I know it probably seems like I’m harping on Toews too much lately. But with the main story with the Hawks being that they only have one line, it seems only fair to focus on the main reason there aren’t any other lines scoring. And that quite simply has to be the captain. Quite frankly, I can only write so much about how Trevor van Riemsdyk pretty much sucks but there aren’t any replacements on the roster or in the system.

When I started to look at  Toews’s numbers, it became clear that it would make sense to compare him to the two players he seems to be mentioned with most, either here or in the mainstream. That would be Anze Kopitar, who we’ve often compared him to because we think they’re basically the same guy, and Sidney Crosby who the rest of the world wanted to compare him to (even though Sid is or was obviously better, and if you don’t think so I’ll just point you to him averaging over three points per 60 even strength minutes multiple seasons.

There’s kind of an intriguing curve with these guys and just about all at the same age.