From: scholvin@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (John Scholvin)
Subject: Hawks News 12-13
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 04:18:58 GMT

(It's been a while since my last post...finals and work had me crazed, but
life's back to normal now.)

The Hawks roll on, pasting Minnesota 3-0 last night.  It was Ed Belfour's
(league leading) third shutout of the season, and it was all his. He played
magnificently, especially at the end of the first period and throughout the
second, during which time the Stars had a large number of quality chances.

The game was scoreless at the first intermission, and it looked to be a really
physical game. Lots of hits were delivered by both sides in the first, but it
was good clean hockey and Marouelli kept his whistle in his pocket. This
changed in the second, though, as the high tension of the game drew some
aggressive behavior from both teams, especially the Stars. One of the
characteristics of this hot streak the Hawks are on right now has been their
willingness to turn the other cheek when the going gets nasty. I think they
ended up with seven power play chances last night, and the Stars only had
three or four (I don't have a paper with me to confirm at the moment).

Brent Sutter broke up the shutout early in the second. The Stars failed to
clear the puck due to the tough forechecking of the Hawks, and Sutter
intercepted a pass at the right point. He took two strides and beat Casey low
to the stick side. Casey was out of the net and apparently thought he had the
angle, because he didn't appear to make an effort at stopping the shot. Bryan
Marchment, who I have to admit is playing very strong right now, upped the
score to 2-0 after a nice feed from Roenick on a two on one. It wasn't a
pretty goal. JR put the puck through the defenseman's legs for Marchment, and
he appeared to lose control as he tried to pull it to his forehand, but it
surprised Casey and trickled weakly through his legs.

Larmer continues to blaze. He scored with a minute left on a beautiful wrist
shot from the left dot. He put it right up into the top right corner, over
Casey's shoulder. Vintage Larmer: when he's on, he has pinpoint accuracy with
his shot, and he's used it lately. It was his 11th goal in the last 10 games,
and I think he's only one or two goals behind Roenick for the team lead.

Sutter has been experimenting with his forward lines again. Last night we saw
a lot of Mike Hudson playing left wing on the Roenick/Larmer line. He's also
starting to pare down the minutes he's been playing Chelios and Smith,
something he's been able to do since the other four defensemen
(Kucera/Kravchuk and Russell/Marchment) have been improving almost with every
game. They're all showing a lot of confidence and ability, especially in their
own end. I wouldn't look for any of these guys to score > 10 goals, but what
the heck? Superstars like Stu Grimson are around for scoring lotsa goals. :)

Speaking of which: why does Stu dress every night? Why do people who can score
sit and watch (Rob Brown, Goulet), while Stu (who is averaging about 3
shifts/game) take up bench space?  I mean, he's not even fighting much right
now, so you have to wonder what the point is. Cam Russell is turning into a
kind of enforcer out there, making him seem even more superfluous.  But the
Hawks are winning, and these questions can wait... 

Winnepeg is in town Thursday, so the Hawks get a well-deserved few days' rest
till then.
-- 
John Scholvin                           |  "Sometimes I wish I was Catholic
scholvin@casbah.acns.nwu.edu            |   I don't know why"
echo Y | del c:\windows\*.*             |       -Cracker