Hawks say Red Wings still team to beat in West
Forget San Jose and Vancouver. The team to beat in the Western Conference, as far as the Blackhawks are concerned, is Detroit.
It's always the Red Wings, even though the path to the Stanley Cup for the Hawks last season didn't go through Detroit.
“Even last year, I thought they were the team to beat, even in the playoffs, Patrick Kane said. “Even when San Jose got by them it was like, ‘OK, we don't have to face the Red Wings this year.' They have so much experience over there it seems like they can beat anyone.
Despite their Stanley Cup success, the Hawks still have yet to beat Detroit when it truly counts in the playoffs.
“We're still pretty young compared to them and the experience they have just helps them through these kind of situations, Kane said. “We've got to learn to play against them, got to learn to beat them. Obviously we really haven't ever beat them yet so we might as well start now.
The Hawks were looking to send an early message to the Red Wings on Saturday at the United Center in their first meeting of the season.
“They're a good team and we're going to battle them all year so you've got to set the tone early, that's for sure, defenseman Nick Boynton said.
“The teams you talk about at the top of our conference, Detroit comes to everybody's mind, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “There are a lot of weapons over there and we have a lot of respect for what they can do.
The Wings finished second to the Hawks in the Central Division last season but still rang up 102 points despite being hit hard by injuries. This year they have added forwards Mike Modano and Jiri Hudler along with defenseman Ruslan Salei while losing only defensemen Brett Lebda and Andres Lilja.
“We know what kind of team they have, Kane said. “We've seen them for a while and it seems like they've gotten better, too. It's going to be a good matchup all year and will be a pretty fight for the division.
Tighten it up: Joel Quenneville was looking for a tighter defensive game from his team than in Thursday's season-opening loss at Colorado when the Hawks allowed 41 shots.#8220;I think we have to defend better, Quenneville said. #8220;We have to do a better job managing the puck. Part of that is we weren't very clean with it, or smooth with it, and didn't have enough puck possession time that we like to have. As a group of five we can move better together and more predictable together.There were two lineup changes Saturday: Nick Boynton was back on defense in place of Jordan Hendry, while Patrick Sharp sat with an upper body injury. Rookie Brandon Pirri was recalled from Rockfrd to replace Sharp.Applauding Datsyuk: Several of the Hawks got a kick out of seeing normally mild-mannered Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk fight Anaheim's Corey Perry on Friday.Datsyuk is a four-time Lady Byng Trophy winner for sportsmanship who had one career fight previously.#8220;I thought it was pretty cool to see that out of him, said Patrick Kane, who has yet to have a fight in his four seasons. #8220;He didn't back down from Perry. He stood up for himself. It's good to see a player like that do that.Marian Hossa said he texted his former teammate asking for no fighting on Saturday.#8220;I guess he really can do it all, Jonathan Toews said. #8220;I guess he's sick of all those (Lady Byng) trophies he collects at the end of the year.