A few days after the Predators ejected the Blackhawks from the playoffs with a stunning first-round sweep, Hawks captain Jonathan Toews provided an unvarnished assessment of his disappointing season and playoff series.
"There are some things I have to re-evaluate and think about this offseason," Toews said April 22. "I didn't get to the level I needed to be to help our team survive a little bit longer in this last series, so I have to be responsible for that."
Nearly six months have passed since that statement. Six months to let the disappointment linger from that defeat and six months to correct what went wrong.
After previous playoff exits, Toews and the Hawks could console themselves that they were a bounce here or there away from moving on, but the Predators loss was different. They had to confront the fact they just weren't good enough, and for Toews that meant a deep reflection of how he needed to evolve his game after the last two seasons _ seasons in which he posted the lowest points per game averages of his career.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself, especially these last couple of years," Toews told the Tribune. "I had expectations. And I think I make things harder on myself and my linemates especially when I go on the ice with that expectation.
"(I need to) play loose and have fun and just let things happen a little more, learn to have a looser grip on how things are going on the ice and allow myself to make mistakes. The best players in the game, they're out there, they're not afraid to make mistakes and take some risks here and there."
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