The Detroit Red Wings watched their hold of the Chicago Blackhawks all but dwindle, but will look to regain their composer in order to advance with a road win Wednesday night at 8 pm ET.
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Via ESPN:
The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings deemed the United Center's ice satisfactory Wednesday prior to Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal series, despite a Rolling Stones concert the night before and high heat and humidity.
"It's fine," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of the ice after Wednesday's morning skate.
Temps are near 80 in Chicago with high humidity.
"I think it'll be OK," Hawks winger Viktor Stalberg said. "I know it sometimes makes it a little worse when it's humid and warm outside like it's been the last day or so. I felt the ice was pretty good.
"This late in the year, the ice isn't going to be great everywhere. That's just part of it. Usually the ice is pretty decent here. ... I'm sure the ice will get better during the day here too because you get some time to rest it and get a little colder in the building hopefully."
Patrick Kane said, "It seemed good today."
Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith thought the United Center's ice was better Wednesday than it has been in some of his past experiences.
"I thought the ice was OK," Smith said. "Actually, I think the ice has been worse here previous games. I thought the ice was decent. It hasn't been great, but it's all right.
"Both teams have to play on it. ... Sometimes it becomes a disadvantage for some puck-possession teams, but we're both puck-possession teams here, so both teams are going to deal with the same thing."
