The Blackhawks got a scare at Friday morning’s pregame skate when Alexander Karpovtsev’s hard shot struck goalie Jocelyn Thibault on the right index finger.
“I was turning my stick and it hit me squarely,” said Thibault.
The painful injury wasn’t severe enough to keep the Hawks’ No. 1 goaltender from returning to the starting lineup for the first time since he lost 5-4 last Saturday in overtime in Montreal.
Von Arx sits: Reto Von Arx, the rookie winger from Switzerland, sat out for the first time Friday. Von Arx rallied the Hawks to a 5-3 victory in Columbus on Oct. 7 but his two goals in that game are his only points of the season.
After Von Arx replaced him in the first two games, Dean McAmmond has moved back onto the line with center Michael Nylander and right wing Steve Sullivan. McAmmond went into Friday’s game with a goal and a pair of assists.
In addition to Von Arx, right wing Ryan VandenBussche and defenseman Jamie Allison were Friday scratches.
Budget-priced: Jim DeMaria, the Hawks’ executive director of communications, pointed out Friday that two-thirds of the 9,000 seats on the third level of the United Center are being offered for $25 and $15–“less than the price of the first balcony when we last played in Chicago Stadium.”
DeMaria’s comments came in response to a Tribune article that suggested “increases in ticket prices have put the Hawks out of the price range of many middle-class families.”
“We don’t want to lose the blue-collar guy and his kids or the young guy who comes with his girlfriend, so we addressed that by lowering the price on the third level,” said DeMaria.
“Also, we have special prices for high school and college students. If they show their student IDs it only costs them $8 to get a $15 seat in the third level. These are available only on the night of the game.”
Famous spectator: Bobby Hull was a famous face in the crowd Friday, watching son, Brett, the Dallas right winger who this season has passed his father and Mario Lemieux to move into eighth-place on the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring list.
Brett said he and Bobby had dinner Thursday night but the son’s recent feat never came up in their conversation.
“There are so many other things to talk about,” said Brett. “We don’t sit there and tell each other how great we are.”
Before the game-day skate, Brett walked across Madison Street to check out the sculpture created by Eric Blome on the site of the old Chicago Stadium in commemoration of the Hawks’ 75th anniversary season.
