Blackhawks reassign Jokiharju; Crawford's potential return pushed back

The Blackhawks reassigned Henri Jokiharju to Rockford on Saturday, one day after the rookie defenseman played just nine minutes and 14 seconds against Colorado.

"I just think the other guys played pretty well," coach Jeremy Colliton said. "When I look at Henri's game, we're happy. I see growth from when he left us to go to Rockford to now."

Colliton said that although Carl Dahlstrom was sick, he probably could have played against Colorado, but he elected to go with Jokiharju instead.

"We wanted to get Henri in seeing as we called him up," Colliton said. "But we feel he's where he should be, in Rockford. We're happy with his progression and how he's handling it. He's playing 21, 22 minutes every night."

Colliton remains adamant that the seven defensemen on the roster are the ones who give the Hawks the best chance to win. Jokiharju had 1 goal and 8 assists in nine contests before the IceHogs' game at Hersey on Saturday.

Crawford update:

Corey Crawford's timetable to take his return-to-play concussion test keeps getting pushed back. Instead of taking it this weekend, as was expected, Crawford is now expected to take it sometime this week.

"There's a schedule and everyone's being cautious," said coach Jeremy Colliton. "He's a very important part of our team and obviously this isn't the first one he's had so it's important that we're sure he's ready. It's a good situation having him kick in the door in to play. That's what we want."

Crawford, who participated in practice at MB Ice Arena on Tuesday, has not played since getting injured against San Jose on Dec. 16.

Other injury updates:

Brent Seabrook, who missed the last three games with an abdominal strain, practiced Saturday and will likely play against Dallas at the United Center on Sunday.

"He feels better than he has," said coach Jeremy Colliton.

Colliton is also "hopeful" that Marcus Kruger, who suffered a foot injury against the Avs, can play.