From: scholvin@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (John Scholvin)
Subject: Hawks News 11-16
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 20:36:25 GMT

The Hawks continued their recent tradition of being gracious guests in the Met
Center on Saturday, going up there and stinking up the place in losing to the
Stars 3-0.  Minnesota scored three goals in the first 14 minutes of the game,
and then basically sat on the lead, playing conservative dump-it-out style
hockey and frustrating the Blackhawks.  In the first two periods, the Hawks
were flat, and the Stars came out flying, hitting everything in sight.  Most
pathetic was the Hawks power play, going 0 for 8.  Their power play is now 7
for 47 on the road, the worst in the NHL.  It is also the 22nd worst overall. 
Expect some heat to be turned up on assistant coach Paul Baxter, who was
brought in specifically to improve the power play.  Some credit is due to the
Stars penalty killers, who I believe are ranked first in the NHL, and Casey
sparkled in goal, especially in the third period when the Hawks woke up a bit. 
The Hawks managed a total of just eight shots on goal in the first two
periods, but picked it up in the third with 13.

To add injury to insult, Jeremy Roenick suffered a broken toe in the game when
he blocked a shot.  He played through it, and played Sunday, and is expected
to play right along.

Pat & Dale were talking during the game about the differences between Sutter's
and Keenan's styles, and there was one bit that I thought was particularly
interesting.  On Minnesota's second goal, the puck lay in the slot for a
minute, and rookie defenseman Karl Dykhuis had an opportunity to clear it.  He
missed, and Tinordi swatted it past a sprawled Belfour to make it 2-0.  The
comment was that if Keenan were coaching, Dykhuis would surely find himself on
a flight to Indianapolis that night, whereas Sutter left him in the game, and
even played him Sunday...

...and Sunday was a better day for the Hawks.  They came back to the Stadium
and beat the Stars 2-1.  The game was another exciting defensive contest,
going scoreless the first two periods.  Casey and Belfour were both sharp, and
they had great help from their respective defensemen as neither team got a
whole lot of good scoring chances.  The few they did get were snuffed by the
goalies.  

In the first two periods, not one but two Minnesota goals were disallowed.  On
the first one, Gagner was ruled to be in the crease.  Clearly he was that, as
he was basically sitting on Belfour who had no chance at a save.  It seemed to
me, though, that he was pushed in there by Chelios.  A break for the Hawks. 
And the second goal was ruled to be kicked in by Gagner. This appeared to be
the correct call after seeing the instant replay.  Gagner complained that it
went off his shin, not his skate, but referee Ron Hoggarth didn't seem to care
much.

Modano scored for Minnesota early in the third, the first goal the Hawks had
allowed against in the Stadium in over eight periods.  Roenick came back with
a nice move and a goal about three minutes later, assisted by Smith.  Chelios
sent home the game winner with about six minutes left, Ruuttu and Noonan (just
back from injury) picking up the helpers.  Chelios' blast was a long drive
from just inside the blue line, and it seemed that the Hawks were trying to
shoot long on Casey.  Is there a book on him that says he has trouble with
long shots?

The Hawks power play continued to sputter, going 0 for 7.  The have not scored
in their last 20 chances with a man advantage, including several two man
advantages.

Coming up next: a three week, seven game road trip, courtesy of Ringling Bros. 
This trip in the past has been a good barometer for the season to follow.  If
the Hawks do well on this annual excursion, they usually find themselves near
the top of the Norris when its over.  If they struggle, they can expect to
-- 
John Scholvin                           |  "Sometimes I wish I was Catholic
scholvin@casbah.acns.nwu.edu            |   I don't know why"
echo Y | del c:\windows\*.*             |       -Cracker
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey