Perhaps a trip back to his hometown for Saturday night’s meeting with the Montreal Canadiens is what Blackhawks goaltender Jocelyn Thibault needs to perish the thought of Thursday night.
Seeing family and old friends and being reminded of what happened the last time he played here beats seeing flashbacks of his United Center hockey horror show.
“I grew up wanting to be a Hab and I look forward to coming back,” Thibault said. “I mark that day on my calendar. I’ll probably buy a dozen tickets for my family and friends. It’s a big emotional booster.”
Last Oct. 27, Thibault visited the Molson Center and met his former teammates, the Canadiens, and was a 1-0 winner in a goaltending duel with ex-Hawk Jeff Hackett.
Contrast that flawless performance with Thursday’s disaster, the Hawks’ 4-0 loss to Detroit in their home opener. In the first 8 minutes 39 seconds, Thibault faced four shots and let in three goals. The one save he made–on Nicklas Lindstrom’s power-play shot from the perimeter–became a goal an instant later when Tomas Holmstrom backhanded in the rebound.
The goal by Holmstrom was the hockey equivalent of knocking a pitcher out of the game in baseball. Coach Alpo Suhonen replaced Thibault with Robbie Tallas, who played a solid game, yielding only Brendan Shanahan’s goal in the third period.
“The last thing you hope won’t happen is how the game started,” said Suhonen. “First shot from the blue line [by Doug Brown at 58 seconds] in the net. Thibault had a bad night. It happens.”
It apparently takes more than “a bad night” for a player to find himself in the new coach’s doghouse. Suhonen is going to start Thibault against the Canadiens.
“Obviously, I’m not happy about what happened,” said Thibault.”The first goal was a bad goal. It kind of surprised me–I thought it was going wide. I should have made the save.
“It’s diappointing. But it’s only the third game. We have to look forward to the next game. I practiced well all week. I don’t feel my confidence will be hurting. I’ll be a little more nervous but that’s because of where we’re playing.”
The Hawks’ 1-2 start–in which they have scored seven goals and surrendered 11–represents an improvement. Last year they started 0-2-1, and it wasn’t until the ninth game that they got into the win column after tying four and losing four.
Thibault started seven of those eight games. He had an 0-3-4 record and surrendered 23 goals. But by the end of the season his record had improved to 25-26-7 and his goals-against average was down to 2.76.
Farmed out: The Hawks sent right wing Blair Atcheynum back to their Norfolk farm team in the American Hockey League on Friday. The Hawks activated left wing Kris King, the recently signed 14-year veteran.
“I know what’s expected of me,” King said. “A team can never have enough grit and experience. I’m hoping what I’ve learned can make the team stronger.”
