Toews ready for his debut as Blackhawks' captain
It came as no surprise in July when the Blackhawks named Jonathan Toews captain, especially to his teammates.
"I think a lot of people knew he was already the captain of our team," Patrick Kane said.
Toews will step onto the United Center ice for the first time with the big white captain's "C" on his red jersey Friday night when the Hawks play their second exhibition game against the Minnesota Wild.
The 20-year-old Toews is the third youngest captain in NHL history, but Hawks coach Denis Savard wouldn't have made the second-year center the official leader of the team if he didn't believe he was ready for the responsibility.
"He's just a natural captain," Savard said. "I'm looking forward to seeing it on his jersey."
Toews admits he will need to grow into the role, particularly as a vocal leader, but for now he'll let his play and work habits do the talking for him.
"Guys in the locker room know me, they know what to expect from me, and they know who I am," Toews said. "If I all of a sudden start doing things that are unnatural for me, that's the last thing they want to see."
Savard wants Toews to simply be himself on and off the ice. That's what earned him the respect of his teammates last year in his rookie season.
"It's just the way he presents himself, the way he acts about hockey, how serious he is about the game, and how badly he wants to win," Kane said. "That's what a captain is and how he leads on the ice. It's the little things like going on the ice early for practice, backchecking on a 2-on-1 when he's out of the play.
"Hopefully (being captain) doesn't put too much pressure on him," said Kane. "If there's one thing, that might be it. He just needs to play like he did last year and he'll be fine. He doesn't have to be vocal in the locker room. We have a lot of vocal guys."
Few Hawks take losing harder than Toews, and those could the most challenging times for him, when things aren't going well and he has to talk about it in the room or with the media.
"It's tough to imagine and picture every situation I'm going to have to deal with on the bench and in the locker room," Toews said. "Every team is going to have a couple losing streaks here and there so I just have to think of the right things to do and what the right things are to say in those situations to pick the team up.
"But for me it's not so much what I have to say, it's what I have to do. I just have to be prepared to play my best hockey in those moments and let my energy and my play have an effect on our team."
• Dustin Byfuglien missed a second day of practice Thursday with a sore groin. Rookie Igor Makarov has a sore knee and might miss a few more days.
• First-round draft pick Kyle Beach makes his debut Friday night and will skate at wing on a line with rookie winger Akim Aliu and center Jake Dowell.
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