Turn other cheek: Defenseman Bob McGill said Monday he should return to action Saturday in Calgary, wearing a face shield on his helmet to protect his healing broken cheekbone. McGill has missed the last three games since he suffered the injury in a fight with Minnesota`s Shane Churla. With defenseman Trent Yawney sidelined a while with a bruised kidney, veteran Jimmy Playfair was in line to get a possible call-up from the minors. Unfortunately, he`s on the injury list himself.
– Russ and ready: Rookie defenseman Cam Russell, who has a bright future in coach Mike Keenan`s eyes, played sparingly Sunday against Hartford in his first game this season. Russell, 20, was a third-round draft pick in 1987.
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”I`m not going to be a defenseman who scores a lot,” he said, ”but I want to show I can take the body. I know I`m probably here for just a little while to fill in, but I want to show them I`m ready to step into the National Hockey League and be physical.”
– New NHL award?: Hawks owner Bill Wirtz thinks the NHL could establish a new award in its attempt to make sure that a veteran Soviet player doesn`t win NHL Rookie of the Year at the end of this season. ”We may put in an award for best new European or something like that,” Wirtz said of the issue that will be discussed in early December when league executives convene in Florida. Wirtz considers the chances for changing the rookie award qualifications
”50-50. I`m in favor of changing it.”
– Early valentine: Adam Creighton loves to play in front of Chicago fans, as he has shown by scoring all but two of his 16 points this year in the Stadium. ”Our fans mean a goal or two for us every game,” he said. ”Other teams come in here and wish their fans were like that. But Chicago hockey fans are one of a kind.”
– It adds up: Defenseman Keith Brown contends that plus-minus figures
”mean nothing” because it doesn`t always truly reflect whether a player contributed directly to a goal or was responsible on his shift for letting in a goal. But it has to mean something that Brown is a plus-15, just two points off the NHL lead of plus-17, which is currently the numbers for Calgary`s Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts.