If Blackhawks coach Darryl Sutter has his wish answered, Bryan Fogarty will be with the team before this season ends.
The Hawks traded minor-league defenseman Kerry Toporowski to Las Vegas for future considerations Monday. Sutter said Indianapolis Ice coach Duane Sutter and Hawks assistant general manager Jack Davison recently scouted Las Vegas and focused on Fogarty, though it would seem more than Toporowski would be required to get Fogarty.
Fogarty was Quebec’s first-round pick in the 1987 draft, selected ninth overall. But alcohol problems have contributed to his current spot in the International Hockey League, though Darryl Sutter advised that the word is Fogarty has conquered his problem.
“He’s a really skilled guy,” Sutter said of the 6-foot-2-inch, 200 pounder, who has 64 points in 122 NHL games-12 with Pittsburgh last season and the rest with Quebec. “He’s somebody that could help us.”
The Hawks can get Toporowski back, Sutter said, if no one else captures their fancy. But it’s likely the often-injured Toporowski will be remembered as the player the Hawks got from San Jose in Sept., 1991, when Doug Wilson forced a trade to get away from former coach-general manager Mike Keenan.