Back-to-back weekend games against Dallas and St. Louis followed by games this week with Colorado and Buffalo are an unenviable assignment for a team that has flunked out short of the playoffs for three straight seasons.
But Alpo Suhonen is welcoming the early-season opportunity to compete against four of the best teams.
“I like to play against good teams, especially in the beginning of the year,” the Blackhawks coach said. “That gives you a view of where we are.”
So far the Hawks are going nowhere in their quest for the good start that seems so vital to their attempt to get back to the playoffs.
In Suhonen’s opinion, it all starts with the individual.
“Good players come mentally ready every day,” he said. “If you feel good about yourself as a player, then you are confident and focused on what you have to do.
“This game is 100 years old. There is a basic way to play this game, a natural way. As an individual you have to skate, pass, shoot and check. Defensively, you have to be in position.
“You also have to know your role and play within the team concept. In the theater, you can’t play Hamlet one night and King Lear the next. We need everybody.
“Short term, for a coach it’s winning and losing. Long term, you help the player grow to his emotional level. The ultimate goal is for him to be an independent player. That’s his profession–he can’t depend on someone motivating him.
“We can’t have any kindergarten here, not with these salaries.”
Self-starter: Tony Amonte took exception to the suggestion that the nearly half-empty United Center was a factor in Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers.
The Hawks’ captain and leading scorer agreed with Suhonen’s opinion that incentive must come from within rather than be stoked by the roar of the crowd.
“If you’ve got to depend on something like that, then you’re not going to be successful in this league,” Amonte said.
“My job is to go out and play the best I can no matter how many people are in the stands. You’ve got to be hungry–that’s how you get motivated. I believe this team can win. Alpo is a student of the game. He knows what it takes to be a winner.
“I think we’re a playoff team, and when we start turning it around the fans will come back.”
Scratches: Rookie defenseman Steve McCarthy was out of the lineup Saturday night for the first time this season. Reto Von Arx, the rookie from Switzerland who had played in the first five games, was a spectator for the second straight night. Also scratched was right wing Ryan VandenBussche, who has been used sparingly this season.
