BY LEN ZIEHM STAFF REPORTER 

The Blackhawks got a scare watching Saturday's bronze-medal game at the Winter Olympics. 

Center Alex Zhamnov , the Hawks' best player, skated off the ice in obvious pain early in Russia's 7-2 romp over Belarus. General manager Mike Smith's preliminary report was a hip pointer. 

Zhamnov returned to play two shifts in the third period. He's expected back in Chicago today, where he will be evaluated by Hawks' doctors. The Hawks' next game is Tuesday at Philadelphia. 

The team's leading scorer with 19 goals and 37 assists, Zhamnov had two goals and two assists in the Hawks' last game--a 5-3 win over Florida on Feb. 13. He is tied for fourth in the NHL in assists and tied for ninth in scoring. 

Last season the veteran center suffered a fractured larynx and bruised vocal cords when he was struck with a puck against Pittsburgh on Jan. 21. He missed 18 games, during which the Hawks' bid to make the playoffs collapsed. This season he earned his first berth in the NHL All-Star Game as the Hawks got off to a 33-18-9-0 start.