Toews is captain material -- someday

ST. LOUIS -- Ask Blackhawks coach Denis Savard when the team might name a captain again and all you get is a smile.

That smile is about as close as it's going to get for someone in the organization to admit publicly that the job is being kept open until whenever Jonathan Toews is ready for it, either next season or the year after.

All Savard or general manager Dale Tallon have said about the situation is that when they pick the next captain, they want that player to keep it for 10 years.

Hawks veteran Martin Lapointe, who shared the captaincy last season with Adrian Aucoin, has repeated on several occasions he thinks Toews will be ready for the job sooner than later.

Lapointe played in Detroit when the Red Wings named Steve Yzerman captain in his early 20s.

"Me, personally, if Steve Yzerman could be named captain at 20, why not (Toews)?" Lapointe said.

The Hawks will go the rest of this season without a captain for the first time since 1987-88, using a different two alternates each month.

"We have a lot of leaders, and guys are doing it different ways, some guys on the ice and some off the ice," Savard said. "I think it's a healthy thing."

Savard said it was unlikely that either Toews or Patrick Kane would wear a letter this season as an alternate captain.

The Hawks played a St. Louis Blues team Saturday night that also is without a captain. Blues coach Andy Murray said he wouldn't name a captain out of respect for Dallas Drake, last year's captain who had his contract bought out by the team and is now with Detroit.

Doing fine: The way Denis Savard sees it, Adam Burish doesn't need to score a bunch of goals to be a good fit on the first line with Robert Lang and Jason Williams.

"Adam Burish goes to the net hard," Savard said. "Some people like to have the skill together, but to me you still have to have that one guy that goes to the net, is gritty and will create loose pucks for the other two guys, and that's what he does well.

"It's like with (Tuomo) Ruutu. He has some skill, but with Jonathan (Toews) and Patrick (Kane), he brings that element that he's gritty and will go to the net."

Tip-ins:Œ Defenseman Dustin Byfuglian was recalled from Rockford Saturday morning to "quarterback the power play," according to Denis Savard. Byfuglien was in the lineup against the Blues and scored in the first period at even strength. Byfuglien, who bumped Magnus Johansson to the bench, was plus-6 with 2 goals and 5 assists in eight with Rockford. …

Wingers Sergei Samsonov and Danny Richmond were healthy scratches with Johansson. It was Samsonov's third straight game out of the lineup.

Scouting report

Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators at the United Center, 6 p.m.

TV: None

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

The skinny: After a slow start, the Predators are starting to gain some steam. They've won two straight, both on the road at Vancouver and Edmonton, behind backup goalie Dal Ellis. Of Nashville's 6 wins, Ellis has 4 of them without a loss and a 1.35 goals-against average and .952 save percentage. The Hawks are 3-4 at home and have lost the last two. The teams split their eight-game season series a year ago, with the Hawks dropping three of four at the United Center.

Player to watch: David Legwand. He leads the Predators in scoring with 5 goals and 7 assists.

Next: Wednesday vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.

-- Tim Sassone