History tells you that right wing Steve Larmer is a solid road player. Which makes it all the more unusual to see that he has just four goals and 15 assists so far with 12 road games remaining in the regular season.
Unless he can score five goals to match his nine-goal road totals in 1986-87 when he was limited to 32 away points, this will be his worst goal production outside the Stadium in his 10 Hawk seasons.
He scored 27 road goals last seasons, similar to the 23 he compiled in opposing rinks in 1988-89, the 26 he had in 1987-88, the 25 in 1984-85 and the 22 as a rookie in 1982-83.
His worst road season overall was 25 points (12 goals)) in 1983-84. He is six points short of that total.
Chicago 500: Michel Goulet has been waiting a long time to score his 500th goal. But the moment is finally at hand for the former scoring star of the Quebec Nordiques.
Goulet has two of the three goals the Blackhawks have scored in losing their last three games. Talk about good news, bad news. But that puts him at 499, and the left wing should soon become the 17th player in NHL history to reach this goal standard.
Shark attack: The idea of inviting Sharks to Japan may seem a little forbidding to the Japanese considering that their country is surrounded by water. But ex-Hawks wing Wayne Presley, now with San Jose, said the team probably will visit Japan before the start of next season to play an exhibition game there. ”I hear we might play either Los Angeles or Pittsburgh,” he said.
JR and MVP: Former Hawks defenseman Doug Wilson remains one of the NHL`s leading diplomats and ambassadors of goodwill. After he helped the Sharks beat the Hawks 5-2 Wednesday, he lobbied for Jeremy Roenick to be considered one of the NHL`s MVP candidates.
”He`s as good as anybody I`ve seen,” Wilson said. ”He should be up there for MVP.”
Shaking hands: Roenick, along with other Hawks, will attend a hockey clinic Monday at Wilmette Centennial Park Ice Arena from 7 to 9 p.m. Former Hawks goalie Darren Pang will host the event. And while only selected Wilmette youth hockey players will be allowed to skate with the Hawks, others are welcome to participate in a raffle and other off-ice activities.