Chicago Blackhawks Morning Links- Bad Break

Good morning Chicago Blackhawks fans! The Western Conference is all tied up, but some bad news for the Nashville Predators was announced on Friday. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to tie up the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night, but the biggest news of the day had to be this news out of Nashville.

Ryan Johansen had to have emergency surgery, and is out for the remainder of the playoffs.  That is really bad news for the Predators because Johansen was the center of the best line in the Stanley Cup playoffs so far this season with Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson.

That line dominated the Chicago Blackhawks in their sweep in the first round, and honestly they were able to skate circles around Jonathan Toews, and they had carried it over to the next two rounds.

This is the problem with the NHL and the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s a war of attrition sometimes ,and just when some of the Nashville Predators are becoming more of a household name because of their great play and winning games.  The Injury bug comes calling and now the NHL is missing one of its young and up and coming stars in this years playoffs.

More from Blackhawks News

• Blackhawks vs Flames: Date, Time, Lineup, Betting Odds, More
• Three Takeaways from the Blackhawks’ Win vs Vancouver
• Blackhawks: Why Derek King is the Right Coach moving forward
• Marc-Andre Fleury Carries the Blackhawks to a 4-2 Win vs Seattle
• Instant Reaction: Blackhawks top Kraken for first time in history

The question is will the Nashville Predators be able to rally around the fallen Johansen or will this give the Ducks just enough of an edge to win 2 out of the next 3 games.

More from Blackhawk Up

• Blackhawks: Three Noticeable Improvements in Comeback Win vs Blues
• Blackhawks: Key Takeaways from 3-2 win over the Blues
• Blackhawks: Grading Connor Murphy and a position comparison
• Blackhawks: Shuffling the lines to try and spark offense at 5 on 5
• These Lineup Changes could Solve the Blackhawks’ Scoring Problem

Here are some morning links to start your weekend.

Some Chicago Blackhawks fans choice awards were handed out this week (Blackhawks)

Are you feeling better about the Blackhawks while watching the Predators (Tribune)

Why the Chicago Blackhawks Championship window is still open (Second City)

Which Chicago Blackhawks championship team was the best (CSN)

The Business of Winning.. The Most successful franchises in sports history (Bleacher Report)

Did the Dallas Stars sign Brian Bishop too soon (Blackout Dallas)

The Pittsburgh Penguins survived Game #4 in Ottawa (Pro Hockey Talk)

Throwing a dead duck on the ice is just plain weird (Puck Daddy)