The Blackhawks have learned how many times and at what sites they will be playing within the Campbell Conference next season when Tampa Bay and Ottawa stretch the league to 24 teams.
Although the exact 80-game schedule has yet to be arranged, the luck of the draw has the Hawks headed again for two long trips West for the third straight season. That can be gleaned from the fact they play at Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Jose, Edmonton and Calgary twice.
The 21-game lineup against the Smythe Division breaks down to this: two games home-and-away against the Oilers, Kings and Canucks; one game home and two away against the Flames and Sharks; two games home and one away against Winnipeg.
The Hawks play each Norris Division opponent seven times, 35 total. They will have four games at Detroit and Minnesota, while playing host to the Red Wings and North Stars just three times. But they will have the extra home game against St. Louis, Tampa and Toronto, going to these cities three times and hosting them four.
Hard times: Keenan thinks the NHL system unfairly is taking money out of Stu Grimson`s pocket during his 10-game suspension for abusing a linesman.
Because of this month`s schedule, the Hawks have three games in the next two weeks, starting Wednesday at San Jose. Grimson won`t finish his sentence until those games are played, so he must wait until Feb. 16 to be available to return to the lineup. In the meantime, he is suspended without pay, although he is traveling with the club and practicing.
”Why should Grimson have to lose more money than someone else just because of the schedule?” Keenan questioned. ”There should be an arrangement where a set price is charged to everyone, based on their salaries.”
