An easy stat to measure Toews by: Hawks are 5-0 since his return
The Blackhawks are 5-0 since captain Jonathan Toews returned from his concussion.
Coincidence?
Hardly.
Goals and assists aren't the best way to measure Toews' value to the Hawks, who will be looking to stretch their winning streak to six games tonight against the Oilers in Edmonton.
"He brings a presence," teammate John Madden said.
Not only that, Toews does all the little things that winning hockey players do.
Toews is terrific defensively and might be the Hawks' best forechecker. The power play is more dangerous since his return and he has made the NHL's best penalty-killing unit even better.
And then there are faceoffs. Through hard work, Toews has made himself one of the best faceoff men in the league. His 62.8 winning percentage is second in the NHL to Buffalo's Paul Gausted and since his return five games ago, Toews has won 59 draws and lost only 31.
"He's been great at it and as a young guy he's only going to get better," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "You get a little bit cagier as you go along with different guys you're going against and you get smarter and stronger."
Toews struggled on faceoffs much of last season, which was one of the reasons why the Hawks felt the need to go get center Sammy Pahlsson from Anaheim at the trade deadline.
"The way he's progressing from where he was last year to today, he can still get better, but he's doing a great job on it," Quenneville said. "He's strong, getting stronger, and he's got a quick release with his hands. Whether it's strength or anticipation (that makes Toews so good), I don't know."
Madden's influence certainly hasn't hurt Toews and the Hawks' other centers when it comes to getting better on faceoffs. Madden ranks sixth in the NHL with a winning percentage of 57.9.
"You look around the league and a lot of games are decided on faceoffs, so you've got to be good on them and you've got to be aware of them," Madden said.
As a team, the Hawks are second in the league on faceoffs behind only San Jose.
"It's a credit not only to the centermen here but to the wingers as well because a lot of times they're digging in there too and getting loose pucks and helping out," Madden said.
The Hawks ranked 23rd in the league in faceoffs last season.
"We knew it was something we needed to improve upon and Johnny has really stabilized that for us," Quenneville said about Madden. "His expertise can help us. All of a sudden when you win a lot more, everybody wants to win them."
The Hawks' success on faceoffs certainly is a critical factor in them killing penalties better than anyone over the first quarter of the season.
"It's a good way to begin the power play and penalty killing," Quenneville said.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Blackhawks game day</p> <p class="News">Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place, 9 p.m.</p> <p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Comcast SportsNet</p> <p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WGN 720-AM</p> <p class="News"><b>What to watch:</b> The Oilers are banged up and had only 13 skaters finish Wednesday's 6-4 win over Colorado. Mike Comrie (mono), Ethan Moreau (concussion) and Robert Nilsson (concussion) are out. Shawn Horcoff, Sam Gagner, Steve Staios and Denis Grebeshkov are questionable. Nikolai Khabibulin (7-9-2) is expected to start in goal for Edmonton.</p> <p class="News"><b>Season series:</b> Hawks lead 1-0, beating the Oilers 4-3 on Oct. 14 at the United Center.</p> <p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Vancouver Canucks at GM Place, 9 p.m. Sunday.</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=338729">Hawks need cap space right now for big three<span class="date"> [11/20/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>