Blackhaws' Toews clears up Return to Play vote, looks forward to playoffs
It's time to set the record straight when it comes to whether Jonathan Toews voted for the NHL's Return to Play and CBA plan.
He did.
But before he did, Toews may have cast a "no" vote for the Blackhawks as the team's NHLPA member representative. Each rep was required to cast a team vote before the plans were submitted to the players association. That vote ended up being 29-2 in favor of moving forward.
At that point, it was up to each NHLPA member to vote and they voted 79-21 to accept. Toews had his own vote and told the media via Zoom on Thursday that he voted yes.
“If anything I kind of wanted the guys in our room to educate themselves with what was going on to the best of their ability and ultimately make their own decision,” Toews said. “Deep down … I wanted guys to really think about voting yes. That's where I stood.”
Not long after the NHL announced the RTP and CBA were approved, SportsNet's Elliotte Friedman reported that Carolina and the Blackhawks were the two dissenting teams in that original vote.
In a phone conversation Thursday, Friedman said he stands by his reporting that Toews asked a lot of tough questions about safety — and that other players truly appreciated the captain's concerns. Friedman also made it clear he never said Toews individually voted no to the RTP and CBA plans.
Toews went on to say there's no “perfect scenario” that can be drawn up when it comes to putting 24 teams into two bubble cities. There may be a thing or two he disagrees with, but in the end he's just happy playoff hockey is only about a week away.
“I am happy that both sides were able to come to a place where we could agree to go out there and take that step toward eventually resuming … somewhat of a normal life,” Toews said. “For our fans in Chicago, they're excited to watch Hawks on TV, and I think it can provide some form of relief and inspiration and feeling of comfort.”
After a day off, the Hawks practiced at Fifth Third Arena Thursday. They spent about 25 minutes working on the power play, then held a 20-minute scrimmage.
Dylan Sikura and defenseman Calvin de Haan were two of the most consistent players on a Team Red squad that was squaring off against most of the Hawks' top players. Team Black tied the game at 1-1 with just 2.6 seconds remaining when Dylan Strome tipped in a blast from Slater Koekkoek.
Coach Jeremy Colliton let the game go right to a shootout, and Team Red won when Brent Seabrook and Sikura both scored. Toews and Patrick Kane both missed on their attempts against goalie Malcolm Subban.
This was de Haan's first practice with the main group since the opening day of training camp, which was July 13. De Haan, who took part in individual drills Tuesday, was out due to a family emergency.
Fellow D-man Connor Murphy, deemed unfit to participate from July 16 to 20, did some drills and worked on his conditioning, but did not practice.
While Corey Crawford (unfit to participate) remains out, Toews and Colliton aren't ruling the goalie out for the best-of-five play-in series against Edmonton that begins Aug. 1.
Give Crow credit — he's always risen to the occasion,” Toews said. “When he's gotten in tight spots or when he's been hurt, he comes back and plays great. I laugh, because the amount of preparation that a guy like me needs to go play at my best as opposed to a guy like Crow who can just pop in there. It's almost the expectation for him.”
Fans' rights
If the NHL is able to play 82 games next season, Jonathan Toews is hoping fans will have the option to attend.
“We can just assume if you're sitting at the United Center watching a Hawks game that you're sitting next to people who feel as comfortable as you do,” Toews said. “I don't see anything wrong with that.”