As mentioned, the NHL announced its full All-Star Game rosters earlier today -- and as is often the case with such announcements, there were debates about those who got in, and those who didn’t.
Those conversations are certainly going on in Chicago.
Captain Jonathan Toews was one of three ‘Hawks to make it, along with Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. But to hear Toews explain it, he’s not quite sure how he got the nod over some of his teammates.
“I guess it’s related to how I’ve played in previous seasons, not this one, and not necessarily who’s doing the best on our team,” he said, per the Sun-Times. “I definitely think that Bread Man, Arty and Hoss should be there. I happened to sneak in there somehow. Not sure how.”
Bread Man (Artemi Panarin), Arty (Artem Anisimov) and Hoss (Marian Hossa) are all having quality campaigns. Panarin sits second on the ‘Hawks -- and sixth in the NHL -- in scoring, with 41 points, while Anisimov leads the team in goals (18).
Hossa, meanwhile, is enjoying a solid goalscoring season of his own, having netted 16 times in 37 games.
And then there’s Toews.
Offensively, it’s been a down year. He’s Chicago’s seventh-leading scorer with just seven goals and 20 points through 34 games, missing significant time with a back injury. That injury coincided with a tough slump in which he failed to find the back of the net in 45 days, during which he admitted a certain level of frustration.
“I don’t know what to tell you; I feel like I’ve got experience dealing with this sort of thing,” Toews said at the time, also per the Sun-Times. “I don’t know what that says about my game. But I still believe I’m that offensive player.
“I’ve just got to stay with it and keep working.”
Since that quote -- dropped after a 4-3 loss to Ottawa in which he went pointless -- Toews has stepped up the offense. He has six points over his last eight games, which included a pair of power-play markers. That’s noteworthy, because the captain had scored just once on the man advantage prior to.
Still, it’s tough to explain exactly why he got the ASG nod over other deserving ‘Hawks. Of course...
Jonathan Toews is an odd choice for #NHL All-Star Game this season.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 10, 2017
(Looks at Centennial Top 100 list release party in LA)
Ohhhhh right...