Chicago?s Defensive Game Must Improve

from Tim Sassone of the Chicago Daily-Herald, Defenseman Duncan Keith didn?t want to hear any talk of how the Hawks had to play without the injured Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp in Tuesday?s loss.

?Those are two of our best players and guys you can?t replace in the lineup, but having said that, other teams lose guys, have some of their best players out, and still find ways to win,? Keith said. ?We?ve done some good things, but the last two games against Nashville, we weren?t happy with how things went.?

Everyone agrees, from general manager Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville down to the players that the Hawks? team game defensively must improve over the last two-plus months of the season or it could be a short spring again.

?As far as winning the Stanley Cup, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of effort and full team game,? Keith said. ?We have the ability to play a team game in here, but we need to do it consistently.?

The Hawks will have only 32 games left on the schedule when they return from the all-star break Tuesday at Vancouver. Of those 32 games, 20 are on the road.

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Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/chicagos_defensive_game_must_improve/

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