The Blackhawks headed into their three-game road trip hoping that captain Jonathan Toews might be able to play by the end of the run either in Detroit or St. Louis.
That won’t be the case as coach Joel Quenneville provided the update from Chicago today courtesy of CSNChicago.com’s Tracey Myers.
Jonathan Toews (concussion) is still progressing but coach Joel Quenneville said the captain will not join the Blackhawks on this road trip. Quenneville said Toews is still not skating, but “we’re seeing progress and optimistic that he’s going to be back.”
Without Toews, the Blackhawks are severely limited up the middle. Fortunately for them, Patrick Kane has taken a big liking to playing center and his teammates have been raving about how he’s doing there. Aside from Kane’s heroic play, Dave Bolland and Marcus Kruger have had to step up their games and give Chicago some stability there.
On the upside, Niklas Hjalmarsson is getting better from his concussion and is skating with the team.