Blackhawks place Toews on injured reserve list

The roughly two dozen fans who showed up early Thursday to watch Blackhawks practice were treated to a rare sight: Jonathan Toews doing on-ice drills all by himself.

They took video, shot a few photographs and even asked a reporter not to throw a puck shot by Toews back on the ice.

Hey, always good to get a souvenir.

For Toews, it was also good to test himself and see when he might be able to return. The Hawks captain, who participated in about half of the practice, will not play Saturday in Philadelphia, but might be able to go Sunday when the team hosts Winnipeg.

The Hawks have gone 3-0-1 without Toews, who said if this were the postseason he'd be in the lineup for sure.

"(It's) the type of thing that I think most guys would be able to suck (it) up and just go out there and play if it were a playoff game, and you're putting everything on the line," he said. "But at this point with the amount of the games left in the season, it's not something you want to continuously deal with if you're going to aggravate it and it's going to keep coming back to haunt you."

Said coach Joel Quenneville: "Jonny plays at a certain pace and it's all out. So let's make sure he's more than ready when he's coming back."

Friday afternoon, the Blackhawks activated defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk from injured reserve and placed Toews on IR, retroactive to Nov. 24. He would be eligible to come off the injured reserve list at any time.

Many assumed Toews was injured when he fell awkwardly along the boards midway through the second period of the Hawks' 2-1 loss at San Jose, but he said something had been bothering him for a little while.

"I kind of went down like a ton of bricks, just not really trying to aggravate the injury more than I already had," Toews said. "That wasn't exactly the instance where I got hurt."

The Hawks have won without Toews mainly because they are playing a tight-checking game and taking few chances. It hasn't been perfect - as evidenced by the first half of the first period against New Jersey when the Devils never seemed to leave their offensive zone - but it has been good enough to rack up 3 victories, all by 1 goal.

"Definitely I feel like we haven't been giving up as much," said defenseman Brian Campbell. "Obviously last night in the first 10 minutes it was a three-ring circus out there for us. But I think … we're paying attention to the details."

Over the years, Toews has been impressed with how the Hawks have performed when missing key players such as himself, Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane or Marian Hossa.

"As a team, we have that resiliency," Toews said. "When I am healthy, (I'll) just be looking to fit right back in and support where I can.

"It's nice to see the boys playing the way they are and pulling out the tight games."

And for Hawks fans, it will be nice to see Toews rejoin a 16-6-3 team that has the best record in the Western Conference.

Scouting report

Blackhawks scouting report

Blackhawks vs. Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center, noon

TV: WGN • Radio: WGN 720-AM

The skinny: The Flyers (12-10-3) have won three straight, beating Boston, Calgary and Ottawa. ... The Hawks beat Philly 7-4 at the United Center on Oct. 18. The Flyers tied the game at 4-4 after falling behind 4-0, but the Hawks prevailed thanks to a pair of third-period goals by Artem Anisimov and another by Artemi Panarin. ... Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux have 22 points each to lead the Flyers in scoring. Simmonds, who has averaged 29.7 goals the past three seasons, leads the team with 11. ... Corey Crawford will start in net for the Hawks.

Next: Winnipeg Jets at United Center, 6 p.m. Sunday

- John Dietz