It Ain't Much, But . . .
At this time two weeks ago, as a certain overpaid hack prepared his
bi-weekly serving of mush, things looked grim for the Blackhawks.
They had just dropped consecutive decisions in Southern California
to go 1-12-2 in their last 15 games and had road dates with
Phoenix and Edmonton to look forward to.
Worst of all, certain members of the trigger-happy media were
calling for the head of rookie coach Dirk Graham, unwilling to
give his brand of "Blackhawk hockey" a fighting chance.
It's two weeks later now, and all is well. The Hawks are riding
a three-game winning streak and are poised to vault into the ranks
of playoff contention. And everybody loves the coach they call
"Duke".
Alright, maybe things aren't quite that sunny. But there are signs
that the Hawks might have woken from their November nightmare.
A weak pulse was detected November 24th against the team with the
NHL's best record, the Phoenix Coyotes. The Hawks played what was
generally regarded as their best period of the year in the second
frame of this contest, outshooting the Coyotes 15-4 and keeping them
pinned in their own end for long stretches.
However, the Hawks only managed one goal out of the effort and
immediately undid all their hard work with five minutes of play
that typified their season.
Early in the third period, 12 seconds into a power play, Keith
Tkachuk found himself with the puck about 10 feet in front of
Jocelyn Thibault and no Blackhawks within a country mile. Needless
to say, he scored.
Not one minute later, who's alone in front of the Hawks' net with
the puck? Frat boy hero Keith Tkachuk, that's who. This time he
shanked the puck wide of Thibault, but wouldn't you know it, Jeremy
Roenick's man had left him to try and get to Tkachuk, so Roenick
picked up the errant shot and directed it home.
Now, much as I dislike him, Keith Tkachuk is that rarest of
modern NHL beasts, the 50-goal scorer. You might want to put a
body on him, especially when he's camped out between the circles
in your zone.
This defensive brain cramp, followed by a lackluster effort in
Calgary -- where a Tony Amonte hat trick was wasted in a 5-4 loss --
seemed to indicate that things were still business as usual.
But the team put forth a game, if not flawless, effort the next
night in Edmonton, overcoming 83 Edmonton power plays to post a 3-2
win. Add to that consecutive home wins against crappy teams, and
these Hawks begin to resemble last year's mediocre-but-not-terrible
bunch.
They're still giving up way too many shots, and breakdowns in their
own end are still commonplace, but it looks like the Hawks' very
worst days may be behind them.
Hello, Stranger
The apparent turnaround in the Blackhawks' fortunes coincided
exactly with the return of Ed Olczyk from his exile in the IHL.
Not that Eddie O has exactly carried the team, but he has
established a nice working relationship with linemates Tony Amonte
and Alex Zhamnov.
While Eddie's numbers haven't been huge in the five games he's been
back, his linemates' certainly have. Amonte has nine goals in that
stretch (and only one was an empty-netter) while Zhamnov has potted
five and assisted on five more.
Meanwhile, the mere fact that three guys skated on the same line
five games in a row is news around here. While Dirk Graham refuses
to say the words "top line", it's clear that these three are by far
the Hawks' biggest scoring threat, and don't expect Graham to break
them up until the goals stop coming.
I Thought We Were Done With That Lysiak Thing
It's a good thing Dale Tallon has moved from the Blackhawks'
broadcast booth into the front office, because his commentary on
the officiating in the Chicago/Edmonton game November 29th would
undoubtedly have breached the limits of FCC regulations.
Janne Niinimaa was whistled for tripping at 11:11 of the first
period, and from then on referees Bill McCreary and Don Van
Massenhoven had their one-way glasses on. The duo awarded seven
straight power plays to the Oilers, including three in a bizarre
triple minor on Christian Laflamme. (OK, I know I wrote "83 power
plays" before. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.)
McCreary gave four minutes to Laflamme for high-sticking Todd
Marchant, and when the young defenseman respectfully pointed out
that his stick had not come within several inches of Marchant's
head, McCreary added two for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Hawks managed to kill all six minutes of that power play and
were rewarded with two more shorthanded chances in the third
period. The final insult came when Tony Amonte was clotheslined
behind the Edmonton net while shorthanded. No call was made, and
the Oilers later capitalized on the man advantage.
The Hawks managed to win that game, due in large part to Jocelyn
Thibault's best effort yet in the Chicago nets, but were left to
wonder if certain NHL officials just don't like that Indian-head
sweater.
Playing Doctor
For the third time in as many years, the Blackhawks' medical staff
is at the center of a controversy.
In Game 4 of the second round of the 1996 playoffs, Chris Chelios
sought out team doctor Louis Kolb before the game, complaining
of a pulled groin. Kolb gave him a shot of Novocain to ease the
pain, but allegedly got the dosage wrong and numbed Chelios's
entire lower body. Chelios had to sit out the game which the Hawks
lost to Colorado in overtime.
Before the 1997 playoffs, also against Colorado, Kolb arranged for
Alexei Zhamnov to have surgery on his sprained ankle without first
consulting Blackhawks management. To make matters worse, the
surgery was performed by the Avalanche's team doctor because Kolb
wasn't licensed to practice medicine in Colorado.
Zhamnov didn't play in the series (won four games to two by
Colorado) and Kolb was fired by the owner Bill Wirtz who accused
him of treasonous collaboration with the Avalanche physicians.
This time around it's veteran defenseman Paul Coffey who's making
trouble for the team leechkeepers. It seems Coffey went to the Mayo
Clinic to find out what's causing the back problems that have kept
the former Norris Trophy winner out of the lineup for all but four
games this year.
The boys in Rochester, Minn., apparently told Coffey that nerves in
his back had been damaged when some member of the Blackhawks' staff
had incorrectly administered, you guessed it, a painkilling shot.
Coffey didn't directly blame team doctors and was happy to finally
have the condition properly diagnosed, but the incident certainly
didn't reflect well on the Hawks' medicos.
And Monday Kolb's successor Mark Bowen shot back.
"Complications from such an injection are a near-impossibility,"
Bowen stated. "Basically, [Coffey] misinterpreted what was said."
Well, good thing he misinterpreted. 'Cause the only other
possibilities are the Mayo Clinic is wrong or Paul Coffey's a
liar. One of those ain't too likely and the other one is a pretty
strong statement to make about one of the guys you're supposed to
be keeping healthy.
Based on recent Hawks' history, I'm inclined to believe Coffey and
the Mayo boys on this one.
News and Notes
In the good news/bad news department, the Hawks are undefeated this
season when they're ahead after one period. Bad news is, they've
won a total of three opening periods all year . . . . Tony Amonte
is back on top of the NHL goal-scoring leaderboard after his
two-goal effort against the Lightning. At press time, he was two
ahead of John LeClair, and the two of them were pulling away from
the pack . . . . Things get a whole lot tougher for Amonte and the
Hawks in the next month. Instead of Corey Schwab and the Lightning
or Jean-Sebastian Giguere and the Flames, the Hawks have to take on
Philadelphia twice; Toronto, Dallas, Phoenix and Washington once
each; and the defending champion Red Wings a total of three times;
all in the next 30 days.
