Toggle sidebar

Toews...what is wrong with him?

hawksfan50

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
14,101
1,982
Let me say what is right with him now....He is skating with faster pace and going more north south than the slower east-west cycle and wait game he was playing at the start of the season with Hossa..

He is getting better looks and shooting chances from better shooting positions because of this north south rush game rather than the endless cycle gill they give in game...They were not giving in much..So now he has changed his style to less east west cycle the boards and to more straight ahead rush and make plays on the fly mode..It is paying dividends.
 
JaegerDice

JaegerDice

The mark of my dignity shall scar thy DNA
Dec 26, 2014
25,146
9,404
Purely eye-test here, but it feels like the past two games Toews has been taking it upon himself to actually carry the puck into the zone, whereas before he would often dump it in and retrieve (or have Hossa and LW retrieve and get into position for support).

Part of that might be opponent. Winnipeg and LA are both big, so retrieving pucks against them is harder work than trying to skate around them.

But the Hawks are a possession team and he's a great possession player, so I hope he keeps it up.
 
Rexy

Rexy

Registered User
May 2, 2012
1,422
0
London, Ontario
So do people just forget that Toews never really has any offensive production until November? Every year (other than his rookie year) it's been the exact same story.
 
DisgruntledHawkFan

DisgruntledHawkFan

Blackhawk Down
Jun 19, 2004
57,234
27,727
South Side
When it comes to my list of concerns about the Blackhawks moving forward Toews is somewhere between the cost of parking and what the alternate jerseys are going to look like.

Captain is gonna captain. There's seriously not a player in any sport that I've been a fan of that I worry about less.
 

hawksfan50

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
14,101
1,982
Last 4 games Toews has mustered ONLY 3 shots on goal total...3 measly shots on goal and Zero goals...he had 4 shots in the game prior to these last 4 but did not score either and was -2 in that loss to STL in that game.. Now stop laudible him for excellence in face-offs and leadership /captaincy...important yes..but for $10.5 million per you gotta score ...especially goals ...I guarantee that fans of other teams would crucify a poster boy star very highly paid on their team if that 'star" failed in goal production and the looks bad low number of shots in such a span of 4-5 games in a row...A star ...very highly paid...has got to star ..and even if you can attribute bad luck or snake bit by hot goalies to a lack of goals in such a span of games from a big alkeged star...how can you excuse 4 games in a row with a combined 3 shots total? You cannot in any way excuse it..You have to criticize it and you have to be concerned.I know Crosby was criticized and Pens fans very concerned when he was not getting goals many games in a row...but I did not track whether it too was a very low shots on goal mustering or whether simply bad luck on goalie saves and hitting posts but with a "normal" shots on goal total ..But no way are you going to score goals if all you can achieve is 3 shots in 4 straight games...no way...Fir $10.5 million per?Are you kidding me! Toews is playing like a joke...stop defending this big Fail.He simply has got to earn his pay with PRODUCTION.


Funny....we have the same huge raise to Kane and his production goes through the roof.But we cannot even get Toews to get his normal rate of shots on goal let alone put enough goals in for the pay level.He deserves criticism...not defending this awful performance that is in no way starry.
 
abt424

abt424

Registered User
Apr 4, 2012
822
1
Austin
Toews is my favorite player.

That said, I thought he looked terrible last night. It was another game where other players seemed to be doing to him what he used to do. Pretty sure a couple of times players who were behind him stole the puck from him (It was hard to see because he was against the boards).

I'm not sure if he's injured or he just finally took an offseason to rest and it's caught up with him, but Toews doesn't look like the same player this year.

I'm not trying to be negative, and I'm not going to even talk about his points. I just know that something looks off.
 

hawksfan50

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
14,101
1,982
I have always said that when Toews is not skating well he is not playing well...the Draisaitl leaving Toews in the dust as he blew past him and Toews could not keep up to stay with him and check him is an example of him being "off".....Draisaitl has many attributes as a hockey player...but skating speed is not one of them.
So him leaving Toews behind so easily pulling away like that is symptomatic something is wrong with Toews..Either he is not exerting the effort we expect from him or there is some injury hampering him or somehow he has simply regressed especially in skating speed. OFFENSIVELY this is manifesting in him having way too many games like last night where he muster just 1 measly shot on goal...Not going to score many goals of that is all you can muster up..And DEFENSIVELY it manifests as less take-aways and less success in staying with the checks and getting to loose pucks first....such that he realizes he does not have the ability to play his A game and so does not bother with the extra effort to get "it" back. WHETHER this malaise is due to a physical problem or mental tiredness or ennui ...I do not know...But what I do know is that he is not playing like a $6.3 million player let alone the $10.5 million he now gets a year.Still good at face-offs ..but that does not require any skating or creating by beating your check or not getting beat by your check..Thus to me all I see is cashing his checks....at the bank.
 

hawksrule

Lot of brains but no polish
May 18, 2014
20,857
10,456
He's pretty clearly hurt, imo. There's no other reason he'd be this slow.
 
Hawkaholic

Hawkaholic

Registered User
Dec 19, 2006
31,621
10,971
London, Ont.
Marotte Marauder said:
He hasn't had a run like that since 2011, I believe. Please define soon.
Click to expand...

Last year he had 9pts in 6 game stretch.
2013-14 he had 10pts in a 6 game stretch.
2012-13 he had 10pts in a 6 game stretch.

etc

Unfortunately I don't have a crystal ball, but I imagine it will happen before xmas.
 
abt424

abt424

Registered User
Apr 4, 2012
822
1
Austin
Hawkaholic said:
Last year he had 9pts in 6 game stretch.
2013-14 he had 10pts in a 6 game stretch.
2012-13 he had 10pts in a 6 game stretch.

etc

Unfortunately I don't have a crystal ball, but I imagine it will happen before xmas.
Click to expand...

Forget points. He looks slow. He's making bad passes. He's getting the puck stolen from him instead of stealing the puck from others.

My guess is that he's hurt.
 
SlowSkates

SlowSkates

Registered User
Jun 9, 2010
178
4
I don't currently get to see many Hawks games so I have to rely on recaps/box scores/highlights and y'all's eyes. Here are some stats from November's games so far...

Team Goal Differential / Toews +-

+1 / -1 (EDM)
+3 / +2 (CGY)
+2 / +2 and a fight (STL)
-1 / -1 (NJD)
+2 / 0 (EDM)
-2 / 0 (NJD)
-1 / -2 (STL)
+2 / +2 (LAK)

Totals: +6 / +2
HFBoards-type conclusion: Toews should fight more often.
 

hawksfan50

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
14,101
1,982
I now call him "One Shot Johnny"....last GP for Toews he has 5 games with only 1 shot on goal...1game with no shots on goal...1 game with 4 and 1 game with 6...so 1/4 of the games skews his average...his median is far lower...from this indicator there 8s no way show g up with effort only 1/4 of the time is acceptable for a $10.5 million player...He scored 2 goals and 3 a in 5hat span and is +1..but overall meh to poor showing...10 of his goals was a cheat en goal to pad his scoring..Remember we judge him not only by scoring..I get it..but still the eyeball test tells us that even on some other aspects he normally shines at (apart from face-offs where he still is performing to expectation) he really is not doing much to justify his hefty paycheck.
 
EddieOs HairPluggs

EddieOs HairPluggs

Registered User
Nov 11, 2015
46
0
JaegerDice said:
Purely eye-test here, but it feels like the past two games Toews has been taking it upon himself to actually carry the puck into the zone, whereas before he would often dump it in and retrieve (or have Hossa and LW retrieve and get into position for support).

Part of that might be opponent. Winnipeg and LA are both big, so retrieving pucks against them is harder work than trying to skate around them.

But the Hawks are a possession team and he's a great possession player, so I hope he keeps it up.
Click to expand...

????? The Hawks have always been a skate the puck in team. They should always skate the puck in, unless they have no choice.
 
BobbyJet

BobbyJet

watch the game, everything else is noise
Oct 27, 2010
29,863
9,895
Dundas, Ontario. Can
Blackhawks said:
Crawford has not looked good either, he was very shaky last night minus the save in OT.
Click to expand...

When Crawford stops pucks that he should stop, many folks on this board will go out of their way to say his performance was great. When he plays poorly, the same group will typically defend him and follow that up with the usual 3 SC's in 6 years speech and that he always bounces back after bad games. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Ad

Latest posts

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

Top Bottom