Alex Zhamnov and Tony Amonte were linemates when Amonte was with the Blackhawks.
Zhamnov hasn’t talked to Amonte since the end of last season.”We’ll talk [Thursday] during the game,” Zhamnov said.
With the Hawks limping into Phoenix struggling to score goals, it would be easy to say that they miss their former captain. The numbers, however, don’t support the argument.
“We’re struggling, but not because of Tony,” Zhamnov said. “He made the decision to come to Phoenix.”
Amonte hasn’t exactly lit up the desert sky since joining the Coyotes. He has five goals–as many as Sergei Berezin and one fewer than rookie Tyler Arnason–and 15 points.
Amonte is also behind last year’s pace, when he had seven goals and 17 points after 22 games. Three of his goals have come on the power play, and one was a game-winner.
He has yet to score a goal that tied a game. Last season none of his 27 goals evened the score.
Comparing the Hawks without Amonte and wondering whether they would be better with him is silly anyway, said winger Steve Sullivan.
“You can’t go through a hockey team with, `What if, how would your team be if he were here?'” he said. “What would happen if we had Eric Lindros? What’s the difference?”
Many looked at the signing of Theo Fleury as Amonte’s replacement, and with Fleury suspended and yet to play a game, it looks like a bad tradeoff.
“Absolutely [Fleury is] going to help this team,” Zhamnov said. “Right now we just have to wait.”
Nikolishin out month
Center Andrei Nikolishin was examined by doctors Wednesday in Chicago and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. Nikolishin injured his right knee on his last shift Monday night against Colorado and returned to Chicago on Tuesday.
The Hawks recalled center Peter White from Philadelphia of the American Hockey League. White started the season with Norfolk, but the Hawks loaned him to Philadelphia so he could be closer to his family. It hasn’t exactly worked out like he hoped.
“I got to Philly and we went to Utah for a week,” White said. “We got back on a Thursday, played Friday and left on another road trip.”
Now he’s on another road trip, but this one is a little different.
“This is a good road trip,” he said of being in the NHL.
White took Nikolishin’s spot Wednesday in practice, centering a line with Berezin and Chris Simon.
“He’s been very, very good down there,” Hawks coach Brian Sutter said of White’s play in the AHL. “This is a good opportunity for him.”
Local boy makes good
Along with White, the Hawks also recalled Park Ridge native Craig Andersson to back up Jocelyn Thibault.
With three games in four days starting Thursday, Sutter said there is a “distinct possibility” that Andersson will be called on to make his NHL debut.
“I just want to go out there and do my best,” Andersson said. “I can’t worry about the outcome, I just have to worry about what I do in there.”
Andersson is one of the few Chicago natives to play for the Hawks, the latest being Chris Chelios and Ed Olczyk.
“It’s always a dream come true to play for your hometown team,” Andersson said.
Fleury report
Fleury went through his second day of practice and said he felt good. He’s not too worried about having rusty hockey skills.
“The one thing about goal scoring is you can’t teach it,” Fleury said.
“So if you have it, it never leaves you.”
