Blackhawks: Jonathan Toews deemed unfit to play on Tuesday

Jonathan Toews missed practice today for the Chicago Blackhawks, being deemed unfit to play. This comes a day after he left practice early to “remain fresh.”

It looks like Jeremy Colliton saying the Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews leaving practice early to remain fresh wasn’t as true after all, as reported yesterday. Today, it’s a different story. Toews is deemed unfit to play, as Colliton put it, it’s what the NHL wants them to use for players not practicing.

It has to be more than leaving Toews out to stay fresh, as they told the media on Monday that Toews left early to stay fresh. Again, no one knows if there’s an injury or what it is, but not seeing Toews on the ice is a scary sign just 11 days from playing the Oilers.

The Blackhawks will not take the ice on Wednesday, as it’s a scheduled off day. Sunday, they leave for Edmonton, which is in 5 days. Due to the NHLPA rules, during Phase 3 and Phase 4, we won’t get any news outside of a player being unfit to play when it comes to a medical issue. So, to jump to conclusions, this could be an injury Toews suffered on Monday.

It’s bad enough that the Blackhawks have been without Corey Crawford since camp started, now they have to add Toews to that mix. If there’s any good news to be had, both Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy returned today, which helps out the team defensively.

Toews though is much needed for the team to remain successful. Let’s hope we will see him back on the ice Thursday. If we don’t see him back on Thursday, it’s panic time.