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Chicago puts Montador on waivers

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James

The Chicago Blackhawks have placed defenseman Steve Montador on waivers, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.

Mondator, 33, was recently cleared to resume playing after recovering from a serious concussion suffered last February. Last week, he spoke about the tough times endured while getting back to full health.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety and depression that comes with that,” said Montador, per CSNChicago.com. “I’ve had a lot of help to work through that and I feel like I’ve taken the right steps.”

On the depression the 33-year-old has experienced: “The first time I ever heard the word depression… there’s some stigma around it. What I’ve learned from my condition (is that) actual neural transmitters are being prevented from connecting and being used in the brain, so it’s an actual physical issue.”

Montador signed a four-year, $11 million deal with Chicago prior to last season and got off to a solid start, racking up 14 points in his first 52 games.

We’re still waiting for clarification as to why Chicago would place Montador on waivers rather than assign him directly to AHL Rockford for a conditioning stint.

(In a similar move, the Capitals sent veteran defenseman Tom Poti to AHL Hershey this year on a 14-day conditioning assignment, without waiving him.)