Special teams. Turnovers. Officiating. Those are a few of the excuses the Blackhawks might use if they don`t do well in the final six games of the season and St. Louis holds on to second place in the Norris Division.
One alibi the Hawks won`t be able to offer if they fail to get home-ice advantage: a tough schedule.
Both the Hawks and St. Louis have six games left, but the Blues will face stiffer competition. After Monday`s National Hockey League games, the combined record of St. Louis` final six opponents was 204-186-51.
It won`t be nearly as difficult for the Hawks. The combined record of the last six teams they face is 150-241-53.
The Blues play Washington Tuesday, New Jersey Thursday, Toronto Saturday and then finish the regular season with demanding road games against Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.
”Calgary and Edmonton are bona-fide Stanley Cup contenders,” said St. Louis center Bernie Federko. ”Those are going to be tough games for us.”
”Every game is a big game,” said St. Louis coach Jacques Martin, whose team leads the Hawks by four points. ”Whether you`re playing a team that`s ahead of you or a team that`s below you, it doesn`t seem to make any difference.”
Hawk coach Bob Murdoch wanted to have a .500 hockey team in his first season, but his squad will have to win its last six games to break even.
”I would have hoped that I could have reached them by now, but unfortunately I haven`t,” Murdoch said of getting his instructions across to the players. ”I`ve got two weeks to do it.”
”I don`t know,” said goalie Bob Mason. ”We pulled one out in Philly, and we were all excited. Then, in Montreal we had no zip.”
The Hawks have to get four points in their last six games just to equal last season`s total of 72 points. They have two games left against Minnesota, and one each against Vancouver, Los Angeles, the New York Rangers and New Jersey.
”In the next two weeks, and in the playoffs, there`s going to be a lot of teams dumping and chasing,” Murdoch said. ”They`re not going to gamble. Our team still feels that we can wheel and deal and beat everybody at the blue line.
”Two years ago, when Calgary beat Edmonton in the playoffs, Edmonton continually tried to beat Calgary one-on-one. They didn`t have any respect for the opposition, and they didn`t change their game plan.”
– The Hawks` team goals-against average is still under 4.00 at 3.95. Rookie Darren Pang is 17-19-1 with a 3.67 goals-against average, and Mason is 13-17-7, 4.12.
Although Mason didn`t have a strong outing in Sunday`s 5-2 loss to St. Louis, it was his only defeat in his last six starts (3-1-2)
– Center Troy Murray has at least a point in 14 of the last 17 games, but he may still finish with his lowest point total in three seasons.
Murray has 20 goals and 36 assists for 56 points.
– Former Hawk Ed Olczyk probably will finish the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs` leading scorer.
Olczyk, who scored only 16 goals last season, has 39 goals and 32 assists for 71 points. His next goal will give him his first 40-goal season.
– As Denis Savard goes, so go the Hawks. In the games in which Savard had no goals, the Hawks` record is 12-25-4.
