Dach says he still feels pain in his surgically repaired wrist
Kirby Dach said he still feels pain in his surgically repaired right wrist, and while the Chicago Blackhawks forward said he doesn’t fully trust his shot yet, the injury otherwise hasn’t affected his play.
Dach broke his wrist while playing for Canada during the IIHF World Championship in December and originally was expected to miss the season. But he returned late last month and has played five games heading into Tuesday’s home matchup against the Dallas Stars.
Dach said Monday there aren’t “any doubts” lingering in his mind that his wrist is fully functional. But he acknowledged, “There’s pain with it still.”
“It’s a four- to five-month injury and I’ve been playing within three months,” he said. “There’s going to be a little bit of pain with it. The training staff and doctors have done a really good job of managing it and taking care of it after games.
“I don’t really see it as an excuse, where it’s like, ‘My wrist is hurting.’ If I’m out playing on it, I expect to be 100% out there and make the plays and be the player I am.”
Coach Jeremy Colliton dismissed the idea the Hawks might have rushed Dach back before his wrist was ready.
“There’s no way that the medical staff and certainly the organization would have (done that),” Colliton said. “He’s too important for us. I wouldn’t be in favor of playing him if that were a concern.
“Everything that I’ve been told is that this doesn’t slow down his process of feeling 100% at all. In fact, it should speed it up.”
Since returning Dach has taken nine shots and recorded two assists while averaging just over 18 minutes on the ice.
He admitted the wrist injury has entered his thought process when playing on the top line with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat and opting to defer to them.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily confidence in myself,” he said, “but I think it’s confidence in my wrist and how it’s holding up, the strength of that and how much power I have behind that. But at the same time, playing with Cat and Kaner is a lot fun — those guys are always open.”
Colliton said: “It’s just going to take time. It’s reps and taking those shots when someone’s putting their stick in there or finishing a check on you.”
He said Dach wouldn’t see the same level of contact and competition from playing on the taxi squad.
“He’s moving in the right direction and he’ll get there,” Colliton said.
Dach has taken 53 faceoffs and won 37.7% of them.
“It’s full systems go, no reason to hold back and protect my wrist,” he said. “It’s do-ordie, down to the wire. I have to be better at faceoffs; that’s an area I can improve at.
“It still needs some work. You get those reps in practice, it helps you out in games too.”
Dach said his overall game isn’t all the way back, and he has 17 games to catch up as the Hawks chase a playoff spot.
“It’s just confidence things, like in the offensive zone, hanging on to the puck and making plays and trusting my shot more,” he said. “I’ve got a long way to go in getting that back and being comfortable shooting in certain areas.”
On defense, he said he wants to get better at “having a good stick, being in good positions, being a hard player to play against this time of year.”