Blackhawks goaltender Eddie Belfour basically had the night off in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over Edmonton, but coach Darryl Sutter hadn’t counted on him taking Thursday off as well.
Sutter lectured his star goalie in front of the entire squad when Belfour skated onto the ice a few minutes late for Thursday’s practice. Belfour then skated to one net where he more or less posed as a goaltender, standing still while pucks bounced off various parts of his anatomy until one caught him flush in the mask.
A few minutes later Belfour left the ice while his teammates worked on. “He was late for practice and he left early,” Sutter said, obviously nettled. “This is a team game and it’s important that everybody respects each other’s position and responsibility on the team.”
Sutter, who in the past has criticized some players by name, refused to comment further. “This year I’ve tried to make a concerted effort to stay away from anything negative or critical,” he said. “I’m not going to be played as the bad guy.”
Belfour said later that he was late because “I was getting my leg taped up. I’ve got a groin (problem) that’s been bothering me for a while. It was bothering me on the ice today. I didn’t want to make it any worse.”
“Eddie probably felt he didn’t need to practice,” teammate Jeremy Roenick said with a shrug. “Eddie Belfour is Eddie Belfour. I’m not saying I agree with being late but on his behalf, he did stretch at 10:30 (the designated time) and Eddie always in recent years takes longer to get dressed.
“If Eddie Belfour comes to the game tomorrow and gets a shutout I don’t think anybody will care what Eddie Belfour did today.”
Laying low: Roenick’s agent, Neil Abbott, is in town, and “I’m sure he’ll meet with Pully (general manager Bob Pulford),” said Roenick, “but I’ve instructed Neil just to lay low. I’m sick of talking about whether I’m going to re-sign and wondering if I’m going to re-sign. That’s up to Mr. (owner Bill) Wirtz and Pully.
