After spending the first four months of the season watching the Blackhawks play their best hockey in nine years, backup goaltender Steve Passmore is showing that he, too, is ready for prime time.
Jocelyn Thibault’s seldom-used understudy has evolved into the Hawks’ super utilityman.
When Passmore turned back the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2-1 in his seventh start of the season in Sunday’s United Center matinee, he extended his winning streak to five games. The streak goes back to Dec. 27, when he won for the first time following an 0-2-2 start to the fourth season of his NHL career.
Twice during the streak Passmore has gotten the better of defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado, which has opened a substantial lead in the Northwest Division. In the second of these games on Feb. 9 he was making his first appearance in 12 games.
The next game, which was the last game before the Winter Olympic break, Passmore came off the bench to play an important role in the 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers, letting in only one goal in his 38 minutes after Thibault had given up three in the first 22.
He also relieved Thibault at the start of the third period of last week’s 5-4 defeat in Philadelphia, holding the Flyers scoreless while the Hawks made an unsuccessful rally in attempting to surmount the 5-2 deficit they faced at the end of two periods.
In his last eight periods of action Passmore has let in only two goals. He was on the brink of the third shutout of his career Sunday when, with the Anaheim’s goalie off for an additional attacker, Matt Cullen scored on a point-blank shot with 38 seconds to play.
Passmore likes to wander out of goal and play the puck up ice, an important asset against an opponent that wants to forecheck. When he’s back in position, protecting the net, he relies on his reflexes.
“Sometimes I’ll stand up and sometimes I’ll go down,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not pretty.
“When you’re only 5-9, you’d better have quick reflexes because you’re not accidentally going to get in the way of very many shots.”
Off the ice Passmore is the Hawks’ flippant free spirit.
But when he puts on his goalie’s mask he adjusts his attitude and his personality changes radically, according to Hawks captain Tony Amonte.
“When he gets out there, he’s all business,” said Amonte. “When he makes a mistake, he’s his own worst enemy, he’s real hard on himself.”
Passmore is downplaying his recent derring-do.
“My job has been the same all year,” he said. “When I get the tap on the shoulder I go in there and try to do as well as I can. It’s fun any game I get in. I enjoy what I’m doing.
“Jocelyn knows I’m not going to take his job, but I want it and I’m going to try to play as many games as I can.”
Passmore believes his off-ice personality has helped him to accept his role of an understudy.
“I don’t want to get too high, I don’t want to get too low and I don’t want to get too wound up,” he said.
Passmore also thinks his contribution goes beyond his performances. The way he sees it, being a team player counts big time.
“The bottom line is team,” said Passmore. “If Jocelyn does well, then we do well as a team. That means I’m not playing, and for me that’s bad. But if I’m not playing it means the team is winning, and that’s good. I don’t feel unimportant. I feel I’m a big part of the team.
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner than Jocelyn. We talk all the time about situations, about games. During games we talk to each other between periods. We make eye contact a lot during games. We feed off each other. We help each other.
“You understand what the other guy is going through. Jocelyn can help me and I can help him. He’s always there for me and he’s always positive. We’re good friends. We genuinely want each other to succeed. I can tell he’s genuinely excited for me when I’m playing and wants me to do well.”
Aside from the positions they play and their reciprocal respect and support, Thibault and Passmore have very little in common.
Thibault is a French-Canadian who was a junior hockey sensation in the Quebec League and was chosen 10th overall by Quebec (now Colorado) in the first round of the 1993 draft. Passmore grew up on a farm in western Canada and was selected by Quebec with the 196th choice overall in the 1992 draft.
Thibault played his first NHL game at age 18 in October, 1993. Passmore made his NHL debut for Edmonton in February, 1999, nearly 31/2 years after the Oilers’ doctors were unable to diagnose what was causing his excruciatingly painful muscle cramping and advised him to retire.
“The Oilers refused to pay for my medical treatment and suspended me without pay,” recalled Passmore. “I started bouncing and bartending at a couple bars in Calgary, but I went to hospitals from coast to coast–the Mayo Clinic and everywhere–to try to find out what was wrong. I had muscle biopsies done. I was a pin-cushioned. I was a lab rat.
“It took a year-and-a-half to find out what was wrong and once we found out it took three months to cure. I had heavy metal poisoning. They think it was probably from water I drank when I grew up. We had a farm and got our waters from a creek. The headwaters went through a mine. When we found out what it was I took shots (to extract metal from cells and eject it from the body) and three months later I was cured.”
STATS & STUFF
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Although the Blackhawks play in the Central Division, their last nine games and the next eight have been or will be against teams from other divisions. Their next game against a divisional opponent will be March 24 against St. Louis in the United Center.
AGAINST THE WEST
24 The Blackhawks have a 24-14-7 record against teams in the Western Conference. How they’ve fared against each division with remaining games:
Vs. Central Division: 6-4-4 (6)
Vs. Northwest Division: 9-6-2 (3)
Vs. Pacific Division: 9-4-1 (6)
AGAINST THE EAST
10 The Blackhawks have a 10-6-2 record against teams in the Eastern Conference. How they’ve fared against each division with remaining games:
Vs. Atlantic Division: 3-2-0 (2)
Vs. Northeast Division: 3-4-1 (0)
Vs. Southeast Division: 4-0-1 (2)
DID YOU KNOW . . .
– The Hawks and Nashville are the only teams without an overtime loss? The Hawks’ overtime record is 2-0-9.
– The Hawks have a 26-0-2 record in games in which they’ve led after two periods?
– The Hawks have a 2-18-2 record in games in which they’ve trailed after two periods?
HOMECOMING
Bates Battaglia, the native Chicagoan who played high school hockey for Fenwick and travel hockey for Team Illinois, will be skating at left wing on Carolina’s first line Tuesday night when the Southeast Division leaders visit the Hawks. Battaglia has scored 19 goals and assisted on 18.
SCORING HELP WANTED
Edmonton has fallen to 10th place in the Western Conference. The Oilers have a 3-10-5 record in their last 18 games and have scored more than two goals only four times during this span during which Mike Comrie has accounted for 10 of the Oilers’ 34 goals.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Vs. Carolina
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
RADIO: WSCR-AM 670.
QUICK LOOK: This is the Hawks’ only meeting with the Southeast Division leaders. Although the second-place Hawks trail Detroit by 17 points in the Central Division, they have nine more points than Carolina, which is running away from the rest of its division.
Vs. New York Rangers
Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
RADIO: WSCR-AM 670.
QUICK LOOK: This also is the only time the Hawks will play the Rangers this season. Coach Ron Low’s team has slipped after a good start and is struggling to make the playoffs. Like the Hawks, the Rangers haven’t played a postseason game since 1997. The Rangers aren’t very deep but they have several outstanding players–goaltender Mike Richter, defenseman Brian Leetch, centers Eric Lindros and Michael York and right wing Theo Fleury.
–Neil Milbert
