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player ready...Playoff pups: James Black and Enrico Ciccone both saw their first playoff action Wednesday night. Black, who was on the fourth line with Denis Savard and Jim Cummins, could not have imagined two months ago, when he was in Indianapolis, that he’d be in the Stanley Cup playoffs. “It was a great surprise when I got called up and now it’s even better that I’m staying,” he said.
“We feel Black has played well down the stretch,” said coach Craig Hartsburg, who chose Black over Steve Dubinsky for Wednesday’s roster.
“I’m pumped,” said Ciccone. “There’s a difference discipline-wise in these games and that’s what I’ve been working on the last couple of games. I talked to Hartsie and he said “be careful” and I think I proved I could do it.
“This is a good team and I can’t come in and jeopardize their chance to go all the way. I might look psycho out there, but I still can think.”
Rotten luck: The Blackhawks were expecting Eric LeCompte to compete hard for a job next season, but the 21-year-old winger said he’ll miss at least the first month of next season with torn knee ligaments suffered in Indianapolis’ final game of the season.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 190-pound LeCompte said he will undergo surgery next week.
Hartsburg’s mentor: Calgary coach Pierre Page not only coached Hartsburg when the current Blackhawk coach played for the Minnesota North Stars, “he gave me a chance that first year after I retired to get into coaching,” says Hartsburg. “He was a big influence on me pursuing a coaching career.”