Blackhawks: “Core Group Needs To Step Up” In Last 8 Games
Added on Mar 28, 2011 by J Merrill in
One thing is for sure, these next two weeks the Chicago Blackhawks will either send a message to the NHL about how resilient they still are, or they will be explaining why they couldn’t get back in the playoffs after winning The Stanley Cup. To make matters worse they are dealing with key injuries to Patrick Sharp, and Dave Bolland. After dropping a tough game to the Anaheim Ducks, they will face the division leading Detroit Redwings in Detroit tonight.
The one thing that everyone agrees on is that the players still around from last years cup run need to step up and pick up the slack. Especially when every win is important if they want to have a chance at securing a playoff spot. In the off season the salary cap rules forced them to make some big changes, and now is when the veterans really need to be leaders. Hawks forward Troy Brouwer, who has gone 16 games without a goal, said “They kept the core guys, or what they wanted their core to be for a reason, and now is that time where those guys need to step up.”
The Blackhawks will have to depend on people like captain Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane,Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell to name a few. Kane said that they really need to put the losses behind them while concentrating at the task at hand. He said “It’s felt like the playoffs the past 15 to 20 games. We’ve been playing pretty well, as of late. We just can’t get down on ourselves when we let one slip away. Obviously, it’s unacceptable and we want to make sure we play better, but we’ve got to get that good feeling back in here and I think it probably starts with the guys who were here last year, part of that Stanley Cup winning team.”
Coach Joel Quenneville said he is looking at the challenge as a lot of fun instead of hard road ahead. He said “It’s a fun situation. Every game’s big. Every game’s fun. Everybody wants to play in these type of games. You should be excited. These are playoff games. Everybody likes to play in these settings, where every shift’s important and every play is important. We’ve been tested over the last couple years in these type of situations, so it should enhance us as we go along here, as the stage gets bigger and more important.”
Brouwer agreed, and he said he really needs to pick up his game on the offensive side of the puck. He said “It’s been awhile since I’ve done much of anything except for hit people. So, I’ve really got to start picking up my offensive game, especially going into the playoffs.”
On Sunday Quenneville said they were also happy with Sharp’s progress, but wouldn’t elaborate on when he could be back. He said “We’re really pleased and encouraged that he’s been able to ratchet up his off-ice training and conditioning. We’ll have a better assessment or a number of days (until he returns) once he gets back on the ice, but we’ve been happy with his progress.” He continued to say that they are far from scratching him for the season, he said “I don’t think we’ll ever get to that point. Right now it’s status quo, but there’s some progress.”
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