Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa ready to go after hit to the head
BY MARK LAZERUS mlazerus@suntimes.com February 22, 2013 4:20PM
Chicago Blackhawks right winger Marian Hossa takes part in pre-game warmups before facing the Nashville Predators Tuesday January 24, 2012 at the United Center. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times
Updated: February 22, 2013 4:23PM
Marian Hossa insisted he wasn’t being reckless by returning to the ice Friday, three days after feeling “shaky” for nearly an hour after getting hit in the back of the head by Vancouver’s Jannik Hansen.
“I feel good,” he said Friday morning. “If I had a little doubt, I wouldn’t go, I wouldn’t play, I wouldn’t practice. Everything’s clear.”
Hossa suffered a severe concussion last April in the playoffs on an illegal hit by Phoenix’s Raffi Torres, and wasn’t cleared until mid-November. But he said he passed all the protocols and computer tests required to be cleared by team doctors, and that he didn’t actually sustain a concussion on the Hansen hit.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said the team took every precaution before clearing Hossa.
“He’s got to make sure he’s comfortable and we’re comfortable with him playing,” he said. “We always look at the history. There’s some hurdles, and tests you’ve got to make sure you face and pass. And organizationally, he’s ready to go and he’s cleared.”
As for Canucks coach Alain Vigneault’s continued dismissal of the hit, telling reporters he “got a chuckle” out of the one-game suspension handed to Hansen, Hossa had some pointed words.
“That coach wouldn’t like it if it happened to their player,” he said. “He’d react differently.”
