By Neil Milbert  

Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter is asking his top center, Alex Zhamnov, "to be more selfish" on the offensive end. 

"The respect for Alex around the league differs tremendously from how people perceive him here in Chicago," Sutter said Saturday. "Alex is one of the best two-way centermen in the NHL. Everyone around the league knows that. 

"He's a real responsible person with a very, very unselfish attitude. He is so conscious and respectful for defense that he gives up a lot on offense. 

"Alex has been criticized in the past for not doing this or that to a degree. Yet all that time he probably has been the best defensive player on this team." 

Sutter believes Zhamnov was not only the Hawks' best player in their exhibition victories over Dallas and St. Louis, "he was the best player on the ice."