The end of an era will happen on Thursday when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Philadelphia Flyers in the teams’ respective regular-season finales.
Captain Jonathan Toews will play his last game as a member of the Blackhawks, general manager Kyle Davidson announced Thursday morning.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with Jonathan throughout the season about his future with the Blackhawks, and recently, we had the difficult conversation that we won’t be re-signing him this offseason,” Davidson said in a release. “Tonight will be his final game as a Blackhawk, and it was very important to us to be able to provide the proper send off for Jonathan and our fans. He has done so much for this organization, and no matter where he plays next, we’re excited our fans get the chance to show Jonathan exactly how much he means to them.”
Toews, 34, has totaled 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 52 games this season. He missed a portion of the season dealing with symptoms of long COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome, a health situation that prompted him to sit out the entire 2020-21 campaign.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion (2010, 2013, 2015) is playing in the final season of an eight-year, $84 million contract.
Chicago (26-49-6, 58 points), which is mired in last place in the Central Division, stunned the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Tuesday.
The Blackhawks had dropped 11 of their last 12 and three straight, but Buddy Robinson had one goal and one assist, Anders Bjork added two assists and goaltender Petr Mrazek was terrific with a 38-save performance.
It was surely an unexpected effort.
“The guys were just determined,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “I think we’ve played really good hockey as of late. We just couldn’t get over that hump in the third period. (Tuesday), they were determined to get over the hump. A lot of credit, a lot of hard work out there.”
Chicago fell to the Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken and Minnesota Wild before the stunning three-goal victory at Pittsburgh.
The Flyers (30-38-13, 73 points) defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday thanks in large part to two goals from Owen Tippett.
Tippett’s second goal with 16 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Flyers to victory.
James van Riemsdyk notched his 300th career goal and Ivan Provorov added two assists for the Flyers, who snapped a 0-6-1 skid.
It was a much-needed win in what has been a frustrating season filled with a litany of injuries and maddening losses.
“Before the year, (senior adviser) Dean Lombardi pulled me aside and was letting me know where I stood with some of those things, with career goals and milestones like that,” van Riemsdyk said. “I knew it was within reach this year. Excited to get it here in Philly. A winning effort is always nice, too.”
Flyers head coach John Tortorella was an observer in the win as assistant coach Rocky Thompson ran the bench.
Thompson was impressed with Tippett, who is second on the team with 26 goals. Tippett had scored 18 goals in his first 115 career games.
“I saw him in junior, I coached in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) at that time, and he was a natural goal-scorer,” Thompson said. “But I think his game is evolving not just as a shooter, which we’re seeing and that’s coming, maturing, but I think he makes good plays, too.”
–Field Level Media
