The Blackhawks play six of their next eight games on the road, but their schedule for the last 30 games in the regular season is balanced. They will have 15 at the Stadium, 15 away.
A six-game trip begins next Monday with a game in Vancouver, followed by games in Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Boston and Hartford. After that, the Hawks have an important span in which to help sew up that 100-point season with seven of 10 games at home.
But there`s reason to be confident about the trip. Not only are the Hawks 15-8-2 on the road this season, but they were 5-1 on last November`s long trip. It included wins at Edmonton and Calgary.
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Weak point: The Hawks` impressive season has covered up one weak spot. They can`t seem to win important faceoffs. That is one reason coach Mike Keenan has inquired into Islanders center Brent Sutter to see if New York would trade him. Sutter has claimed the rumors have hurt his performances in the last couple of weeks.
Not the best: Keenan enjoyed watching Saturday as the Campbell belted the Wales 11-5 at the Stadium. The two-time All-Star coach, however, has seen better All-Star Games in the past. ”My experiences coaching the Wales team
(after he guided Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup finals in 1985 and 1987)
were a lot more competitive than the last two games,” he said. ”They both had an overtime.” Keenan`s clubs won both times, 4-3 in 1986 and 6-5 two years later.