The Blackhawks have chosen not to go to Denver early to try to get acclimated to the mile-high altitude. They’ll practice as usual Tuesday at the United Center before flying out that night for Thursday’s second-round series opener against the Colorado Avalanche.
“We’re not concerning ourselves with the altitude at this point,” coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We went in there (March 1) and played a great game after playing here the night before.”
What Hartsburg didn’t say was that the Hawks lost that game 5-3, and that Colorado also flew home after the game in Chicago the night before.
Reunion: Chris Chelios has logged lots of ice time with two of the key players on the Avalanche. Goalie Patrick Roy and forward Claude Lemieux were teammates of Chelios in Montreal when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1986.
“He (Roy) can be beat,” Chelios said. “We’ve scored on him before. We’ve got to get a lot of shots and a lot of traffic in front of him. No goalie likes that.”
“I played with him for five years. Patrick’s a big-save goalie, but he tends to let some soft ones in every once in a while. Hopefully, we can get to him.”
Chelios and Lemieux have waged war all season, though the Hawks defenseman and the chippy Avalanche forward are still friends from their Montreal days.
“Claude’s Claude,” Chelios said. “He’s going to be out there diving and faking and acting. You’ve just got to play your game and hope the referees see it.
“It’s the same old story. You hate to play against him, but you’d take him on your team anytime.”
Smith seethes: Steve Smith is still waiting for a phone call from Brian Burke, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, who declined to suspend Detroit’s Igor Larionov for the slash that broke the Hawks defenseman’s leg.
“I’m disappointed,” said Smith, who called Burke the day the news broke that Burke had accepted Larionov’s explanation that he had not intended to injure Smith with the two-hander behind his left leg.
“What was he doing?” Smith said, “swatting me on the butt and saying, `Good shift?’ I want to know why he (Burke) made the decision he did. I think it was the wrong decision. Time and time again they’ve said when there’s intent to injure and it’s done by a baseball-type swing, if it’s below the waist it’s two games and above the waist it’s four.
More Top Picks Best Non Slip Cutting Boards
“There’s got to be a reason he hasn’t called. Maybe he tried and didn’t get through, but his secretary said he would return my call.”