Gary Suter waited until game time to make the decision to play with a broken right hand that he felt might rob him of the attributes that make him such a valued member of the Blackhawks.
“My strengths are moving the puck and shooting the puck,” Suter said. “You take those things away from me and my effectiveness goes down. Right now I don’t know how effective I could be. I’ve got to do what I feel is right. I want to help the team, but . . .”
Suter was unhappy with the cast with which he practiced in the morning skate Tuesday. He had a new one put on to give him more control over his stick. “You just don’t have any feel for your stick,” he said. “It’s the same as yesterday, it just feels cumbersome. It’s like trying to hit a baseball with a club in the middle of your hand.”
Apparently it worked because Suter seemed more comfortable in the pregame warmup. After a lengthy media grilling earlier in the day about whether he could move and shoot the puck with his old authority, Suter said: “Those are the same questions I ask myself 20 hours day. Can I do them good enough? Can I be effective or will I have a negative impact?
“Passing? I can pass OK, but receiving passes is a little tougher, especially on the backhand. Can I take slap shots? Yeah, I can take ’em but so can my 4-year-old son.”
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Destiny? There’s been a good deal of talk in Detroit about the Red Wings being a team of destiny. Blackhawks coach Darryl Sutter was asked about it Tuesday. “I don’t even know what it means. Is it destiny they’re saying or dynasty? Hey, they’re in the semifinals. They’ve got a heckuva lot better chance now than they did four months ago.”
What pressure? The Blackhawks may have been the team on the brink going into Game 3, but “I still think the pressure’s on them (the Red Wings),” said Jeremy Roenick. “Everyone has them winning the Stanley Cup. They’ve already ordered the rings. Few people in this world expected us to be here.”
Waite and see: Jimmy Waite was dressed as the backup goalie for the first time in the series after Jeff Hackett suffered back spasms in a workout Monday. Hackett practiced Tuesday but Sutter decided not to take the chance. The Hawks have yet to make a roster change in the playoffs except for injured players.