CHICAGO — Joel Quenneville ordered more than a few “bag skates” in his days as coach of the Avalanche. The dreaded practices after a bad loss are so named because vomit bags may be necessary for players from all the skating.
After his Chicago Blackhawks suffered perhaps their worst loss of the season Sunday to his former team, 5-1, at the United Center, Quenneville was asked how he’ll make his team aware at its next practice that the Sunday effort was unacceptable.
“We have ways,” Quenneville said.
The loss was Chicago’s second in a row on the weekend. It used to be that a loss to the Avalanche was nothing to be ashamed about, but these were the last-place Avs, losers of six straight, against one of the biggest up-and-coming teams in the NHL.
“It was a curveball. We’re not pleased,” Quenneville said. “You can use some really bad adjectives to describe our play today. We’ve got to get back to basics.”
The day was made even worse for Chicago when it was learned second-leading scorer Martin Havlat was lost to a lower-body injury. There was no immediate word on Havlat’s prognosis.
Footnotes.
The Avs remain perfect (19-0-0) when leading after two periods this season. . . . Rookie Chris Stewart hit the double-figure mark in goals, getting his 10th of the season in the first period to make it 2-0. Stewart had an open net when the puck was directed to him by Tyler Arnason from in close. . . . The Avs are one of six teams that have yet to have a player get a hat trick this season. . . . The Avs finished the season 2-2-0 against Chicago. . . . The Avs’ franchise is now 42-42-12 against Chicago, dating to its Quebec days.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
