Hawks' Toews targets a Tuesday return

After hitting the ice for the third consecutive day and not suffering any setbacks, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is starting to get itchy.

Real itchy.

Toews, who has missed nine straight games because of a concussion, practiced with the Hawks on Saturday and optimistically said he has a date in mind for his return: Tuesday at home against the St. Louis Blues.

“I'd love to be in on Tuesday,” he said. “If you can shoot for a date like that, even if it's early, at least you feel like you're improving and making strides and you notice a difference.”

But a Tuesday return seems unlikely considering Toews has yet to be cleared for contact.

“Like I said, this past week I was hoping for Sunday (against the Kings), but now I realize it's not going to happen, so shoot (for Tuesday),” he said. “But you take it day by day and see what happens.”

Powerful play from Oduya:

When even your own teammates are amazed with your play, you know you're onto something.

That's certainly the case lately for defenseman Johnny Oduya.

“He's playing unbelievable,” Patrick Kane said. “You saw what he did (Friday) on 2 of the goals; one was a bomb from the point and the other he made a great fake, shot, and (Andrew Shaw) tipped it in.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville plans to give Oduya and that big shot of his some time on the power-play unit beginning tonight against the Los Angeles Kings.

“He adds a dimension to our team at the point with his shot selection,” Quenneville said. “I like his patience and his play recognition — I think we're passing up shots at the point. Maybe this will be a good starting point for our power play.”

No takers for Big John:

In his return to the United Center, former Hawks tough guy John Scott couldn't get anyone to engage physically Friday night, so he opted to engage verbally instead.

“A couple of times he was barking at some guys,” Patrick Kane said. “It was funny to see.”

“We were giving it to him a little bit on the ice,” Bryan Bickell, Scott's former roommate on the road, admitted.

Regardless of the barbs, there's no doubt the big guy's presence is missed in the locker room.

“I tapped his shin pads in warmups; he's a good guy,” Kane said. “He's good for the locker room and good to have around. Sad to see a guy like that go.”

Kudos to the SBB line:

Following the Hawks' 4-3 victory over the Rangers, coach Joel Quenneville lauded the play of the line of Andrew Shaw, Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell, saying they “were good in a lot of ways” and they “find a way to get the job done.”

What is it that makes that line tick?

“We have three different pieces to the line; I'm a big guy, and we've got Shaw who's a little guy but acts like a big guy, and Bolly does it all,” Bickell said. “You put those three things together and it's a good line.”

Toughing it out:

The Hawks may not be seen as one of the toughest teams in the league, but even if that is the case, it might not be such a bad thing, according to defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.

“I don't think Detroit is a tough team, but they're unbelievable year after year,” Hjalmarsson said. “It's just the way you play. You can play a great game without being extremely physical, as long as you have good body position and good sticks out there and block shots.”

He said it:

“You saw how that fueled us in the last 10 minutes of the third period (against the Rangers). Everyone was just jacked up on the bench.”

— Patrick Kane on the sold-out crowd at the UC on Friday night.