Preview: Hawks Face Kings

The Holiday homestand continues Wednesday night with a date with the Royal Half of Southern California. The Kings come in with a new coach, a restless fanbase, expectations not being met, and an air of desperation. They should be a passionate opponent. First for the Hawks: Marcus Kruger (more on him later) and Dan Carcillo will not dress. Carcillo needs a few more practices to get his lungs and legs back before he can get back in the lineup after two weeks out. Or it could be that he's being phased into the 13th forward role that we kind of all had him pegged for when he first signed. We shall see. There have been no call-ups, so John Scott will get a look at forward. Both Steve Montador and Patrick Kane didn't practice on Tuesday, but both will play. Kane was under the weather and was probably kept at home to not incubate the rest of the team, though he says the case of strep throat has been around since Christmas. So look for that to pillage through the rest of the dress...