Andrew Shaw will not play Thursday for the Blackhawks after entering concussion protocol, the team announced.
The 29-year-old Shaw played only 26 games last season after entering concussion protocol in Dec. 2019. He returned to the team for the start of the 2020-21 season and had played all 14 games for Chicago, averaging a little over 15 minutes night. He took an elbow to the face from Joel Hanley of the Stars Tuesday night.
“It’s terrible,” said Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton. “I don’t have much more to say other than that. Very disappointing.”
This is where Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol) was elbowed in face by Dallas Stars defenseman Joel Hanley during Tuesday's game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/866AZi7lkJ
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 11, 2021
As recent as this week Shaw was talking about how happy he was to be back with his teammates after spending the last year getting healthy.
“I love being at home with my family, but in that circumstance, it was obviously tough,” he said. “Coming back from the injury, rehab, getting back into shape, it was tough. It was a long year, but all worth it. It’s great to be back with the guys. Being in the room is a lot of fun, obviously. Being on the road with the guys is one of the best parts of hockey. It’s good to be back. I’m sure I’ve annoyed people already, but whatever.”
Shaw said in January that he did think about retirement during his layoff but was fully focused on getting 100% healthy.
“It’s the personal part that’s hard to swallow,” said Colliton, whose own NHL career was ended by concussions. “Not much to say about it. We’ve got to professionally do our job and come in here and play hard. We have a good thing going but we have to earn it every day. Part of it is doing it without your full group. We have to do both -- feel for Shawzy and get it done anyway.”
————
Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.