Blackhawks lose rookie Toews
Suspected knee ligament strain could sideline centre for 2-4 weeks
Jonathan Toews has averaged nearly a point a game for the Chicago Blackhawks this season, but he won't be striking fear into any opponent for perhaps the next month.
The rookie centre suffered a knee injury in the first period of Tuesday's 9-2 rout at the hands of the hometown Los Angeles Kings.
Toews, 19, might have sustained a second-degree strain of the medial collateral ligament and could miss two to four weeks of action, according to Chicago coach Denis Savard.
"I was chasing the puck around in a couple of different directions and I think I just tried to change directions too quick and my leg kind of gave in a little bit," Toews told the Chicago Tribune.
The Winnipeg native is second in NHL rookie scoring with 32 points, five behind fellow Blackhawk Patrick Kane.
Toews joins an injury list in Chicago that includes forwards Martin Havlat (groin), Jason Williams (groin), Ben Eager (concussion), Kevyn Adams (knee), Dave Bolland (broken finger) and defencemen Brent Sopel (broken finger) and James Wisniewski (knee).