Poulin Beginning to Justify Trade

Patrick Poulin clearly was the key for the Chicago Blackhawks when they traded high-scoring Steve Larmer to Hartford as part of a three-team deal early last season. Hartford Whalers General Manager Paul Holmgren said he thought long and hard before trading a player who could become the top left wing in the NHL.

That didn’t happen last season, when Poulin dropped from 20 goals as the NHL’s top-scoring rookie left wing to a 12-goal, 13-assist, third-line role in Chicago.

“Patrick had it ingrained in his mind to pass first. That sometimes is a tough habit to break,” Blackhawk Coach Darryl Sutter says. “Michel Goulet worked with him last season on his shot and the mentality it takes to be a goal-scorer in this league. I think it helped.

“You have to want to bury it to be a goal-scorer.”

Poulin’s stock is rising again. Playing on a line with Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte, he recorded six goals and five assists in Chicago’s first 11 games.

“I can never take anything away from what Michel Goulet and Steve Larmer did for me for so many years,” Roenick says, “but having Tony Amonte and Patrick Poulin on my wings makes me feel slow. They are easily the fastest wingers I’ve ever worked with.

“Patrick always had the talent to be a great player in this league. Now, he seems to have regained his touch. He has always had great size (6 feet 1, 208 pounds), speed and a willingness to give up his body to go to the net. Those are the instincts of a great goal-scorer.”

Poulin, 21, was the Whalers’ first pick in the 1991 draft. He had 52 goals and 86 assists for a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League-leading 138 points in 1991-92.

“I had never really noticed Poulin before, but he certainly showed an ability to go to the net tonight,” St. Louis right wing Brett Hull said after watching Poulin score twice against the Blues. “He and Amonte look like a pretty good complement to Jeremy Roenick.”