Hawks a bit rusty, but they're not worried
The Blackhawks were back on the ice Thursday for the first time since Monday's emotional Game 6 win over Vancouver to end that series.
"It wasn't our best practice, but we kind of got some of the rocks out of our hands and got it back going," Brian Campbell said. "We have two more practices to go that will be up-tempo and high pace, and come whenever it is we play, we'll be ready to go.
"We had a lot of travel in the first two rounds so it's been nice to have a few days off."
With Game 1 of the Western Conference finals likely set for Sunday, it would be five days off for the Hawks.
"I don't think it will be hard to get back at it," Adam Burish said. "I'm just so excited to be in the conference finals. Who would have thought we would have been here at the start of the year?
"It won't be hard to get back at it. It's kind of like a Christmas present. You can't wait to start it. You can't wait to open it."
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville isn't worried about having so much time off.
"Getting a couple days to refresh is a good thing," Quenneville said. "I think once you get past seven days or six days it might be a little too long and you lose it.
"We just have to recapture that feeling over the next couple days of practice and get our pace where it's going to be game-like and our minds tuned to that."
We'll talk later: Martin Havlat confirmed Thursday when general manager Dale Tallon told the Daily Herald during the Vancouver that talks about a new contract will wait until after the playoffs.
"There will be time for that later," Havlat said. "Right now we're trying to win hockey games."
Havlat would be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 if he doesn't get a new deal from the Hawks.
Let's get physical: The Hawks are gearing up for another physical series in the West finals, but it won't be anything they haven't seen from Calgary or Vancouver.
The Hawks have answered every challenge physically so far in the playoffs.
"I knew we had it in here," Ben Eager said. "Maybe during the regular season we didn't obviously play as physically as we are now, but we have a lot of guys stepping up and finishing their checks. That just comes with playoff hockey. Everyone picks it up a level and it's been great having everyone ready to play and playing tough."
No worries: Sammy Pahlsson and Matt Walker skated on their own Thursday as they continue to nurse nagging injuries between games. Pahlsson and Walker haven't practiced for a while but they haven't missed any games.