Toews has been a faceoff-winning machine for Hawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Jonathan Toews has been one of the best faceoff centermen since he entered the NHL in 2007. In fact, he's one of the best to ever do it, with his career win percentage of 57.2 ranking 13th all-time.
I didn't know it was possible, but Chicago's captain has taken things to another level in that department this season, particularly as of late.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
In Monday's 3-0 loss to Carolina, Toews won 18 of 22 draws for a win percentage of 81.2. In the two games prior, he had won 17 of 24 faceoffs vs. Anaheim and 18 of 21 vs. Los Angeles against two of the league's best faceoff men in Phillip Danault and Anze Kopitar.
In his last three games combined, Toews has lost only 14 faceoffs on 67 tries. That's a win percentage of 79.1, which is unheard of. He's also up to 64.3 percent for the season, which ranks No. 2 among all skaters.
When Toews is that dialed in at the circle, you can see that filter into the rest of the game. It sometimes correlates with whether a player is feeling it that night, and more times than not this season, Toews has been one of the best players on the ice for the Blackhawks.
Local
"For me personally, it's one of those signs, if I'm not prepared to play or if I'm not completely mentally and emotionally into it is if I'm not finding ways to win draws," Toews said. "It's just about being confident with your timing, your stick and picking pucks up.
"Same goes with battles on the wall. When you're going, you're finding those pucks and you're making plays and drawing checkers to you. So yeah, it's definitely one of those things I focus on. When that's going well, I feel like I'm in the game and making plays."
The Blackhawks are the No. 1 faceoff team in the league this season with a win percentage of 58.5, which is a substantial improvement from the prior years. They hadn't finished inside the Top 15 or above 50 percent as a team since the 2014-15 season.
Toews — along with Max Domi — is a massive reason why.
"He was zoned in tonight in that area and that helps him focus in on the other areas of the game," Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said after Monday's game. "Even the one time, you notice in the third period he got thrown out and he didn’t like it. He let the linesman know it. He knows that’s a huge area and a benefit for us and a responsibility for him. He takes it very serious. I don’t think he thought that was justified but he was excellent there tonight."
Click here to subscribe to the Blackhawks Talk Podcast for free.
