For a team intent on playing an aggressive, offensive-oriented game under new coach Denis Savard, the Blackhawks turned in a pretty good defensive effort Wednesday night.
Of course, that wasn’t the point of dumping Trent Yawney on Monday in favor of Savard.
In the mind of beleaguered general manager Dale Tallon, the offensive creativity Savard showed as a player–along with a tweaked forecheck and green light to get the puck and go–would trickle down and turn a roster that has shown marginal offensive ability into a goal-scoring powerhouse.
Well aware of front-office criticisms of being too “defensive,” Yawney maintained last week in Calgary that systems don’t win hockey games.
“Talent wins,” he said.
Therein lies the Hawks’ problem.
On most nights the roster Tallon has assembled doesn’t match up to the roster it faces, and better talent more often than not trumps any system any coach wants to employ.
That appeared to be the case again Wednesday night against a Dallas Stars team that usually treats the Hawks like a pinata.
The one player who can hold his own against almost anyone in the NHL–Tuomo Ruutu–did what difference-makers do. He picked up a loose puck from Mike Modano and beat Marty Turco with 1 minute 48 seconds remaining to give the Hawks a 2-1 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak.
“I was just thinking of going five-hole and shooting it as hard as I could,” Ruuto said. “You can’t change hockey that much, but we got more chances off the rush.”
But what to make of Wednesday’s affair? Only the most astute hockey mind could say honestly that the Hawks looked like a dramatically different team from the one Yawney guided.
The Hawks didn’t get their first power play until the second period and, because Savard ran the unit as an assistant, it didn’t figure to change that much with him as head coach.
Unfortunately, that’s a problem for a unit that was 1 for its last 24 and didn’t look dangerous in either of its two chances Wednesday. The Hawks didn’t record a shot on goal on their first power play and had only one toward the end of their second.
But in the end, Savard picked up his first win as coach. A 2-1 triumph and not the kind Tallon likely envisioned, but a win nonetheless.
“Our players played a heck of a game,” Savard said. “They stuck to everything it takes to win a game. We battled and worked hard.
“It was a tough night for everybody. You had to really dig in. The guys played their guts out.”
Somewhere, Yawney must be shaking his head.
One-timers
Modano suffered what appeared to be a left leg injury in warmups and wasn’t on the bench to start the game. He entered midway through the opening period. . . . Carl Corazzini was scratched along with injured Hawks defenseman Adrian Aucoin. . . . If things go as Savard plans, backup goaltender Brian Boucher won’t see a lot of action. Savard plans on playing Nikolai Khabibulin nearly every game for the foreseeable future. “I just have to stay ready and stay sharp,” Boucher said. “I’ve already played a lot more than I anticipated.” . . . Savard said Brandon Bochenski, called up Tuesday, would play on the power play and, indeed, he was on the first unit. Bochenski likely will get a long look and regular minutes. “Hopefully, I’ll get an opportunity to play to my strengths,” Bochenski said. “Now it’s up to me.” . . . Tony Salmelainen, another player whose ice time figures to go up, didn’t feel any extra pressure to produce: “I’m just going to go out and play my game and see what happens.” . . . Rene Bourque, who suffered a deep cut in his neck from the skate of Columbus’ Nikolai Zherdev, is able to ride the exercise bike and could begin skating again soon. Bourque isn’t worried about his psyche after the dangerous incident Nov. 12. “I don’t think I’ll be afraid to play the way I did.” he said. “If I am, I won’t be around here too much longer.”
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rfoltman@tribune.com
