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During the third period of the Toronto matchup on Saturday, Blackhawks’ defenseman Duncan Keith blocked a shot with his right hand and appeared to get hurt. Today in Florida he was not on the ice for practice, however we got a heaping helping of zilch regarding the full extent of the injury.

Today the Press Pass Patrol reporters on the scene after practice gave word that Head Coach Joel Quenneville said that Keith will be playing tomorrow night against Florida. That’s it. That’s all we get. He could be playing with a broken finger, a torn central slip, severed median nerve, or just a hangnail. For all we know, they’ve already amputated Duncs’ hand completely and replaced it with one like they gave Luke Skywalker. It’s anybody’s guess, and chances are we won’t know until a few days after the Blackhawks’ playoff run comes to a close.

Now, Keith shoots left. That means his right hand is at the butt-end of his stick. So for him this is the “inactive” hand, in comparative terms. There’s a lot of wrist action, but essentially your hand is gripping the end of the stick all night. It’s possible that the trainers can tape Duncs’ fingers in the desired position with a customized brace, numb it with a mild local anesthetic and turn him loose.

I guess my point is, if it was his left hand this would be a much different story. We’ll see tomorrow night if this affects his performance, or if his duties on the power play or penalty kill are reduced because of any physical limitations.

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