Jonathan Toews

Who would have thought that the battle of an aging defenseman and a 17-goal scorer would be the top story heading into the Stanley Cup Finals? 

Chris Pronger has made a living of punishing people when they decide to stand in front of his goaltender.  The 35-year old defenseman has amassed 18 penalty minutes thus far in the 2010 playoffs, including many cross-checking and interference calls while clearing out the front of his net.  But he does not seem to ever give it a rest.  Does Pronger seem to get terrified by the mere thought of Byfuglien standing in front with him?  He seemed to downplay the thought when he was asked if the media is blowing the Byfuglien – Pronger battle out of proportion.

Continue reading "Pronger – Byfuglien Battle Takes Center Stage"

Even when playing with the likes of current NHLers Drew Stafford, Jonathan Toews and Travis Zajac, Oshie only cracked the 50-point plateau once when playing over 40 games every year in three NCAA seasons. Even defensive forward Jay Pandolfo scored 67 points in 40 games in his senior year at Boston University, and non-flashy Mike Knuble scored over 60 points twice in his tenure with the University of Michigan.

Continue reading "Is Oshie Truly 'Untouchable'?"

game.  Backes has stepped up time and again to fight big-name players (Corey Perry, Rick Nash, Jonathan Toews to name a few), and to defend his teammates in heated situations.  His leadership qualities and willingness to never back down has earned him the “A” on his sweater in certain games, and has even sparked talk of him being the next Blues captain after Eric Brewer is no longer a Blue.

Continue reading "Weighing in on Blues – Canucks Rumors"

e Jackets all joined Detroit in the playoffs.  Chicago has improved drastically since drafting Jonathan Toews third overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, since adding Patrick Kane, Cristobal Huet, Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa to their lineup. 

Continue reading "Its Not Going to be Easy"

the Datsyuk line come out, he should find a way to get out his top young skaters, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.  The risk the Hawks would take is that Datsyuk is still a great defensive forward, but Holmstrom and Hossa are not considered to be top back-checkers.  Kane and Toews have worked some magic in the playoffs, especially in Game 6 of their Semi-Final Series against the Vancouver Canucks when Kane scored his first-career playoff hat-trick.

Continue reading "The Red Wings are Beatable"