Toews, goaltending pressing issues for Hawks
As the Blackhawks head into Tuesday’s very important game against the Nashville Predators, we’re uncertain of two things: Jonathan Toews’ availability and whether it’s Corey Crawford or Ray Emery starting in goal.
With Sunday being an off-day for the Hawks following back-to-back games, there was no official update from the club on Toews, who left Saturday’s 5-2 loss at Nashville after apparently aggravating the left hand/wrist injury he suffered Friday when he was slashed by Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson.
Toews left Saturday’s game in the second period with coach Joel Quenneville saying only it was an upper body injury, that the captain was day-to-day and that more would be known before Tuesday.
It goes without saying what the loss of Toews would mean to a Hawks team already in third place in the Central Division, fifth in the Western Conference and now only 4 points ahead of surging Nashville.
If the injury isn’t serious, Toews certainly could benefit from having six full days off following Tuesday’s game for the all-star break.
Toews is supposed to be in Ottawa for this week’s all-star festivities, although getting healthy would be far more important than playing in what is basically a pond hockey scrimmage.
The goalie for Tuesday isn’t anywhere near as important as Toews’ health, but the Hawks’ goaltending situation could become one of the bigger storylines of the second half of the season.
Crawford was pulled in the loss at Nashville and just can’t get any sustained momentum going in his game. While he has looked fine for stretches, the consistency isn’t there as reflected in his pedestrian .902 save percentage, which on Sunday ranked 42nd among NHL goaltenders with 10 or more appearances.
The question is starting to be asked around the NHL: Do the Hawks have the goaltending to win the Stanley Cup? It’s a legitimate question, one the Hawks certainly have heard before.
The Hawks have had their goaltending questioned the last two seasons, including 2009-10, when Antti Niemi answered all those doubters by taking over the No. 1 job from Cristobal Huet and winning the Stanley Cup.
Last year it was Crawford grabbing the No. 1 job from the failing Marty Turco and getting the Hawks into the playoffs where they nearly upset Vancouver in the first round.
For the third year in a row, Quenneville needs to sort out his goaltending in February and March, whether to stick with Crawford through his ups and downs or find out if Emery can be the guy.
Emery has taken a team to the Stanley Cup Finals before, doing it with Ottawa in 2007. Emery won 13 playoffs during that run that ended in a Finals loss to Anaheim, and he is 20-14 in his career in the postseason.
It’s highly unlikely, barring an injury, that goaltending will be addressed by general manager Stan Bowman before the Feb. 27 trade deadline. There isn’t much out there anyway. Veteran Nikolai Khabibulin is available in Edmonton, but would he really be an upgrade over Crawford or Emery?
No, he wouldn’t.
Detroit’s Jimmy Howard struggled last season too, his second in the NHL, and look at him now, an elite goaltender. Crawford could turn it around the same way.