Until the playoffs, defenseman Frantisek Kucera hadn`t been scratched by Blackhawks coach Mike Keenan since a four-game stretch Dec. 5-10. But when Kucera was kept out of the lineup Tuesday night in Game 6 of the Norris Division semifinals with St. Louis, it was for the fourth time in the series. ”He wasn`t prepared for the first game of the series,” Keenan explained for sitting Kucera, consistently one of the Hawks` best defensemen all season. ”Right now, Cam Russell is doing a better job, and so he`s playing.”
Keenan has told Kucera he was playing scared against the Blues. ”He thinks that,” Kucera said, ”but I don`t think so. I had bad luck, giving up a goal in the first game on my first shift.”
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Tight playoffs: None of the 16 playoff clubs were able to win a first-round series in five games. Going into Tuesday`s action, every series in the Campbell and Wales Conferences had a team holding a 3-2 advantage over their opponents. Keenan said he thinks there are a couple reasons for the lack of early sweeps.
”The strike allowed teams to get healthy,” he said of the 10-day player walkout. ”And the league is extremely competitive. Look at last year in the playoffs. There were more games played than ever before.”
A long wait: Steve Larmer`s two-goal performance in Game 5 was the first time the Hawks` right winger had more than one goal in a game since Jan. 16 against Toronto. Larmer had five multiple-goal games during the regular season.
Winning pair: Although some players would argue the merits of the plus-minus statistic, the fact Chris Chelios and Steve Smith were a plus-4 through the first five games of the series is another indication of how well the defensive partners have performed against the Blues.