The sooner Toews back, the better

Before this season began, I heard the exact same question from dozens and dozens of Blackhawks fans: "So, how do you think the Hawks will do this year?"

After seeing their team eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and the subsequent off-season losses of Andrew Shaw, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Ladd, fans simply had no idea what to expect when the 2016-17 campaign began.

My answer was always the same: As long as they don't suffer a major injury or two, the Hawks have as good of a chance as any team to win the Stanley Cup.

Thus far that has certainly proven to be the case as coach Joel Q uenneville's squad owns the best record in the Western Conference at 14-6-3.

The last two games, however, show why the Hawks absolutely can't lose a player like Jonathan Toews. Yes, they won in Anaheim on Friday and lost in overtime in Los Angeles on Saturday, but in those two games the Hawks won just 31.2 percent of their faceoffs and they were outshot 65-44. If they kept posting numbers like that, the power play would suffer and teams might start scoring at will when they had the man advantage.

Trust me - the losses would add up in a hurry.

It would get even worse if the Hawks lost a number of key players for an extended period. They could easily go from the top team in the West to the middle of the pack in 2-3 weeks.

This team simply doesn't have the depth to deal with multiple injuries.

Toews was injured at San Jose on Wednesday when he fell awkwardly along the boards at San Jose in the second period. Coach Joel Quenneville said at the time he didn't think Toews would be out long, so hopefully for the Hawks their captain can return Tuesday when the Hawks host Florida.

<h3 class="leadin">Hartman steps up:</h3>

We all know Joel Quenneville doesn't often heap praise upon his players very often. Normally when reporters ask about someone, the Hawks' coach will defer to the individual's linemates and maybe toss in two or three nice words about whomever we asked about.

After the Hawks beat Anaheim on Saturday, though, Quenneville gave Ryan Hartman what had to be the ultimate compliment by saying it looks like the rookie has a little "Shawzie" in him. The reason it's such a big deal is because Quenneville loved what Andrew Shaw brought to the table every night and it's beginning to look like Hartman does in fact have all the traits that made Shaw such a fan favorite. Hartman's intensity and grit were on full display over the seven-game road trip, but so too was his scoring ability as he led all Hawks with 3 goals.

And the best part? He's a bargain for Stan Bowman and Co., costing $3 million less than Shaw.