Chicago Blackhawks: Toews and Kane are not to blame
The Chicago Blackhawks are having a bad season. That is not any fault of Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane as they continue to be awesome.
The Chicago Blackhawks once-promising season has taken a major turn for the worst. It was looking like they were going to be in the race for a Western Conference Wild Card berth for a minute there but things quickly went south after the All-Star break. They have been losing more than they have been winning since them so the playoffs seem less and less likely.
Two guys who deserve absolutely no blame for the struggles of the team are Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. These two have been the two top pillars of the organization for over a decade and it doesn’t really look like that is going to change any time soon. Normally, guys start to decline a little bit after they turn 30 but these two seemingly are getting better.
They won three Stanley Cups in the earlier days of their career but the regular season numbers are on par or better with their younger days. The only issue for them is that the general manager has made some serious mistakes around them as far as team building. They do not have the players around them supporting their strengths like they once did.
Patrick Kane has 27 goals and 49 assists for 76 points in 61 games played. Those are elite numbers from Kane once again. He is on a 102 point pace right now which would be the third time he reached the century mark. He is tied with Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers for seventh in league scoring. This is a guy who is in MVP territory if his team is playoff-bound.
Jonathan Toews is never going to have quite the offensive numbers as Kane, but he is still very good at creating chances for himself and others around him. Toews has 16 goals and 36 assists for 52 points, which is good enough for second on the team in scoring. Toews is used to scoring a few more goals which would increase his point total even more, but he is still having a good year offensively nonetheless. He is also outstanding in all three zones which is what makes him extremely valuable.
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It is not good that this team is missing the playoffs again while these two continue to have great seasons. Eventually, they are going to start to decline and the rest of the team will be in even more trouble. Fans should be appreciating them for what they are, legends. They deserve no blame for this team missing the playoffs in 2019-20.