TALENT, QUESTIONS ABOUND AT CAMP
With first practice on Thursday, remade Hawks have a lot of matters to resolve
Toews queries in a Zoom meeting with season-ticket holders Tuesday.
“You want to make sure ... he’s feeling more like himself, and that certainly seems to be the case,” Bowman said. “But he went through a lot, and he missed a lot of time. He’s been training very hard, hoping to be ready for the season. Let’s just see how it plays out. None of us knows — Jonny doesn’t even know — how he’s going to feel three weeks from now.
“If he’s just like he was three years ago, that’s awesome. If he’s not at that level, if he’s at a different level, then that’s OK, too. The best thing would be to try to not have expectations.”
Off the ice, as well, more questions continue to hang over the franchise. Are any Hawks among the estimated 10-15 NHL players not yet vaccinated? If so, how will the team handle the inability of the player(s) to travel into Canada?
And when will the results of the investigation into allegations of a 2010 sexual-assault cover-up be released? Will Bowman, frequently named in the allegations, keep his job? What other institutional changes will the Hawks implement? What will come of the two pending lawsuits?
Training camp, hopefully, will provide a decent number of answers. But the Hawks will need to sort things out quickly: The season opener Oct. 13 in Colorado is less than three weeks away.