McDonough meets, greets Hawks players on first full day on job

John McDonough did as he promised Wednesday: he hit the ground sprinting on his first full day as president of the Blackhawks.

McDonough attended practice at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville and met with the players beforehand.

"He talked to the players and it was inspiring," said Hawks general manager Dale Tallon.

Coach Denis Savard sees the hiring of McDonough as another key piece to the puzzle for an organization on the rebound.

"I think it's awesome," Savard said. "I think it fits so nice, being a Chicago man and the experience that he has with the marketing part of it. I've known John for a few years now, and Dale has known John for a long time. It fits us perfectly and is a good acquisition for the organization."

It's no secret the Hawks need to upgrade their practice facility from the cramped spaces they now have in Bensenville, which likely will be another thing McDonough puts on his plate before too long.

Forging ahead: With Jason Williams unlikely to play again tonight in Calgary because of his groin injury, Denis Savard had a first line of Robert Lang, Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg skating together at practice Wednesday.

Williams would be the fourth key forward out of the lineup, joining Martin Havlat, Rene Bourque and Kevyn Adams.

"That's four quality players, but we can't worry about that," Savard said. "As an organization we've talked about our depth all summer. We haven't played with Havlat for 19 of the 20 games and we're 11-7. So guys have picked up the pieces pretty nice."

The second line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Tuomo Ruutu will stay together. Savard practiced with a third line of Yanic Perreault, Sergei Samsonov and Martin Lapointe and a fourth line of Adam Burish, David Koci and Jacob Dowell.

Koci returns to the lineup after missing a month and 10 games with a broken nose.

Upon further review: Winger Kris Versteeg, who makes his NHL debut tonight for the Hawks, was acquired from Boston in February for winger Brandon Bochenski.

Bochenski has no goals and 2 assists in nine games with the Bruins.

It's also the NHL debut for Jacob Dowell, the Hawks' fifth-round pick in the 2004 entry draft.

Back at it: This reconvenes the Hawks' six-game road trip following a three-day break at home. They've gone 1-1-1 on the first three stops, collecting 3 out of a possible 6 points in games at Columbus, Nashville and Detroit.

"We played well in the final 20 minutes at Detroit (in Saturday's 5-3 win), so we've got to pick up where we left off," said winger Martin Lapointe.