The Chicago Blackhawks announced that team captain Jonathan Toews is on the COVID-19 protocol list. Team officials made the announcement that he and Henrik Borgstrom were added to the list on Tuesday.
MEDICAL UPDATE: Forwards Jonathan Toews and Henrik Borgstrom will not practice today (COVID-19 Protocol). #Blackhawks
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 26, 2021
Blackhawks Place Jonathan Toews on COVID List
It’s been a nightmare start to the season for Chicago, which hasn’t led a game so far. The duo follows Patrick Kane, Riley Stillman and Jujhar Khaira on the list. Assistant coach Marc Crawford is also in COVID-19 protocol. Toews and Borgstrom being placed on the list wasn’t even the biggest news of the day. General manager Stan Bowman stepped aside after the results of an independent investigation.
Toews has two assists in six games this season and two penalty minutes. The Winnipeg native has a Corsi of 61.9 and a relative Corsi of 14.3. Him being put on the COVID list is significant because he missed the last season chronic immune response syndrome.
He has only played for Chicago during his 14-year NHL career. Toews has 345 goals and 472 assists for 817 points in 949 career games. Chicago originally drafted him third overall in the 2006 NHL Draft.
The 33-year-old has won three Stanley Cups and two Olympic gold medals. He’s also won the Selke Trophy and two IIHF World Junior Championships. Toews has represented his native Canada at the international level.
What This Means
The Blackhawks are 0-5-1 and the drought is at 360 minutes, 57 seconds, which is the longest since 1979-80. Chicago has to take on a motivated Toronto Maple Leafs team that is looking to shake off a couple of bad performances in a row. The pivot from the rebuild hasn’t gone according to plan.
The Hawks may be really shorthanded and without two of their cornerstones in Toews and Kane. Chicago may have to field a lineup with a good number of players that have been called up from AHL Rockford.
