Jonathan Toews to miss “a few games” with upper-body injury
The injury reportedly happened during Tuesday’s game against Colorado.
Eyebrows were raised when Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was not present for the morning skate ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
And once practice ended, coach Joel Quenneville confirmed that the Blackhawks will be without their No. 1 center for the immediate future:
Toews going to miss a couple of games with an upper-body injury he sustained against Colorado. Q said he'll be re-evaluated next week. #Blackhawks
— Tracey Myers (@Tramyers_NHL) March 22, 2018
Details about the injury remain scarce, as the Blackhawks are typically tight-lipped about any injuries to their players. Quenneville did provide some context for when the injury happened:
Q said Toews "exited" the last game with the injury, though he was playing as late as 18:04 mark of the third period.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) March 22, 2018
According to Natural Stat Trick’s shift chart data, Toews was on the ice when Erik Johnson scored the empty-net goal that sealed Colorado’s win with 1:56 remaining in the game, but that was the last shift Toews took in the game.
Along with Thursday’s game, this injury appears to have Toews out for Saturday’s game on the road against the New York Islanders and questionable at best for the Monday night game at home against the San Jose Sharks.
We’ll update if any more information becomes available.