No Toews is no surprise
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews won't be in the lineup Thursday night against the Coyotes, which was to be expected since the captain returned to practice only Wednesday.
Toews suffered a concussion Oct. 21 and the Hawks want to give him a few more days to get into game shape.
Toews will skate again Friday morning in Denver before a decision is made on him playing against the Avalanche that night.
If Toews doesn't play Friday night in Colorado he would almost certainly be ready to go Monday against Los Angeles at the United Center.
"It's only been two days I've been back on the ice so it's more than just feeling good," Toews said following Thursday's morning skate at Jobing.com Arena. "It's getting your game back and getting your legs back under you.
"We'll take it day-by-day, the same as we have the last couple weeks. Today was better than yesterday and hopefully tomorrow is the same case. We'll see how everything goes at the morning skate (Friday) morning."
Toews skated extra after practice with Marian Hossa and Ben Eager, who will miss his 12th straight game.
Toews, Hossa and Eager - that would be the Head and Shoulder line, right? Sorry, couldn't resist.
Here were the forward line combinations at Thursday's morning skate:
Byfuglien - Madden - Kane
Versteeg - Ebbett - Sharp
Ladd - Bolland - Brouwer
Hendry - Fraser - Kopecky
First power-play unit: Byfuglien, Brouwer and Sharp with Barker and Campbell at the points.
Second power-play unit: Kane, Kopecky and Versteeg with Keith and Seabrook at the points.
I don't get it. I really don't. What the hell is going on with this power play? Thank god they finally removed the great Dave Bolland from the pp, as maybe the coaching staff is finally sending this goof a message. Another horrible game by #36, with a -2, and he is bringing nothing to the offensive end of the ice. I don't know if it's his back, or whatever, but he better wake up and start earning that monsterous paycheck.
The power play goes like this....they give it to kane on the half boards and PRAY that he can create anything. Maybe you get a guy in front of the net, but most likely not. You then resort to the revolving circus at the point blasting away and getting shots blocked, or firing wide. It's horrible. For as much skill as this team has, it's sad that the pp is flat and routine. How about changing it up? Nobody is fighting for 50-50 pucks, and at what point does the coach (torch?) get fired? 2-30? really? it's costing them points, and on the road it's going to kill them.
A typical Huet game. Some decent saves, but that first goal he let in was a killer. Especially on the road, and early. You can't get 5 holed on a weak wrist shot, from the circle. The third goal probably gave Pierre McGuire a woody back in Canada with a lazy glove hand.
I don't get it. This team has a LOT of guys who are loafing right now, and not playing hard. I don't know if it's an arrogance issue, over confidence, or just bored with the day to day grind, but they are looking flat far too often.
In a way I hope that trade happens, and I never have to watch Cam Barker again. The man is pure torture. Is their anyone in the NHL that CAN NOT smoke this guy? Anyone?
Big game tomorrow. They better wake up, and start rising to the challenge.
"Flat" is a perfect way to explain what I saw last night. One soft goal by Huey, but IMHO that is not the problem on this team.
With Burrish and Eager and Toews out of the lineup, this team has no spark or heart or leadership. Versteeg's and Seabrook's - and like it or not Huey's (insert astonished response here) - play is the closest I see to passion out there. No one else really seems to give a damn.
Buff continues to irritate me. Biggest guy on the ice, but is virtually invisible except for his "one check per night" that Foley applauds in octaves that make the glass shake in my house. Then Big Buff turns into Big Puff - and checks out for the night.
We need a spark on this team - some hunger. Bring Dowell back, somebody that wants to play with some passion.
Q needs to give this team a kick in the butt. I don't mind that they lose, but HOW they are losing is distubing to me.
Caught the Phoenix feed of the game and they seem pretty fair...but they did mention the whole Hawks/dad trip and speculated that we were suffering from a 'desert hangover'. I love the dads trip idea but there could be some truth to it.
To lose a game when the opponent played on the road the night before when we had nearly a week to prep is extremely disappointing and not befitting a team with so called Stanley Cup ambitions. Steve, i know you're not a Bolland guy and tonight he gave you ample ammunition as he was absolutely invisible. Kopecky had a good night and got a lot of first team pp time and looked good trying to establish screens and looking for deflections.
Barker and Campbell are both horrendous....Soupy with a lot of bad pinches and generally looked his lost, out to lunch self. The man simply doesn't know how to lead a rush, often waiting to the last second to make a move at the opposing blue line drawing his own mates offside. 51's hockey IQ might be the worst on the team.
I'm going to cry myself to sleep.
This team is going to drift below .500 by Christmas. What looked like an easy schedule in November with a loss tonight is the start of a long winless streak. The PP is brutal and of course against a decent team Huet gives up easy goals. The current record is padded by home cooking against cream puff teams.
Jeb...concise and accurate analysis. We'd miss the playoffs if they started tonight....we dominated Phoenix for most of the night...but nobody could hit the net it seemed and when they did, most of the shots were easily handled.
The opening goal looked good but it should have been stopped. Does Huet know why he has a goal stick in his hand? To stop pucks along the ice. He played ok though...can't blame him too much tonight. Fat rebound on the 2-0 goal, but he made the initial stop off a nice tip in front.
Another night where the overall effort was there but we couldn't buy a bounce. And dressing Hendry makes no sense...especially when he took a penalty in his limited ice time. Get Skille, Beach or Aliu up here. When is Bowman going to do something but live off Tallon's creation?
I thought he was due back?
Anyone hear anything?
Go Hawks! I'm started to twitch after almost a solid week with no games.
I'd swap Versteeg and Sharp on the PP. Byfuglien, Brouwer and Sharp as a PP line doesn't really have much playmaking skill. Maybe with Versteeg, they could set it up better. The second unit would have Kane to set it up, Kopecky in front of the net and Sharp to be a trigger man.
WooHooo! Hendry on wing again!
Hope JT is at full strength when he plays...he is much to valuable to risk a relapse!!
My how the center position looks thin without him!
Leave the comedy to Scards............