Forward Colin Blackwell will make his season debut for the Blackhawks on Thursday against the Avalanche.
Blackwell, who hasn’t played a game since February 27, has been sidelined due to a sports hernia. He underwent a successful surgery on March 23 but hasn’t had a smooth recovery.
"The summer kind of sucked," Blackwell told NBC Sports Chicago in October. "I was here all summer doing rehab, and I just kind of had a couple of setbacks. And then, before training camp, after a setback, I was just trying to skate. So when training camp [arrived], hopefully, I could get over the hump, and unfortunately I had another setback."
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"It was very frustrating. It's been a long time, and it was just several months ago. It's just been one thing after another, but we've been able to kind of figure some things out and kind of get over the hump," he added.
In his first season with the Blackhawks, Blackwell recorded 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 53 games. He also logged 11:48 of ice time, mostly playing in a fourth-line role when he was in the lineup.