnson signed:

Center Ryan Johnson officially signed a one-year contract Friday and made his Hawks debut against the Red Wings. Coach Joel Quenneville said the 34-year-old Johnson has a lot to offer in terms of defensive play.

“He gives us some experience, some speed, faceoffs, penalty-killer and blocked shots,” Quenneville said. “That's something we can add. We think he can give us some energy as well.”

Johnson is very familiar with the Hawks, having spent the last few seasons with Vancouver on the other side of the bitter rivalry.

“Getting two stabs at trying to beat them hasn't worked out so I figured I'd come to the other side and give that a go,” Johnson joked.

Tip-ins:

Defenseman Jassen Cullimore played Friday despite being on waivers. The Hawks will address the situation today. … Viktor Stalberg (upper body) was out of the lineup.