Andreas Athanasiou's time in the AHL takes a horrible turn with medical update from the Chicago Blackhawks

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Joshua Deeds
November 19, 2024 (4:15 PM)

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After Andreas Athanasiou was shipped to the AHL, he went to work quickly and scored 28 seconds into his first shift on the ice.

Now, after his run in the AHL has started off with a bang, now the troubles start again.

Athanasiou would play 3 games in Rockford, scoring 2 points before being injured, according to Ben Pope of the CST it is a wrist injury.

The circumstances surrounding Athanasiou are tough given he had just returned from an injury that affected him last season.

He only played 28 games in 2023-2024 due to a groin injury and saw him score 9 points( 2 G, 7 A).

Recall from February of last season:

Athanasiou has missed nearly four months now - 47 games and counting - with what he described as a groin- and hip-related injury on his right side. He hasn't played since Nov. 9 in Tampa, Florida, which was the Hawks' last road victory.

While the severity of the injury has yet to be determined this just puts another obstacle in Athanasiou's eventual return to the NHL.

This season he only played 8 games(3 in the AHL) and has accumulated 2 points( 2 G ) in that period.

There's been speculation that his time in the AHL wouldn't be for long, but Richardson's statement on Athanasiou sounded resolute about the winger's game.

«He missed a lot of hockey then and unfortunately just not clicking on all cylinders yet this year, not in the lineup that much,» Richardson said. «So that was the message, if you get picked up, that's probably good for you. That means you'll be playing in the NHL. But if not, we need him to just go play some games and get his skill matched up with his confidence. This league is really not for that.»

It's a tough break for Athanasiou who was healthy and ready to go and like the majority of Blackhawks at this point in time, have dealt with some kind of offensive slump.

We wish him well in his recovery, hopefully short and sweet, and will return to the Blackhawks organization when healthy again.