Blackhawks defenseman Gary Suter was left back in Chicago and will not play in Game 2 of the Western Conference final Sunday. Suter has been taking treatments for his broken right hand.
“He wants to play ,” coach Darryl Sutter said Saturday, “but we’re not going to let him. He’s not ready.
“He’ll be a lot closer to 100 percent by Tuesday, and we’d rather have that than have him at 80 percent tomorrow and have a setback.”
“When he plays is up to Coach Sutter,” said Dr. Louis Kolb, the Hawks’ team physician. “He’s not that far away. We can protect him with a cast.”
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Primarily Primeau: The media in both cities have made a big deal of Red Wings center Keith Primeau’s big hits on Chris Chelios in Game 1. Too big a deal, in Sutter’s view.
“You’re blowing it way out of proportion,” Sutter said. “People are saying Primeau ran Chris Chelios three or four times. The first big hit of that game was Chelios knocking Keith Primeau on his .”
“It’s always been like that for me,” said Chelios, “going back to my Montreal days. That’s all part of the game. It’s nothing that’s going to take me off my game. But anybody who says they like it is lying.”
Shooting blanks: The four shots on goal by the Hawks and Red Wings combined in the third period Thursday night were the fewest for any period since the NHL began keeping such records in 1968. But the one shot by the Hawks was not a record. The Washington Capitals had no shots in the third period of a game last year. Unlike the Hawks, however, the Caps won that game, 4-2 over the eventual champion New York Rangers.