TOEWS STILL OUT; Q SAYS HE’S NOT IMPROVING
Concern grows as back injury fails to improve
With each passing day, the sense of worry gets stronger about Jonathan Toews.
What originally was supposed to be a day- to- day injury has kept the Blackhawks’ captain out almost two weeks. He has skated a little bit recently, but he won’t be on the ice again for the next few days as his back injury needs more time to heal.
Most concerning, Toews’ injury isn’t improving.
Toews has missed the last six games with a back injury since playing only 9: 15 against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 23. There had been some hope Toews, who has 12 points in 21 games, would come off injured reserve and return Sunday.
That comeback will have to wait a bit longer. Toews skated early Sunday, but coach Joel Quenneville said the Hawks would keep him off the ice for the next few days before reassessing in the middle of the week. Before the Hawks’ 2- 1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Quenneville said Toews’ injury isn’t getting better, and it’s not one he’s dealt with before.
“Well, you certainly miss his presence in all aspects of your team game, his leadership as well, as good as anybody that’s played,” Quenneville said. “You use all those important minutes.”
Andrew Copp’s score with 4: 45 remaining in the game gave the Jets the lead for good and handed the Hawks a loss in their sixth game withoutToews. The Hawks are 3- 2- 1 with Toews out and have scored just 11 times, losing the last two.
Clearly, the longer Toews is out, the harder it gets.
“You see it a lot of times with injuries where sometimes when you’re missing a guy right away for a couple games, it might not really show up in the lineup and guys are excited to get that chance,” said Patrick Kane, who set up Artemi Panarin’s game- tying goal with 6: 54 left in the third. “The longer you go missing a great player, there’s going to be a hole missing. It’s nothing we can control.
“Guys like myself and other guys are going to have to step up and try to, whether take on a little bit more ownership in leadership or playing the right way and trying to do whatever you can to help this team win.”
With Toews sitting out, the Hawks have had to improvise. They are missing their best two- way player and have to pay closer attention to certain parts of their game, not tomention trying to pick up the slack offensively in a lineup that doesn’t make as much sense when Toews is out.
“You have the lines a little mixed up here as we’re going along, and we seem to be changing as we’re going into games. I still think you have to find a way to do what you can to make a contribution and look to make it more of a simpler game plan, keep it tight, not play a wide- open game,” Quenneville said.
“Our offense has been a little tighter than it’s been most times, but our defense, we’ve been playing relatively well defensively and that’s what we have to continue to build upon without Jonny around.”
Scott Darling, playing in place of the recovering Corey Crawford, made 30 saves and kept the Hawks in Sunday’s game.
“[ Toews] does everything out there [ and] in the room, too,” Darling said. “We definitely miss him, but we’re professionals, and guys are stepping up trying to fill . . . it’s a massive void, but we’re doing everything we can to fill it.”