Spirited practice keeps Hawks focused
In the midst of a five-day break from game action and coming off a day totally away from the ice, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wasn't sure what to expect from his troops Friday during practice at The Edge in Bensenville.
It didn't take long for him to find out.
What Quenneville got from his team Friday was an up-tempo practice from the get-go, one filled with spirited 1-on-1, 2-on-2 and 5-on-5 battles - none more so than the Dave Bolland vs. Adam Burish matchup, which ended with a frustrated Bolland knocking Burish to the ice.
"A couple of battle drills, gets competitive, nothing serious," was how Hawks captain Jonathan Toews summed up the action.
His coach was much more effusive.
"I really liked how we practiced today," Quenneville said. "I thought we had a lot of jump, a lot of energy. It was a good practice. Usually you come off a day off and you have a kind of sluggish start."
Now, the trick is to translate that same effort to Sunday's game against Calgary at the United Center.
"That first period Sunday night is always a tough one," Quenneville said. "But the way we started practice today is a good sign."
To a man, Hawks players felt having Thursday off will pay dividends down the line.
"Probably the biggest thing is mentally it's going to help us to get away from the rink and not think about hockey for a little while, especially when we have a hard stretch coming up," defenseman Brian Campbell said.
"It was good; we all sort of sat back and relaxed and had some fun," defenseman Brent Seabrook said. "But today we came back to work and worked hard. Practice was good, crisp and hard."
Special numbers: Coinciding with the Hawks better play of late has been the improvement of their special teams.
The Hawks are fourth in the NHL in killing penalties (89.3 percent) and seventh in scoring on the power play, successful 21.2 percent of the time.
"I think it's one of the things we focus on in the locker room now - the power play and penalty-kill," forward Jonathan Toews said. "It's one of the things that we really feel can win us games right now. I think both of those have made a difference in our last three wins."
Old home weekend: Sunday's game against Calgary will feature the return of former Hawks Rene Bourque (9 points in 14 games) and Jim Vandermeer (31 PIM) to the United Center.
"It's exciting, it's fun; they were great guys and you wish they were still your teammates, but it's the game," defenseman Brent Seabrook said. "It's going to be fun Sunday to get back out there and play against them."
He said it: "He can have him." Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell on whether he or Duncan Keith will get the task of trying to hold Calgary's high-scoring Jarome Iginla in check Sunday night.