– Black out Brown: Scratch Hawks defenseman Keith Brown for a week to 10 days. Fighting is not one of his strengths and he suffered bruised ribs in a Sunday tussle with Philadelphia`s Rick Tocchet, probably when Tocchet threw him to the ice and landed on him. Brown often takes the other guy`s first punch and Tocchet was all over him. Brown never got off a swing in defense. Either Trent Yawney or Bob Murray has been sitting out as the extra defenseman, so the Hawks still have six regulars they can play with Brown out. – Questions, questions: One of the questions General Manager Bob Pulford keeps asking himself in deciding whether to trade for either Quebec`s Greg Millen or Philadelphia`s Ken Wregget is why he needs another goalie when future phenom Jimmy Waite may be ready to lead the Hawks in net next season.
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”And besides that,” Pulford said, ”we have Ed Belfour in the system, Domenic Hasek coming over from Czechoslovakia and Darren Pang coming back from (a knee) injury. So do I want to give up young talent (Everett Sanipass) to make one trade (for Millen, 32) or a big piece of our present team to make the bigger deal (to get Wregget, 25)?”
But the other question facing him is should the Hawks be waiting to make a big run at the Stanley Cup in a year or two, or should they realize players such as defenseman Doug Wilson and center Denis Savard-as well as others-aren`t getting any younger?
– A big weekend: Besides it being the last weekend before Tuesday`s trading deadline, the Hawks have an important upcoming weekend planned with home-and- home afternoon games Saturday and Sunday against Boston. The Hawks are 0-8-1 since last beating the Bruins Dec. 20, 1986.
– Wrapped like a mummy: Defenseman Cam Russell watched Sunday`s game sitting next to Savard in the Stadium organ loft. Russell was the one with his head swathed in bandages. He underwent surgery last Friday for a broken cheekbone and busted nose, all suffered when he was elbowed in a game with the Indianapolis Ice against Salt Lake City.