Toews downplays rookie-of-year talk

The Blackhawks haven't had a rookie of the year since 1991 when Ed Belfour took home the Calder Trophy.

It's a drought that could be broken this season with center Jonathan Toews expected to contend for the award and possibly right wing Patrick Kane.

Toews is considered a leading candidate in many preseason publications along with St. Louis defenseman Erik Johnson and Washington center Nicklas Backstrom.

"To win any of those awards you've got to have a lot of things go right for you," said the unassuming Toews. "It starts with having good teammates, good coaches and just having a great environment around you.

"Obviously, that's a long way ahead of me and for any guy like Patrick (Kane) who has a chance of winning that award. It just comes down to every day going to work and performing on the ice. I'm just going to do my job and do my best every day."

The expectations on Toews are high, even as the Hawks insist the plan is to slowly bring along the 19-year-old center. Toews has been dealing with great expectations for a lot of years and seems to know how to deal with them.

"I've played this game for quite a few years now, and the way I've always had success is just keep it simple, play your game, work hard, and things usually fall into place," Toews said.

First impressions: Patrick Kane has had two impressive days of scrimmages.

"We've got guys who have been in the league 14 years elbowing each other on the bench, saying, 'Did you see that?' " general manager Dale Tallon said. "They know in the locker room what we have now."

Kane has shown terrific speed and a knack for being around the puck in scoring situations.

"It's a little different coming from junior," Kane said. "There's definitely a lot more skill out there and a lot more offensive players. I definitely think I'm doing OK. I just have to play my game and stick to my attributes.

"The reason I'm here is because of the way I play as a player. So I'm definitely not going to go out there and try to change my game, crash and bang and become a grinder when the team drafted me for my offense."

Tip-ins: Jason Williams missed a second day of scrimmages Sunday for personal reasons but is expected back in camp today. … Rene Bourque has switched to uniform No. 12, handing his old No. 14 off to Sergei Samsonov. … Eric Daze visited his former teammates Sunday. Daze apparently has given up on trying to make a comeback from three back surgeries.