Jan. 18--When the Jets ramped up the physicality against the Blackhawks during Friday night's Central Division clash at the United Center, the Hawks didn't send their enforcer on to the ice in response.
They don't have one.
The days of Brandon Bollig, John Scott, Jamal Mayers, Ben Eager or David Koci laying down the law with their fists for the Hawks are over. Like most of the other teams in the NHL, the Hawks rely on team toughness to protect their own when they feel like opponents are taking liberties.
"We have guys that part of their job description is to make sure that you play hard and you're hard to play against," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We want to make sure that we all bring a little bit of that to the table. But the game has changed where the ... enforcer, the tough guy, the one-dimensional tough guy, it's tough to have that role and job description in today's game. So I think by committee, that's basically how a majority of the teams are approaching that now. It's kind of the evolution of the fighters in the game."
That is why Bryan Bickell and Brent Seabrook dropped the gloves against the Jets on Friday, and earlier this season, middleweights Andrew Shaw and Kris Versteeg engaged in fisticuffs against opponents on separate occasions.
With their two fighting major penalties Friday, the Hawks stand at nine for the season, which ranks near the bottom of the league. The Red Wings have just three fighting majors while the Sabres pace the NHL with 25.
"You have to be competitive and you have to be willing to battle and show up and play hard, and that's something I've seen through our group," Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said. "We're not afraid to show up and play hard. So they may not necessarily fill that role of the typical tough guy, but we've got guys who are competitive and they battle."
Seabrook's throw-down with the Jets' Jim Slater in the first period came after the Winnipeg forward plastered Hawks winger Patrick Kane along the boards. The response from Seabrook was immediate.
"You just have to treat everyone in this room like they're your brother," Shaw said. "You have their back because you know they're going to have yours. That's team toughness to me. You don't need an enforcer. It's more just sticking up for each other when the time is right."
Added forward Ben Smith: "We have to step up for each other and that's the main thing, whether it's starting scrums or not letting guys get jumped like that. We might not have an enforcer, but we have some tough guys in this room."
Perhaps the toughest is Daniel Carcillo. The veteran winger has 1,211 penalty minutes in 421 career NHL games and has had a myriad of fines and suspensions throughout his career. That is why the league took a long, hard look at Carcillo's cross-check of the Jets' Mathieu Perreault late in the second period, and according to a source is considering supplemental discipline on Carcillo.
Jets coach Paul Maurice called the hit that finished Perrault's night -- and reportedly might sideline him a few games -- with an injured arm, "a vicious cross-check to an unsuspecting player."
Carcillo, who took the shot at Perrault after seeing the Jets center slash the stick out of Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith's hands, said Saturday "it was just kind of a hockey play. It was at the end of the shift (and) I must have just caught him between some padding. I've been hit there before too. It hurts."
Despite staying on the straight and narrow this season, Carcillo knows that with his history, the NHL is keeping close tabs on him every time he takes the ice.
"They're watching everybody but, yeah, you don't like to see guys get hurt, especially skilled guys," Carcillo said. "It's what the league wants: To see those guys out there. We don't want guys going after Kane. I don't really like to speak on that too much, but I mean, you guys obviously know my reputation, so ..."
That is not to say Carcillo won't continue to play with an edge, something that has kept him in the NHL for 10 seasons.
"You always want to be able to make certain guys in this room feel comfortable, for them to go out and play their game and use their skill," Carcillo said. "So, from that standpoint, you don't necessarily need to go out and beat up 15 guys a year, you just kind of have a bit of a reputation of unpredictability and other guys just need to know that if something does happen like that, there will be an answer."
ckuc@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChrisKuc
