It’s not over until the Blackhawks say it’s over.
Despite having just 11 games left and holding down 13th place, seven points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot entering Thursday night’s action, the Hawks aren’t quite ready to pack it in.
“It’s still not over,” winger Jason Williams said.
“Every game is a huge game, and if we can put together a little winning streak, you never know what can happen.”
What needs to happen is that the Hawks, who have lost their last four games, get on a dramatic streak that includes winning nine or so of their remaining games and getting some help from other conference teams.
“We’re not giving up,” coach Denis Savard said. “We have to get on a winning streak, no doubt about that. More importantly, we owe it to our fans … [and] we owe it to each other in the room. We have to play hard every night and every shift. That’s going to be done.”
The Hawks are tied with their Friday night opponents, the Columbus Blue Jackets, making the game another in a series of must-wins.
“I’ll make … a promise that they’re going to keep coming,” Savard said of the Hawks. “They looked me in the eye [Thursday] morning while we had a good talk.
“They’ll bring effort. Their character is going to come out. The point is right now I said to our guys, ‘How you start winning streaks is by winning the first game.'”
Lalime honored
Veteran goaltender Patrick Lalime is the Hawks’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which is given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
“It’s a great honor,” Lalime said. “Having a chance to come back here, work hard, play again and have fun is good.”
Lalime was selected by the Chicago chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association after overcoming knee and back surgeries to play a big role for the Hawks after starter Nikolai Khabibulin went down with injuries.
“He’s a survivor,” Savard said. “Two or three years ago, a lot of people thought his career was over. Knowing his character and type of person he is with his teammates and his friends in there, he deserves everything.”
One-timers
Savard said Lalime would get the start against the Blue Jackets in Columbus after rookie Corey Crawford played the last two games. … The club said Martin Havlat underwent successful surgery on his injured shoulder Thursday. … Yanic Perreault, who hasn’t played since Feb. 10, is scheduled to play in place of Kevyn Adams against the Blue Jackets.
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ckuc@tribune.com
