Other teams set goal and assist records as reflections of who they are. The surly Blackhawks have to be different. They might establish some penalty minute highs this season.
Going into Thursday night`s game against New Jersey, Hawks goaltender Ed Belfour was just two minutes short of equaling his team record for most penalty minutes in a season. Another pair will give him 34, the same number he compiled last season.
Enforcer Mike Peluso is running away with the National Hockey League penalty-minute race with 300 before battling the Devils. With any luck (or misfortune?) Peluso will surpass Dave Manson`s Hawk record of 352 penalty minutes in 1988-89.
But as far as fighting majors, Peluso is in a league of his own. He owned 26 before Thursday. And that for a coach, Mike Keenan, who claims he would vote tomorrow to abolish fighting in the league.
Wounded knee: Goalie Jimmy Waite had arthroscopic surgery last week on his injured knee and is recuperating in Chicago rather than with the Indianapolis Ice. By the time Waite is healthy in several weeks, he could be with a new team. Keenan is trying to find him a spot in the NHL with someone who wants to develop the promising youngster.
Just the same: Some Hawks have mentioned that Scott Stevens isn`t as feisty in a Devils` uniform as he was when he was the St. Louis Blues` captain. Keenan disagreed.
”I had him in the Canada Cup before the season and I had to settle him down in the last game of the finals because he was so excited he wanted to go over the boards,” Keenan said. ”He`s the same player he always was.”
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A special guy: Hawks center Brent Sutter was looking for his first even-strength goal Thursday since scoring one Dec. 21 against New Jersey. Since then, with one exception, Sutter has scored only on special teams: six power- play goals, one shorthanded and one into an empty net.