NEWSLETTER
The Blackhawks will wrap up their six-game preseason slate tonight, when they take on the Minnesota Wild, and then it’s on to the season opener this Wednesday in Colorado … where they’ll be doing that hockey with their captain back in action!
Earlier today, Jonathan Toews told the media that he plans on playing in Wednesday’s opener against the Avalanche after missing an entire year of regular-season games.
Jonathan Toews on Opening Night: “I plan to play on Wednesday.” #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 9, 2021
Toews did note that it will ultimately be up to Jeremy Colliton, who will be skating in the season opener in Colorado, but said he doesn’t believe that his playing status is in question.
Toews: "I'm pretty happy given what the last month has looked like, what I felt like going into training camp. I've taken a step almost every day. It's pretty exciting… I feel confident my game is there, my energy is there."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 9, 2021
At the start of camp, a major concern was how the 33-year-old center would hold up conditioning-wise after missing a year with the condition that left him unable to perform most of the last year.
“They’re calling it Chronic Immune Response Syndrome,” said Jonathan Toews in late June. “I couldn’t recover and my immune system was reacting to everything I did, any kind of stress, everything I did throughout the day, there was a stress response.”
Toews has looked good in the preseason and appears to be ready to jump back into the NHL grind this season, with all signs pointing to up for the time being. As for where Toews will skate to start this season, veteran Blackhawks scribe Mark Lazerus offered up a pretty solid forecast for Wednesday night on Twitter on Friday afternoon:
Here's what I'd do:
DeBrincat-Johnson-Kane
Kubalik-Toews-Kurashev
Hagel-Dach-Strome
Khaira-Gaudette-Carpenter
Extras: Borgstrom, Entwistlede Haan-Jones
McCabe-Murphy
Stillman-Mitchell
Extra: Galvas(C. Jones-Kalynuk would be third pair when healthy)
Fleury
Lankinen— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 8, 2021
Time will tell when it comes to where Toews will be skating to open the season, but the key here is that it appears that he will be skating on opening night in Colorado.
