Blackhawks center Alex Zhamnov didn’t know any of the victims of Tuesday’s tragedies in New York and Washington, but he took the tragedy to heart.
“I am a Russian but it doesn’t matter,” Zhamnov said. “What happened [Tuesday] is not right. I’m not a political person, but somebody has to stop this. It was a terrible thing.
“I understand people die in war, but they should not die in regular life. It’s real scary. You don’t know what to expect tomorrow or a week from now. Maybe tomorrow someone will attack Russia.
“All I did [Tuesday] was watch the TV. For a while I watched Russian TV. There were a lot of people from Russia who came to the American Embassy [in Moscow] and they were crying.”
Bailey remembered: Ace Bailey, the Los Angeles Kings’ director of pro scouting and a former NHL player, and Kings scout Mark Bavis, who coached the Chicago Freeze junior team based in Geneva in 1999-2000, were on United Airlines Flight 175 that crashed into the World Trade Center.
Dale Tallon, the Hawks’ director of player personnel, considered Bailey a good friend. “I played against him but never with him,” Tallon said. “He was just a great guy. Always smiling and always positive.”
Tony Amonte welcomed the start of practice in the aftermath of the tragedies. “It was nice to get on the ice and forget about it,” he said, “but when you step off the ice the reality is still there.”
Training camp begins: “This is the most important training camp the Chicago Blackhawks have gone through in years,” said coach Brian Sutter, providing the preamble for the opening workouts Wednesday at The Edge in Bensenville.
Forty-four players participated in the morning practice, off-ice conditioning and an afternoon scrimmage.
Unlike his low-key predecessor Alpo Suhonen, Sutter has a sense of urgency. In his mind the first day of training camp marked the beginning of the end of the Hawks’ four-year playoff famine.
“To make the playoffs I’ve got to get this thing straightened around, and it starts with me,” he said. “People have to take on a mentality and an attitude. The winner’s mentality is: `I’m prepared to do whatever it takes.’
“I want a very tough camp where standards are set for the work ethic, discipline and preparation.”
Sutter was impressed with the fitness of defenseman Boris Mironov, who was out of shape when he came to camp last year and became a seasonlong target of fans’ frustration.
“It’s pretty tough to upgrade your condition 7 to 8 percent [over last year] and Boris did,” Sutter said. “It may not seem like much, but it is. It shows you he cares.”
Absentees: Four returnees from last year’s team were scratched from the workouts for medical reasons.
Left wing Bob Probert is recovering from a prolonged viral infection dating back to late last season and right wing Kyle Calder had an emergency appendectomy last week.
Defenseman Kevin Dean is recovering from a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.
Defenseman Steve McCarthy had fluid drained from his right ankle during the summer but the area became infected, forcing him to miss the early training camp sessions.
Right wing Pavel Vorobiev, a first-round selection in the 2000 draft, was invited to camp but was unable to attend after arthroscopic knee surgery.
Center Mikhail Yakubov has been delayed indefinitely. His arrival from Calgary was delayed because of the cancellation of flights around the nation.
