Forward Mike Stapleton didn`t play well enough in his recent short stint with the Blackhawks to justify another recall from the minors this week, associate coach Darryl Sutter said Monday. Stapleton was returned to Indianapolis on Saturday.
”We have to look to someone who deserves it,” he said. ”We`ve used it as a reward for players.”
The latest winners are forwards Dan Vincelette and Brad Lauer, both brought up from the International League for Tuesday night`s game in Philadelphia. Lauer was the other player acquired by the Hawks Oct. 25 in the deal that brought Brent Sutter to Chicago from the New York Islanders for Steve Thomas and Adam Creighton.
But he was soon demoted to Indy, where he has seven goals, 13 assists in 24 games. Vincelette was returned to the minors in early January, but has logged 10 games with the Hawks this season. He has one goal, one assist and is a minus-five.
Sitting out: Coach Mike Keenan needed to recall at least one forward from the minors because Mike Peluso will miss Tuesday`s game. A game misconduct he earned near the finish of Sunday night`s 4-2 victory by the Hawks over Washington was his third this season, resulting in an automatic one-game suspension.
But Peluso and the Hawks both believe the punishment was unwarranted. Since one of his roles is to be an enforcer, they see officials singling him out for more severe penalties than other players.
”Jeremy Roenick never threw a punch,” Darryl Sutter said of the incident in which Peluso was ejected for being third man into a fight between the Hawk star and Dale Hunter. ”Hunter was doing all the fighting. A lot of times I see that same situation and no one gets a game misconduct. Peluso has a reputation and the referees are only human. They read the stats, too.”
That was a reference to Peluso`s 230 penalty minutes in just 31 games. That leads the league. The next closest before Monday`s games was Winnipeg`s Shawn Cronin with 200, Vancouver`s Gino Odjick at 194 and San Jose`s Link Gaetz with 193. Peluso has 62 penalty minutes in his last five games.
Nice attitude: There was a healthy turnout Monday for an optional practice at the Stadium before the Hawks departed in the early afternoon for Philadelphia. You don`t expect to see the club`s second-leading scorer showing up if he doesn`t have to.
Not only was Steve Larmer (tied for 18th in the NHL scoring race with 49 points) present for the workout, so was Brent Sutter, who scored two goals Sunday. His six goals in the last eight games would have been enough to excuse his absence. Maybe it`s a good sign that some players are continuing to work through a so-so season.
