Blackhawks get huge Petr Mrazek update ahead of Kraken clash
12/19/2024 03:58 PM
After five games on the shelf, Chicago Blackhawks veteran goaltender Petr Mrazek was activated off of injured reserve on Thursday, the team announced. The veteran was injured in a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on December 7.
Mrazek is set to backup Arvid Soderblom in Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Kraken at the United Center. The 32-year-old could be an option to start as soon as Saturday afternoon in Calgary.
“It's a relief that it wasn't anything serious,” Mrazek said, per NHL.com’s Tracey Myers. “I felt I was just being more careful with it. In the past you stay in the net and you get it worse. Dealing with that and then with the flu, everything in one, was the thing. Just get through it and get back on track.”
Mrazek was injured after falling awkwardly while making a save in the first period against Winnipeg. He immediately went to the locker room, and was originally given a timeline of 1-2 weeks.
“It happened, I think it was the second shot of the game,” Mrazek told Myers. “I thought there was a backdoor play and I just kicked it away too hard and there was no back door. [Jets forward Mark] Scheifele didn't drive the net how I thought he would. So I stayed for another seven, eight minutes to see how it was going to feel but there wasn't much going on (not many shots), so I couldn't test it.”
In a corresponding move, the Blackhawks assigned netminder Drew Commesso to the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs. He appeared in two games with Mrazek on the shelf, going 0-1-0 with a 3.36 goals-against average and .846 save percentage.
Mrazek should be back to starting duties on Saturday against the Flames; the Czechia native has posted a 7-11-1 record in 2024-25, along with a 2.83 GAA and a .906 SV%.
The Hawks have gone 3-2 without Mrazek in the lineup. The squad has won to games in a row for just the second time this season; a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday was followed up by a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
Now 11-19-2 and fighting to stay out of the Western Conference basement, Chicago will look to make it back-to-back-to-back wins when puck drops at the United Center on Thursday.
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