Blackhawks Vs. Stars: Dallas Is Hot And Starting A Homestand

The Chicago Blackhawks have been playing decent hockey (5-4-1 in last 10 games) without Jonathan Toews, but the Dallas Stars have been great lately. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 contests, and start a four-game homestand on Friday night. Chicago has been frustratingly opaque about Toews' recovery from an upper-body injury (read: concussion), and the ceiling of the team is hanging in the balance right now.

SB Nation's Blackhawks blog, Second City Hockey, is trying to put a reasonable conclusion to news from the team that Toews has had a setback, but not an official setback because they imposed no recovery schedule. It's a difficult situation:

From here, there will be calls to shut Toews down the rest of the season. Might be valid, might not be. This isn't a broken bone or a ligament that he's hustling to be back from that could do lasting damage, a la Roenick in '95 on whatever was left of that knee after Derian Hatcher got done with it rushing back to face theRed Wings in the Conference Final. No one really knows what will help. Sidney Crosby missed half a season and had a summer, and he still ended up missing the first chunk of this season. Quite simply, everyone's different. If Toews feels that he needs to miss the rest of the year, then he should. If he feels he can play, well, there's not a lot to be done to argue with him. That's how these things go.

Game date/time: Friday, March 16, 2012, 7:30 p.m. CST

Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

TV: CSN-Chicago+

Stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the Chicago Blackhawks, be sure to visit Second City Hockey.