Savard still not one to back down

This was tough talk coming from a tough guy in the tough freaking NHL.

"I'm just ticked off at some of their players taking shots at us," Denis Savard said late Sunday afternoon.

The Blackhawks' head coach was disturbed by what he considered the Blues' cheap shots, especially to prized Hawks rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

"Behind the back, behind the head, behind the neck, after the whistle … ," Savard said of St. Louis' tactics.

The Hawks won this one 4-3 in overtime. The teams meet again Saturday night and it might come down to that thin NHL line in the ice at which intimidators collide with retaliators.

"We're looking forward to it," Savard said, the scar on his jaw jutting out.

Newcomers to the Hawks might be asking whether we're talking about the same Denis Savard they see behind the bench.

The guy in the business suit. The guy no bigger than the average accountant. The guy looking more egghead than jarhead.

Even those familiar with Savard's playing career might remember him more as the fancy-skating Savvy, the fabled spin-o-rama Savvy, the point-producing Hall of Fame center Savvy.

Folks, the thinking Denis Savard behind the bench was the same blurring Denis Savard on the ice and is the same Denis Savard who won't back down to the Blues or anybody else.

When Savard arrived in Chicago for his first Hawks training camp as a player in 1980, he weighed 155 pounds. The natural question was how in the physically brutal world of big-time, big-boy hockey he expected to survive.

Savard explained how bigger, stronger opponents challenged him during his junior-hockey days, even during pregame skates that could turn ugly.

"Every day … every game … you learn to deal with that," Savard said. "You can't let that intimidate you. If you do, you have a problem."

Savard didn't just survive. He thrived, playing 17 seasons and recording 1,338 points in 1,196 games while weighing no more than 172 pounds.

"I wanted to win," Savard said.

Then and now, winning was the objective. Winning in the NHL means never letting ruffians and hooligans take advantage of you.

Savard had to be tougher than they were and was. Now he tries to instill that quality in his players, so many of whom like Kane and Toews are learning what the league is all about while at the same time trying to qualify for the playoffs.

The Blues provided Savard with a classroom and a lesson plan. He ran with it, pointer in hand, and the Hawks better pay attention.

Nothing could have pleased Savard more than to see the 165-pound Kane score the winning goal in response to what the Hawks perceived as unnecessary roughness.

To make sure everybody knew whom he was talking about, Savard named names -- Blues defenseman Barrett Jackman and winger David Backes included.

"We have two young guys playing their hearts out here," Savard said of 19-year-olds Kane and Toews. "We're not backing down from anybody."

Savard surely hopes his players read that quote and Blues players hear about it by the time their rematch in St. Louis.

"We're going to play our game," Savard said. "We're going to try to get the 2 points our way."

The guy in the business suit clearly means business.