NEWARK, N.J. — It’s always hard to read Jonathan Toews with his narrow range of emotion. Smacking his stick on the net in disgust or celebrating by twirling it are the extremes of his spectrum.
He’s seemed unhappy lately, but maybe that’s just how his level personality comes across. He was furious after getting beat for an overtime goal against Nashville, visibly angry as a lead over Vegas slipped and frustrated with his own energy level last week.
But he’s also producing like crazy. He has two goals and eight assists in his last nine games, pushing his totals to 18 and 23. He’s on track for his first 30-goal season since 2011 and is threatening his career high in points.
So a simple question: How’s it going this year?
“If I’m comparing this season to my previous two years, yeah, things are better,” Toews said at morning skate before tonight’s game at New Jersey. “But I still have a higher expectation for myself.
“Things are falling into place for our team, and the power play’s looking better, so I feel I can … just go out there and maybe take some offensive risks and try to create some more offense.”
Few aspects of the Hawks’ downturn have been as scrutinized as Toews, who dropped to a career-low 20 goals last year. He came into this season intent on reestablishing himself as one of the league’s top offensive weapons at 30.
The change from Joel Quenneville to Jeremy Colliton might accelerate that mission. Colliton’s quicker pace appears to be opening up the offense, and that’s giving Toews more scoring chances.
He is also going to love the upcoming break and doesn’t mind being snubbed in the All-Star selections. The Hawks get nine days off — “Yep, we noticed,” Toews said — after they get through Jan. 22 against the Islanders.
Mental and physical stamina fluctuate throughout each season, and Toews seems to be pushing through fatigue. He’s one of four Hawks averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game, and all the playoff runs add up to an extra season and a half in his 12 years with the team.
“You’re not gonna feel amazing every night,” he said. “You’re not ever gonna be 100 percent playing this game. You’ve gotta do what you can to play in spite of all that.”
Delia on hold
Colliton has been giving rookie goaltender Collin Delia a few games at a time, then resting him to regroup. It looks like that’s what he’s doing this week, though he was noncommittal about who will start Thursday at the Rangers.
With Cam Ward getting his turn against the Devils tonight, Delia will have at least four days off since his last opportunity.
“It’s a chance to spend time with [goaltending coach Jimmy Waite] and work on habits or details or whatever you want to call it,” Colliton said. “It’s a mental break for him. It’s always nice to take a breath, and hopefully he can return to the level he’s been at most of the time he’s been here.”
The last three games, when the Hawks went 0-1-2, Delia had a .902 save percentage and 3.67 goals against average. He was at .952 and 2.00 over his first four appearances, and the team was 3-0-1.
