Blackhawks coach Mike Keenan acquired Chris Chelios from Montreal last June for one major reason. He believes the defenseman can take him to the Stanley Cup, a goal he didn`t feel confident Denis Savard could reach.
Asked if he is looking forward to watching Chelios in the playoffs, which open Thursday night at the Stadium against Minnesota, Keenan replied:
”That`ll be fun to watch. He loves this type of competition and his play can help everyone else on the ice.”
Will it be a different Chelios than fans have seen in the regular season?
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”He`s probably been bored, although I don`t know if I should say that on the record,” Keenan said.
Chelios is embarrassed to keep hearing that he will turn into a much better performer starting Thursday. He thinks there isn`t going to be any great transformation, just the Chelios fans already have witnessed, especially early in the season when he was trying to make a big impression.
”Everyone keeps saying that, that I`ll turn it up in the playoffs, but I think we`ve shown in the last 10 games when we`ve been pushing for first overall that we`ve picked it up. It`s been playoff hockey. What you`ve seen is what you`re going to get from the team in the playoffs.”
Canadien style: Bob Gainey, who had a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens, has stamped Minnesota with a style that looks very familiar to Keenan and Chelios. The first-year Stars coach has borrowed some of the Montreal system for his Norris Division club.
”They`re a little more conservative than they were a year ago,” Keenan said. ”They do a lot of things Montreal did.”
Chelios added, ”They`re playing a more patient forechecking game, keeping more guys back in the zone. It takes time to get that idea across because everyone thinks they have to chase all the time. It`s called a 1-2-2, where the guys who aren`t forechecking try to block the center and the neutral zone.”