Jonathan Toews is paid to play stable protection, win faceoffs and battle laborious for pucks everywhere in the ice.
He is paid to assist kill penalties and to ensure the facility play is operating easily.
Because the Blackhawks’ captain he is additionally paid to place out any behind-the-scenes fires and to ensure staff morale stays up, even in essentially the most dire of circumstances.
And, after all, Toews is paid to attain objectives.
So whereas Toews is doing — at a minimal — an satisfactory job in loads of areas, he is but to search out the again of the web even as soon as through the Hawks’ first 21 video games.
Toews is one among seven forwards who’ve but to attain with 25 or extra photographs on aim. He and Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler have essentially the most at 37.
It goes with out saying that each staff wants their high centermen to be at the least a reasonable contributor within the goal-scoring division. Once they’re not, it typically creates a nasty ripple impact that makes it troublesome for groups to win persistently.
The Hawks, whereas 6-3-0 below King, are nonetheless 1-for-30 on the facility play over the past 11 video games. In addition they have simply 8 objectives within the final 5 contests.
So do you pull Toews off the highest power-play unit? Transfer him right into a third-line function for some time?
These are robust conversations to have with a future Corridor of Famer and a three-time Stanley Cup winner, however solely Toews is aware of for positive precisely how he feels.
Backside line: There’s little doubt that coming again after a season away has not been straightforward.
“It is not minor hockey, ?” stated interim coach Derek King after the Hawks misplaced 2-0 to San Jose on the United Heart on Sunday. “You may get away with it there, however right here these gamers are good (and) these are good groups. … While you miss a 12 months of hockey and also you’re coming again and you do not rating for some time, it begins to get to you. However he is working laborious, he is doing all of the issues we ask (of) him.
“He is our chief and he is enjoying good hockey.”
Toews had a number of probabilities towards the Sharks, with maybe the perfect one coming when Dominik Kubalik appeared for a redirect off Toews’ stick on a power-play. The puck flew to the tip boards, making solely slight contact with Toews’ stick.
It is troublesome to say if the go may have been a bit extra on track, or if Toews merely missed, however most guys will inform you they have to get extra wooden on the puck to at the least give it an opportunity.
“The go may’ve been extra on the heel than on the toe or in the course of the blade,” King stated. “It is a sport of inches, proper? And proper now, we’re lacking guys a little bit an excessive amount of in that space with the passes.”
Toews didn’t converse to the media Sunday, and the Hawks didn’t observe Monday.
Toews is pissed off and sure urgent an excessive amount of to finish this drought. When he spoke two weeks in the past after a win over Arizona, Toews stated he’d like to enhance “every part” in his sport.
As for the aim drought, which was at 15 video games on the time, Toews stated: “I imply it does not hassle me. However, , I would love to do one thing about it one among nowadays right here.”
Since then Toews has simply 8 photographs on aim in six video games. So perhaps it is simply time to shoot first and ask questions later.
“It is simply not clicking proper now, and it is not simply him, it is a bunch of them,” King stated. “We simply have to remain the course and combat by way of this.”
Workforce-wide downside:
Whereas Toews has but to attain, it is not like he is the one one struggling on the Hawks (7-12-2). Removed from it.
Do you know simply 5 Hawks have 3 or extra objectives so far? FIVE! And two of them are Dominik Kubalik and Kirby Dach, each of whom ought to have at the least 6-7 by now.
The Hawks are averaging a paltry 2.14 objectives per sport, second worst within the division behind Arizona’s nearly comical 1.86.
Colorado leads the best way with 4.06 objectives per sport (nearly double the output of the Hawks) and has eight gamers with at the least 3 objectives. Minnesota is subsequent with 3.71 objectives per sport and has 11 skaters with 3-plus objectives.
So, sure, aside from Alex DeBrincat (12) and Brandon Hagel (7) it might assist if all the Hawks stepped up their sport. This goes double for the blue liners, who’ve a measly 4 objectives COMBINED. That is the identical whole as Adam Boqvist has for Columbus in simply 12 video games. You all keep in mind him, proper?
“For essentially the most half, the floodgates will open for a few of these guys,” King stated. “And if our energy play begins clicking once more, we will be on high of those groups and we will come out forward.”
We’ll see. As a result of if it does not occur quickly the Hawks’ little resurgence below King is in large bother.
Roster transfer: The Blackhawks recalled ahead Josiah Slavin from the Rockford IceHogs and assigned ahead Philipp Kurashev to Rockford.
