With the Black Hawks rolling along comfortably atop the Norris Division standings, almost every recent home game has resembled a celebration.
Still, Bob Pulford`s team might be looking forward to Thursday night`s date in the Stadium with an enthusiasm generally reserved for a trip to the dentist. The Maple Leafs are in town.
Forget that the Leafs rank 19th out of 21 teams in the National Hockey League`s overall standings. They are 3-1 against the Hawks, including two victories in Chicago, and that`s 20 percent of their victories this season. They have a winning record against only two clubs they have played more than once, and the other is Detroit, last in the league.
The Leafs humbled the Hawks in their home opener 5-1 and beat them 6-4 on Nov. 16, when neither team was playing especially well. The Hawks seemingly got things back in order Feb. 1 by winning 7-4 in Maple Leaf Gardens, but then lost 4-3 to the Leafs in the Stadium the next afternoon.
”Right now, we really need to put together a string of four or five good games and move up a little, opening up some space on Detroit and getting close to Minnesota,” said Leafs` coach Dan Maloney, by way of warning that the Hawks can expect a fired-up foe.
”If we get consistent goaltending and play aggressively, taking the man out of the play the way we did the last time in Chicago or against Washington, there`s no reason why we can`t do it.”
Toronto resides in fourth place in the Norris Division, which guarantees a playoff spot–most likely against the Hawks if they stay in first. However, the Leafs lead the Red Wings by only six points.
Since its last victory over the Hawks, Toronto has lost overtime games to Minnesota and St. Louis and been beaten by the North Stars by two goals, with the last score an empty-netter. The Leafs` biggest reason for optimism is that, in addition to beating the Hawks three times, they have victories over Edmonton, Washington, Montreal and Philadelphia.
Nevertheless, Harold Ballard, Toronto`s irascible 82-year-old owner, is getting restless and expressed great concern at the way his younger players are getting booed in their own arena.
”They`d better start winning,” said Ballard, who indicated in a recent interview he came close to firing Maloney at Christmastime. ”I`ll trade anyone but Borje Salming. He`s untouchable. He`s been with us 13 or 14 years and never complains. He plays his heart out.
”I would have traded him to Edmonton last year if they would have agreed to use him in the playoffs and then trade him back to us. I`d like to see him win the Stanley Cup just once.”
Toronto and the Hawks will play again Saturday night in Toronto and Maloney`s club has had back-to-back victories only twice this season. The Hawks already made one contribution to that cause early in the season, but they are not planning on it a second time.
”This is a tough part of the schedule right now,” said Pulford. ”We`ve got games Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. To get through it, it`s just a matter of us bearing down and concentrating.”
