Between the Circles

Daniel Carcillo, who injured his right knee in the first game of the season at Los Angeles, has started skating again.

Carcillo skated with injured teammates Steve Montador and Rostislav Olesz on Tuesday at the United Center, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

Montador has missed all season with a concussion while Olesz has missed all year with a knee injury.

“We had three guys skate prior to practice, and they’re all progressing,” Quenneville said. “Danny still is not in our practices yet, but hopefully at some point this week he might get injected. He started skating last week, probably the middle of the week.”

Carcillo was skating on the first line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa when he got hurt, but that role now belongs to rookie Brandon Saad.

Apparently Dave Bolland’s right leg injury looked worse than it turned out to be.

Bolland didn’t play Saturday at Calgary, but he won’t miss too much time with an injury coach Joel Quenneville described as day to day.

Bolland, who will stay on the trip, was hurt two minutes into the third period Friday against Vancouver when he was chopped on the leg by the stick of Jannik Hansen. He would miss the rest of the game.

“He got hit with a stick, but no complaints,” Quenneville said.

With Bolland out, Andrew Shaw moved up and centered the second line. Marcus Kruger took over center on the third line and Jamal Mayers and Michal Frolik were expected to share duties at center on the fourth line.

Because of the lockout and their first-round elimination from the playoffs, it’s been nine months since the Blackhawks last played a game at the United Center. That changes tonight when they host the St. Louis Blues in what is expected to be the team’s 191st consecutive sellout. “Our fans are the best,” defenseman Duncan Keith said following Tuesday’s morning skate. “It just shows the passion they have for the Blackhawks and the game of hockey. It’s an Original 6 team and there are a lot of Blackhawks fans all over the continent, especially here in Chicago.” Added Patrick Kane: “I think the fans are going to be very excited to come back and watch a game here at the United Center. It’s going to be a fun night.”

Blackhawks left winger Daniel Carcillo will miss about a month, according to coach Joel Quenneville, with a right knee injury. The injury occurred late in the third period of Saturday’s 5-2 win at Los Angeles when he got tangled up with Drew Doughty along the boards. It’s not the same knee that Carcillo hurt last season. He spent most of the last year rehabbing a torn ACL in his left knee. “Danny’s probably going to be out about a month,” Quenneville said Sunday. “No surgery. It’s unfortunate he finally gets back and had 10 great minutes. But keep your spirits up, work through it and get excited to come back again. He knows the process of what’s required in that rehab area and the commitment that’s needed to get his game back to where it was.”

The Blackhawks announced Thursday the launch of the Blackhawks Fan Salute program as an expression of gratitude to the fans for suffering through the lockout. Through the program, the Hawks will give away 1,000 autographed jerseys over the course of the 99-day NHL season. The Hawks will also show their appreciation by awarding 250 autographed pucks and 100 autographed sticks signed by a current player or Hawks ambassador, 200-level tickets and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such as a postgame player meet-and-greet, pregame dinner with an ambassador in the Stadium Club, glass seats and more.

The Blackhawks got down to business on the power play Wednesday morning with a few new wrinkles. The first unit looked similar with the exception of Andrew Shaw in front of the net. There was Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa along the walls with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith at the points. The second unit consisted of Patrick Sharp and Nick Leddy at the points, Viktor Stalberg in front and Dave Bolland and Patrick Kane along the walls.

Last season one of the biggest failures of the Blackhawks’ power play was a lack of a real net front presence. Now coach Joel Quenneville will turn to Viktor Stalberg and Andrew Shaw to see if they can get the job done. “I think Viktor is going to be a guy we’re going to put there,” Quenneville said. “And Shaw might get put in that role as well. He seems to position himself in some pretty good spots around and has a nice stick. “Viktor has been talked about that and working in that as well. This is a great opportunity for him. He has produced very well for us 5-on-5, but an opportunity to get that quality ice time is what everybody wants, to be on the power play. He’s got a big body and a quick stick.”

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said he just got the new collective bargaining agreement on Saturday so he would need a few days to study it before identifying the biggest changes. “We haven’t been able to dive into every little detail,” Bowman said. “We certainly know the significant things that have changed. For the most part it’s similar CBA to the old one with a few new wrinkles. We’ll spend our time making sure we know it inside out.” The salary cap this season is a pro-rated $70.2 million. Next season it drops to $64.3 million, which could leave some teams scrambling to get under it. Bowman doesn’t believe the Hawks will have any such problems.

Add center Brandon Pirri, winger Brandon Saad and defenseman Ryan Stanton to the Blackhawks' training camp roster. That brings to seven the number of players recalled from the AHL. Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger, Brandon Bollig and Nick Leddy have been in town most of the week. There are 15 forwards, nine defensemen and two goalies on the training camp roster. Defenseman Steve Montador is on the roster but has suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion.

Patrick Kane would do it all over again. Spending time playing in Switzerland waiting for the NHL lockout to end was well worth it for the Blackhawks star winger. "I think it's going to be big for me," Kane said Thursday. "Before I came back I think I played eight games in 10 days, at one point five in five nights. It was really good for my conditioning and my skating. Obviously the game is going to be a little different over here, but I'm glad I did it. It was a good eeperience for me." Kane, Bryan Bickell and Michal Frolik all were back from Europe and on the ice with their Hawks teammates Thursday at Johnny's IceHouse West. So was Nick Leddy, finally up from Rockford. Those Hawks still missing are Johnny Oduya, Steve Montador, Michal Rozisval and Ray Emery.