What an exciting Stanley Cup semifinal series this should be between the Blackhawks and Red Wings starting Thursday night.
If only Gary Suter and Steve Yzerman live long enough to see it.
That is not to diminish the wounds of these opposing warriors. Hockey players remain a breed unto themselves, tougher than a $2 steak. While other athletes dive into whirlpools for assorted bruises, hockey players generally skate onward and then heal in July or August or whenever the season ends.
So, make no mistake about it. Suter and Yzerman are hurting. But you know it’s really big when participating teams engage in pre-game tactical maneuvers. You just don’t waste rhetoric and body bags on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The Hawks and Red Wings are exchanging tales of woe, but not X-rays.
Suter, Chicago’s talented defenseman, is practicing despite a broken right hand. The Hawks won’t deny this, nor do they hide that he’s wearing an oversized glove that resembles the monstrosity manager Paul Richards invented so catchers could fetch knuckle-baller Hoyt Wilhelm. There’s enough leather around Suter’s cast to outfit any motorcycle gang.
Still, Detroit is the leader in the clubhouse. Though Scotty Bowman stickhandles around the extent of Capt. Yzerman’s knee woes, the legendary coach has pronounced his Red Wings as underdogs for this best-of-seven tournament. Yzerman either has already submitted to a “procedure” such as arthroscopy, or will shortly. Bowman admits nothing. But Yzerman is doubtful, and the team is in grave danger.
“I know what you’re thinking,” says Jeremy Roenick, giving it the old eye-roll.
Indeed, the Hawks’ star was a focal point in one of the more memorable playoff circus acts. During Game 2 of the 1992 Cup final at Pittsburgh, Roenick and Steve Larmer were among those benched for no apparent reason by Mike Keenan. The Hawks lost and Keenan caught flak for sitting his two best scorers.
Lo and behold, Roenick fell out of bed the next morning, was fitted for a arm cast, and propped with his new plaster at a show-all press conference hosted by Keenan, normally as secretive about injuries as his mentor, Bowman. When accused of creating a charade to cover his coaching decisions, Keenan really flew over the cuckoo’s nest, actually not much of a trip for Keenan. He was half-way there, and still is.
“My right thumb was bad,” Roenick admits. “But I didn’t need a cast. Oh, well. At least Mike didn’t fit me for a casket.”
And don’t bury these Hawks yet, either. By all means, they can beat Detroit. They’re deeper on defense, and defense wins. That includes Ed Belfour, if he stays hot. His adversary in goal, by the way, is Mike Vernon. With the Red Wings’ attack, he can be easily forgotten, like the punter for the San Francisco 49ers.
However, it’s a myth that the Red Wings are one-dimensional. They yielded only two more goals than Chicago during the irregular season. After last year’s playoff pratfall, Bowman introduced all his players to the other half of the rink and insisted on serious relationships. Here’s another theory for waste management: The Red Wings haven’t been “challenged” thus far in the playoffs and are therefore ripe. Well, Jamie Baker of San Jose did say the last series felt like “a pit bull taking on a chihuahua,” but since when did the Sharks become house pets? They upset Calgary, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. And Detroit’s first victim, Dallas, is at the very least ornery.
Perhaps the Red Wings haven’t been “challenged” because they won’t allow it. The 49ers won their three playoff games by 62 points. Were they challenged?
Now, name their punter.