The General Managers of every NHL team met for the past three days in Boca Raton, FL to discuss the state of the game. Central to their annual discussions was the recent run of shots to the head, most notably the shot that Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke put on Boston’s Marc Savard that likely ended Savard’s season. After three days of deliberations, the group has agreed to present a motion to the NHLPA’s Competition Committee for their review.

The following language was agreed to unanimously by the group:

“A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline.”

Cooke’s cheap shot, seen below, is a clear-cut example of the type of play this rule change recommendation would make a penalty-drawing offense, if not worse.

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Earlier this year, the Blackhawks had a scare when Willie Mitchell of the Vancouver Canucks left the penalty box and caught Captain Jonathan Toews with a high hit. Clearly, the game is concerned that their younger players are at risk when unnecessary violence takes place on the ice, and is taking steps to avoid these horrific injuries.

What made the presentation of this recommendation strange was the news that came later from the league office. NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell informed the Pittsburgh Penguins that Cooke would not face any league penalty, including any suspension, for his hit on Savard. While the recommended rule change won’t take effect until next season, Campbell noted that suspending Cooke would not be consistent with other, similar issues the league has dealt with this year.

On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks activated forward Adam Burish off the injured reserve.  He is now available to return to game action.

Burish had speculated before the Olympics that Sunday’s game against Detroit might be when he appears in a game for the first time since having surgery on a torn ACL, but it now appears the Blackhawks will wait until they host the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for Burish to see real action again.

When Burish returns, the Hawks will expand an already crowded group of forwards. When center Dave Bolland returned before the Olympics, the Blackhawks were forced to sit a regular contributor on a nightly basis because they had too many bodies for the roster. Colin Fraser and Ben Eager have been the most frequent healthy scratches. When Burish returns, there will be two too many bodies for the spots available.

Before Sunday’s game against Columbus, the Blackhawks made two roster moves.

After Marian Hossa went down on Saturday night, the Hawks needed to add a body to the roster. To accomplish this, Jake Dowell was recalled from Rockford, officially, on Sunday morning.Veteran center John Madden, who has missed a couple games with a lower body injury, was placed in the injured reserve as well.

Whether or not Madden’s move to the IR should be cause for concern won’t be known until after the Olympics in March; the Hawks more likely moved Madden there as a financial move. The salary cap is a tricky thing, and the Hawks are close enough to it that they have been conservative with call-ups all season to save money.

Hossa’s status has not yet been formally updated.

Out with the Old (Barker), In with the New (Johnsson)

In the wake of the Blackhawks trade with the Wild, let’s look at how newcomer Kim Johnsson stacks up against Cam Barker this year.

Age

Barker: 23 (24 on April 4)

Johnsson: 33 (34 on March 16)

Height/Weight

Barker: 6′3  223 lbs

Johnsson: 6′1  187 lbs

“Soft J’s” in Last Name

Barker: 0

Johnsson: 1

Games Played

Barker: 51

Johnsson: 52

Goals

Barker: 4

Johnson: 6

Assists

Barker: 14

Johnson: 8

Plus/Minus

Barker: +7

Johnsson: +3

Average Time on Ice

Barker: 13:06

Johnsson: 23:46

Hits

Barker: 59

Johnsson: 31

Penalty Minutes

Barker: 58

Johnsson: 26

Blocked Shots

Barker: 33

Johnsson: 64

Short-Handed Time on Ice (average/game)

Barker: 0:02

Johnsson: 2:29

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So what do we take away from these numbers? Let me first point out that, in December of 2008, Johnsson served as captain of the Wild. In the ten years he’s been on the earth longer than Barker, he’s played in the 2002 Olympics for Sweden and 43 playoff games; Barker has played in 17 playoff games, all of which were last year.

A few numbers jump off the page. The two that strike me the most are the blocked shots and average short-handed time on ice per game. Johnsson figures to replace Barker on the third defensive pairing with Brent Sopel and should, in theory, play a more significant role in penalty killing.

In a perfect world, Brian Campbell wouldn’t step on the ice short-handed, but because Niklas Hjalmarsson has been banged up, he’s seen more time on the PK lately. The fact that Johnsson averages almost 2:30 per game in short-handed ice time is significant because it will help Sopel stay on the ice further into the playoffs. Despite Sopel’s legendary performance on the PK in overtime against Dallas earlier this week, expecting him to block four shots and play all 120 seconds of a penalty kill in overtime in late April or early May isn’t realistic.

The blocked shots totals are significant because, right now, the Hawks are taking a beating getting between pucks and the net. Every night, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Sopel and Hjalmarsson all seem to leave the ice in pain at some point because they sacrificed their body to keep the puck away from the net. By adding another guy that averages more than one blocked shot per night, coach Joel Quenneville can have more confidence that a veteran will position himself to take one for the team.

Another number that is impressive is the difference between the two in penalty minutes. Considering that Johnsson is averaging more than ten minutes per game more than Barker and has been called for just over half as many penalty minutes means the Hawks are getting a smarter player. The biggest headache Barker gave Blackhawks fans (other than the two guys drafted in front of him) has been stupid penalties. Johnsson’s numbers indicate that he won’t take the dumb penalty.

Adding Johnsson should, as Stan Bowman said when he met with the media on Friday, give Quenneville more options. His presense on the roster should help limit the minutes Keith, Seabrook, Campbell and Hjalmarsson are skating down the stretch, and should put the team into fewer short-handed situations.

Johnsson makes the Blackhawks a better team on paper. But paper can burn, and chances can fade if performance doesn’t match ability and challenges aren’t met. Hopefully this move is the right spark for a team looking to bring home the Stanley Cup for the first time in almost 50 years.

According to a story on ESPNChicago on Thursday evening, Blackhawks forward Adam Burish could return to the lineup immediately after the Olympics.

Burish is quoted by Jesse Rogers, saying, “From talking to the trainers, I think [it’s] some time in that first week of March… Maybe [March 3] or [March 7]. A lot of dates have been thrown around, but some time in that first week.”

This would give coach Joel Quenneville even more possibilities, and headaches, when putting together a lineup. When Dave Bolland returned, it gave the Blackhawks one forward too many. Since that time, Colin Fraser has sat once and Ben Eager twice.

Eager will not play this weekend and missed Tuesday’s game against Dallas because of a lower-body injury. He has missed time already this year because of recurring issues from concussions, and could be a candidate for a trip to the injured reserve if he’s hurting after the Olympic break. The crowded roster for the Blackhawks, coupled with the need to cut payroll for next year and the team’s chance to go deep into the playoffs, makes the Hawks a likely trade candidate before the March 3 deadline.

Kris Versteeg is still here... for now...

If only Stan Bowman had advised Adam and Eve.

The Hawks had a great opportunity in the last week to acquire an elite scorer in a trade, but ended up not pulling the trigger. The Atlanta Thrashers instead dealt Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Johnny Oduya, forward Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and the Devils 2010 first round draft pick. The teams also swapped their 2010 second round picks in the deal. (Side Note: Cormier is indeed the player recently suspended for the rest of his minor league season for throwing an awful elbow into the head of an opposing player. You have likely heard his name in the last month, and will again; he’s a pretty good prospect.) This is a nice haul for the Thrashers, but it likely could have been better if Bowman had wanted in.

Not making this deal is the right thing to do, though, and I applaud Bowman’s patience. Though some of my colleagues (John Jaekel for one) might have been at the head of the bandwagon to pull the trigger, my excitement over adding another all star was restrained by the reality that there’s only one puck on the ice at any time, and making a good team even better in once aspect of the game at the expense of others likely wouldn’t have solved the bigger issues for the Hawks, and ultimately not helped achieve the ultimate goal of a championship.

The Blackhawks are fourth in the NHL in scoring at 3.16 goals per game entering Friday’s action, and only San Jose and Vancouver are ahead of them among Western Conference teams. Three goals a night should be good enough to win, but the knee jerk reaction of many casual fans after a couple lazy losses is that something needs to change. Every team goes through stretches where the offense struggles; we’ve all forgotten the Blackhawks scored 43 goals in their first nine games after Christmas (4.78 per night). The Blackhawks offense is as deep as any in the NHL, and adding a player like Kovalchuk would almost be too many weapons.

In fact, if you watched Bowman’s appearance between the first and second period on Wednesday night, or listened to owner Rocky Wirtz’s appearance on ESPN 1000’s “Waddle and Silvy” on Thursday, it because pretty clear that the Hawks were looking to bolster their defense. Wirtz was asked point-blank whether or not the Hawks were in the mix on Kovalchuk, and while he didn’t dismiss the idea he did say the Hawks, if they made a move, would look to add players that added to the team’s overall mold of solid two-way players. The Cliff Notes: Kovalchuk doesn’t play defense, so we don’t want him.

There is little doubt that the Hawks will make a move at some point between now and the March 3 deadline, but the reasonable and logical move would be to bolster the blue line. Ecklund, who spins as many rumors as TMZ with less documentation, has picked up a rumor that claims the Blackhawks stepped away from the bidding for Kovalchuk to keep pieces, presumably Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker, available for a trade to acquire Scott Niedermayer. Niedermayer, who is the captain of Canada’s Olympic team (which will have three Blackhawks in uniform I might add), would likely mean more to the Blackhawks on the ice than Kovalchuk could have because of his experience and ability. He isn’t the only name being linked to the Hawks, though.

Dreger has the Hawks interested in Andrzej Mezsaros, Spector says Sean O’Donnell, and the rest of the blogosphere has pretty much any experience defenseman with an expiring contract coming to Chicago in exchange for Versteeg, Barker, Andrew Ladd, Patrick Sharp and/or Dustin Byfuglien. Reality is that the Blackhawks have players hypothetically available that every NHL team would want, and can afford to make a deal or two to improve the team.

The Eastern Conference has now become a three horse race it appears, with the Devils joining the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals at the elite level. This could certainly help the Blackhawks to make a deal into the East as teams will undoubtedly react to this bold move by New Jersey by trying to add players to combat Kovalchuk’s presence. After all, the Flyers brought in Chris Pronger specifically because of the big forwards in the East like Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh and Alexander Ovechkin in Washington, so seeing another move forced by reaction to Kovalchuk going to New Jersey isn’t far from happening.

So while the sexy move might have been nice, it wouldn’t have been the right move for the Blackhawks at this point. Yes, there are still some questions between the pipes, and the depth on the blue line could use some help, but the offense isn’t the issue. So before you throw your coffee mug across the room, be thankful Versteeg and Company will still be playing together against Phoenix on Friday night.

Rumors are swirling that Dave Bolland will return to the ice for the Blackhawks on Wednesday night at the United Center when the Blackhawks host the St. Louis Blues.

Bolland has been out since Nov. 5 because of a back injury (herniated disc) that required surgery. In the 13 games Bolland played for the Hawks before going under the knife, he scored two goals, was credited with four assists, and was +3.

If Bolland is in the lineup, the questions being dodged for the last month become relevant: who’s the odd man/men out?

The first issue to consider is the how coach Joel Quenneville puts his lines together with Bolland being available. The general assumption is that Bolland will be playing center on the Hawks second line, but it isn’t guaranteed that he’ll jump straight into the mix between Marian Hossa and either Patrick Sharp or another skilled wing in his first game action in almost three months. He might not be ready for the speed of the game, and expecting him to carry the 18-20 minutes required of the second line center would be an aggressive, and potentially irresponsible, move.

So where does Bolland go?

One logical spot would be into the third line. Bolland skated with Kris Versteeg at times last year, and has familiarity with both Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd. In this scenario, the top two lines for the Hawks would stay intact, and Bolland would bump John Madden to the fourth line with Ben Eager and Tomas Kopecky. Unfortunately for Colin Fraser, his roster spot is in jeopardy if this is the lineup Quenneville uses.

Another option would be to move Sharp back to wing opposite Hossa and indeed drop Bolland into his slot as the second center. That would shift Ladd down to either the third or fourth line, and could move Byfuglien down as well. In this scenario, Eager or Kopecky could be watching the game from the suite. Frankly, having Kopecky off the ice isn’t a terrible scenario; despite playing better lately, Kopecky still has the worst plus-minus on the roster at -4 and has scored only 11 points this season.

There’s another scenario that appears to be gaining consideration from many analysts, though.

All season, especially after the extensions to Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were signed, the Blackhawks have been in the forefront of trade rumors because of their salary cap situation. In early January, CommittedIndians discussed the long term reality for the Hawks roster, and at that time we postulated that it would be Ladd that might be dealt during the season because of his expiring contract.* Even though Ladd will be a restricted free agent after the season, odds are that the Hawks won’t be able to afford him, and moving him during the season to bolster the blue line makes more sense than waiting for the draft.

Considering the return of Bolland, it makes more sense that the Hawks are picking up steam in trade rumors. A number of sites, including the Daily Herald, have linked the Blackhawks to Pittsburgh defenseman Jay McKee. McKee was a healthy scratch last night, which has only elevated speculation that he could be moving. However, if the Hawks are going to make a move it would figure to A) be for a younger player than Brent Sopel and B) be for a player who’s better than Cam Barker. McKee fill neither of those criteria. However, according to one story, “McKee is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound physical, stay-at-home defenseman who interested the Hawks last summer before he signed as a free agent with the Penguins for only $800,000.”

That doesn’t sound like a player that would cost as much as Ladd, or even Sopel for that matter. If Pittsburgh was willing or able to take Sopel’s cap hit off the Hawks’ books, I’m sure Stan Bowman would sign on the dotted line with anything that writes, but that doesn’t seem to be logical or realistic.

Other names the Hawks have been linked to as potentially bringing depth to the blue line for the rest of the season have been Carolina’s Aaron Ward, Toronto’s Garnet Exelby and Los Angeles’ Sean O’Donnell. Considering the action that’s already taken place in Toronto this week, a move with Brian Burke and the Leafs is certainly possible.

What could evolve into an intriguing scenario, though, is how willing Carolina becomes to dump veterans. The Hurricanes are playing well, as the Hawks unfortunately found out on Saturday night, but are far from playoff contention in the East. They have been rumored to be ready to clean house, but are waiting for the right offer(s). A name that would look good in Chicago is Ray Whitney, who’s rumored to be drawing more interest than Ilya Kovalchuk right now. Whitney, 37, has scored 41 points this year and has the desired expiring contract that would make him a great veteran to add to the Hawks’ roster for the stretch. If he and Aaron Ward were packaged together, it would present enough value that the Hawks could consider sending a package including Barker and perhaps Ladd to Carolina.

Of course the Hawks have a history of dealing with the Canes; Ladd was acquired from Carolina just two years ago.

However the roster shakes down, it’s encouraging to have a healthy Bolland back on the ice. He’s one of the more skilled players on the roster, and Hawks management considers his Hockey IQ to be elite. The Hawks are three points behind San Jose for the best record in hockey, and they’re about to get better.

What a busy day for the Blackhawks! First Ryan Kesler whines like a baby about Andrew Ladd smacking him around like Gary Coleman’s girlfriend, then Cristobal Huet gets his gig back as the Hawks Number One netminder, now there’s positive news on the injury front.

Coach Joel Quenneville said Dave Bolland, who has been out since mid-November after back surgery, will join the team and begin taking part in team practices in Edmonton on Tuesday. Bolland hopes to be back by early February, in time to skate in a few games before the Olympic break.

No timetable has officially been set for Bolland’s return to game action, but Quenneville was clearly excited at the prospect of getting another center back into the lineup.

After Monday’s practice, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said that Cristobal Huet would get the start in net for Tuesday night’s game in Edmonton against the struggling Oilers.

The move could help Huet’s confidence after Antti Niemi received consecutive starts for the first time this year. Edmonton currently ranks 21st in the NHL in goals per game (2.58) and 24th in shots on net (28.8), statistics that are clear indications as to why the Oilers are in last place in the Western Conference with only 38 points in 50 games. The next-worst team in the West is Columbus, at 49 points.

Edmonton’s defense hasn’t help their case, either. The Oilers are 29th in the NHL, allowing 3.36 goals per game on 31.7 shots per night, a number good for only 25th in the league.

After a rough stretch of games, at least on paper, the Oilers might be the perfect rebound for the Hawks before they head into San Jose for a huge game with the Sharks.

Cam Barker, who has missed the last five Blackhawks games with an upper body injury, is expected to return to the lineup for Saturday afternoon’s contest in Columbus.

Barker has struggled statistically this year, with only 13 points (four goals, nine assists), and hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 11 against Colorado. Coming off a 40-point season in 2008-09, Barker has failed to emerge as a consistent force on the power play and has fallen to the third defensive pairing.

Considering his $3 million cap number, Barker might be on borrowed time in Chicago. With Adam Burish and Dave Bolland coming back from injury soon, Barker, 23, will likely continue to be among the more popular Hawks in trade rumors between now and the Olympics in February. Jordan Hendry has filled in admirably for Barker over the last couple weeks.