On Thursday night, the Chicago Blackhawks play host to the Winnipeg Jets. Prior to the game, goaltender Anton Forsberg sustained an injury during warmup and was forced to miss his scheduled start. The injury caused the Blackhawks to put recent Rockford IceHogs call-up Collin Delia in net to make his NHL debut earlier than scheduled.
Delia Makes Unexpected NHL Debut
Delia was recalled by the Blackhawks earlier in the week after J.F. Berube cleared waivers and was assigned to the Rockford IceHogs. This rookie season has been a roller-coaster, starting back in the summer when he signed with Chicago after being a Prospect Camp invitee. Delia began the season with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and in 10 appearances, his record stood at 1-7-0 with a .877 save-percentage and a goals against average above 4.00.
Due to injuries across the organization, Delia made his way to the IceHogs in the AHL. He found success at the AHL level after a shaky start and holds a 14-6-2 record in 24 appearances, with a goals against average of 2.68 and a .904 save-percentage.
Delia played three seasons with Merrimack College before signing his first professional contract with the Blackhawks this past summer. He earned the 2016-17 Hockey-East Goaltender of the year award in his final season at Merrimack.
With the drop of the puck, the Blackhawks will have had 10 different players make their NHL debut with the team this season.
The NHL has got to renegotiate this bullshit injury reporting garbage.
Well, Forsberg hurt himself during the pregame warmup. I’m sure it wasn’t pre-existing.