{"id":96388,"date":"2020-12-29T10:38:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T15:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=96388"},"modified":"2020-12-29T11:52:17","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T16:52:17","slug":"report-chicago-blackhawks-lose-jonathan-toews-to-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/12\/29\/report-chicago-blackhawks-lose-jonathan-toews-to-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Blackhawks Lose Jonathan Toews to Illness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/blackhawks\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> will enter the bizarre 2020-21 season without <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/toewsjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Toews<\/a><\/strong>. He will miss the start of the year due to an illness. This is another blow to a Chicago team that was likely going to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/12\/21\/puck-drop-preview-2020-21-chicago-blackhawks\/\" target=\"_self\">struggle<\/a> through the year. Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger confirmed Toews&#8217; absence early Tuesday morning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/blackhawks\/news\/medical-update-toews-out-indefinitely-with-medical-issue\/c-319903466\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In a statement released by the Blackhawks<\/a>, there is no timetable for Toews to return to the team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DarrenDreger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DarrenDreger<\/a> and me, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews won&#39;t be at camp and will miss the start of the season due to illness. Expect official announcement shortly from the team.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PierreVLeBrun\/status\/1343918404101660673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 29, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Blackhawks to Start Season Without Jonathan Toews<\/h2>\n<p>The 32-year-old Toews remains a vital cog in Chicago&#8217;s system despite being outside of what is traditionally considered prime years. He finished second on the team in scoring in 2019-20 with 18 goals and 60 points in 70 games. His scoring rate fell slightly from .99 points per game in 2018-19 to .86, but that is still a very good figure. However, in the NHL&#8217;s return to play in the summer Toews looked like his old self recording nine points in nine games. Toews&#8217; possession stats also stayed above the 50 percent mark. Age could catch up to a skater in his 30s at any point, but it hasn&#8217;t happened yet for the Blackhawks&#8217; star.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago originally drafted Toews in the first round of the 2006 Draft and he debuted the following year in 2007-08. He burst onto the scene with 24 goals and 54 points in 64 games en route to an All-Rookie selection, an All-Star appearance, and a third-place finish in the Calder Trophy race. He finished behind only <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/backsni02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nicklas Backstrom<\/a><\/strong> and teammate <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kanepa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Kane<\/a><\/strong>. Toews has also won the Conn Smythe, the Selke Trophy, and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/messima01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Messier<\/a><\/strong> Award. His numbers and awards simply reflect one of the best players of this era.<\/p>\n<h3>How Chicago Adjusts Without Toews<\/h3>\n<p>Chicago was already missing an exciting piece of the 2020-21 season when <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/dachki01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kirby Dach<\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/12\/28\/chicago-blackhawks-kirby-dach-injury\/\" target=\"_self\">fell<\/a> to a wrist injury at the World Juniors. He and Toews represent Chicago&#8217;s best centres and their absences will hurt. The most likely player to fill the top-line centre role between Kane and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kubaldo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dominik Kubalik<\/a><\/strong> is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stromdy01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dylan Strome<\/a><\/strong>. However, the Blackhawks did sign veteran <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/soderca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carl Soderberg<\/a><\/strong>, who might need to slide into that role for a very brief time. It will be interesting to watch how the team handles Toews&#8217; absence while we all wish him a speedy recovery.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"fJRBaq6nQMJzFK3B_Y7n7A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/492015881\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'fJRBaq6nQMJzFK3B_Y7n7A',sig:'TVLDFsrUOTfsWKsxJUbuwIL4mV3E6NqTmHWrB305kz4=',w:'594px',h:'410px',items:'492015881',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Blackhawks will enter the bizarre 2020-21 season without Jonathan Toews. He will miss the start of the year due to an illness. This is another blow to a Chicago team that was likely going to struggle through the year. Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger confirmed Toews&#8217; absence early Tuesday morning. In a statement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3127,"featured_media":96392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,4547,34],"tags":[246,5738,143,5777,955],"class_list":["post-96388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blackhawks","category-hockey","category-news","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-hockey-news","tag-jonathan-toews","tag-jonathan-toews-illness","tag-nhl-news"],"modified_by":"Jim Biringer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}