Jonathan Toews Doesn’t Think The Blackhawks Have Anything To Be Down About
By Josh Hill
The Chicago Blackhawks are on the brink of elimination entering their Game 5 showdown with the Detroit Red Wings and lots of people in Chicago are placing the blame on captain Jonathan Toews. Despite being the leader of the team, Toews has been very un-captain like for the Blackhawks and it’s his panicked tone that is being set across the board for Chicago.
But while fans are down on the Blackhawks after watching their team fall into a 3-1 hole, Toews doesn’t think Chicago has anything to be down about and is brushing off the 3-1 deficit as though it’s a losing streak in the middle of the season.
“What’s there to be down about?” Toews said, via the Chicago Tribune. “Dwelling on that and feeling sorry for ourselves isn’t going to do anything.”
Actually, there are plenty of things to be down about if your playing for the Blackhawks right now. Beyond the obvious wall they’re backed up against, the Hawks are struggling to find any sort of offensive rhythm in the series and have just two goals in the last 180 minutes against the Red Wings. Netminder Jimmy Howard has shut down the Blackhawks usually lightning fast offense and that’s a major reason as to why the 3-1 hole they’re in looks so absolutely terrifying.
To bring it home and more personal to Toews, the Chicago captain hasn’t scored a goal in nine postseason games so far and is currently seeing the penalty box more than he’s helping out his team. The Red Wings couldn’t get further inside of Toews’ head as every time he’s on the ice he’s either barking at someone or hacking at their legs — mind you none of that involves scoring goals.
The cherry on top of this sundae of sorrow for the Blackhawks goes back to that 3-1 deficit they face and the very real possibility that they’ll fail to advance past the semifinal round of the playoffs for the third straight year. Vancouver did them in back in 2011, Phoenix bounced them last year and the Red Wings are showing no fear in eliminating the Blackhawks this weekend.
So while Jonathan Toews thinks there’s nothing to be down about, off the top of my head there’s more than just a few things to be extremely down about if you’re anywhere near the Chicago Blackhawks.