Just 5 1/2 months after undergoing surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Brent Sutter will return to the Blackhawks’ lineup Monday night.
The veteran center put the knee through six hard days of skating last week, and after practice Saturday, coach Craig Hartsburg told him that he’d play Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes.
“There will be times it will be stiff and sore,” Sutter said Sunday, a day off for the Hawks, “but that’s something I can play through. A week ago I couldn’t.”
Sutter’s leadership and defensive savvy should give the winless Hawks a boost. He’ll probably center a line with rookies Dan Cleary and Craig Mills, with Jim Cummins replacing Cleary or Mills at times.
It’s not a scoring line by any means, but what line on the Hawks has been? They have just five goals in four games while allowing 20.
“There’s so much talk about not scoring, not scoring,” Sutter said. “Well, if you’re not scoring, you’d better be a good defensive hockey team. You talk to players who have won championships, coaches who have been around, they’re all going to tell you the same thing: The best defensive team always seems to create good offense because you’re always in good position on the ice.
“Right now we’re in between. It’s not from not trying. We’re not focused the way we should be.”
Sutter’s presence should help change that, but he can’t bring this team back by himself.
“I just hope I can help out in some way,” he said. “I think we’ve wavered away from playing the way we can as a team. More so than any team I’ve played on, we have to play a strong team game.”
Star search: General Manager Bob Murray was at the Carolina-Pittsburgh game Saturday night, perhaps looking for an enforcer (Stu Grimson?) if Bob Probert is out for an extended period of time because of his strained right knee. He’s also looking for some offense, and Pittsburgh’s Petr Nedved remains unsigned.
Probert, who was injured in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay, said Sunday he’ll meet with Dr. Mark Bowen on Monday to find out if he has to have arthroscopic surgery. If there is cartilage damage, that would knock Probert out much longer than the early prognosis of one to two weeks.
