BOSTON — Taylor Hall’s eventful week culminated in an unfortunate way.
The new Blackhawks forward became a new dad Sunday, made his Hawks debut Tuesday, returned to Boston to face his former team Wednesday and then suffered an upper-body injury that will keep him out for several weeks.
Hall was slow to get up from a hit by Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo in the first minute of the second period of the Hawks’ eventual 3-1 loss. He spent some time in the locker room, tried to take one more shift and then was ruled out for the game. His shoulder looked like the issue.
Hawks coach Luke Richardson later described Hall’s status as “week-to-week.”
“He’s probably going to be out for a little bit,” Richardson said. “We’ll just see how everything settles down.”
Richardson criticized the play by Carlo, who hit an unsuspecting Hall while the Hawks were attempting a defensive-zone breakout. The hit itself was clearly legal, but the contact was borderline interference, although it wasn’t penalized.
“That’s a blindside hit,” Richardson said. “That’s a guy coming across the ice. That’s what the game is trying to get rid of. I know exactly what it is because I used to do it all the time. But now it’s not in the game.”
Earlier on, Hall and fellow Bruins-turned-Hawks teammate Nick Foligno received a big ovation for their “welcome back” tribute in the first period. Hall said Monday he would appreciate being in attendance for the Bruins’ pregame centennial celebration since he personally experienced 2.5 of those 100 years of franchise history.
And just this past Sunday, Hall and his wife gave birth to their son, Stetson. Hall entered the five-game opening trip acknowledging the strangeness of missing his son but keeping a positive attitude about the situation.
Message to Phillips
Prospect defenseman Isaak Phillips was probably the toughest cut at the end of Hawks training camp.
He arguably played well enough to earn a roster spot, but the glut of other young defensemen ahead of him (Alex Vlasic, Kevin Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser) and his waiver exemption led to him starting a fourth consecutive season in the AHL.
Richardson’s message to Phillips was clear: “Be like Vlasic last year.”
The Hawks planted Vlasic in Rockford most of last season, believing it would benefit him to establish a rhythm as a team’s No. 1 defenseman — and be relied upon to handle big minutes in all situations — rather than bouncing in and out of the NHL lineup.
That approach paid off, readying Vlasic to start this season on the Hawks’ first pair and play more than 20 minutes on opening night.
“Obviously, I wasn’t too happy when I got sent down last year,” Vlasic said. “But looking back, I’m extremely thankful for management and how they dealt with me. Sending me down, giving me the opportunity to play and really develop my game, it helped me get to where I am today. The amount of experience I gained there was amazing.”
The Hawks hope the same approach pays off equally well with Phillips, who admittedly was drafted one year later than Vlasic (2020 vs. 2019). Vlasic said he has “complete faith” it will. Richardson said Phillips was receptive and understanding about the unwanted news as well as Richardson’s advice.
‘Your assignment is to take that last step, be that main guy and work on your puck movement skills,” Richardson told him. “His skating is excellent. His assertiveness playing defense was getting better, but he can even take a step more and be ‘The Man’ out there. Command [the ice] and show that [to the extent] where people even stop dumping it in your corner.”
