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He has put up solid numbers, but ultimately he’s asked to play a role that involves hard checking, penalty killing and less offense than the Chicago Blackhawks task him with in the NHL.
If he scores, great. If he doesn’t score he still contributes somehow and the rest of his offensively powerful teammates figure out a way to get the job done on the scoreboard. Against Team Europe in his final game of the group round of the World Cup, Toews delivered with two goals and an assist, giving Canada a boost that helped them to a 4-1 win. Toews is currently tied for the World Cup scoring lead with four points in three games.
“I’d say (my role) hasn’t changed much since I played at the Olympics in Vancouver is that checking forward that’s going to have a chance to play against teams’ top lines for the most part and be relied upon a little bit of power play and mostly penalty kill,” Toews said. “Whatever happens I try to go out there and make a difference.”
Toews’ Canada teammates have marveled at his selflessness in these situations and how he has played a somewhat different style internationally than he does with his NHL team.
“He’s the kind of guy that can do it all,” Team Canada defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. “I mean, he’s on the skill end of things. He’s sort of a guy, I know with Chicago, he’s always sort of the guy that finds a way to score a big goal and that sort of thing and playing against him, he’s one of their big weapons but he also, these things he’s kind of playing, I wouldn’t say more of a checking role, but killing penalties and doing some of those things that you really need at times in these tournaments – they’re huge if you’re in a close game you have to kill a penalty or you have a lead at the end of the game. You need those guys that can kind of shut it down. He’s a guy that I know is always depended on for that.”
Toews’ first goal came with 54.4 seconds left in the first period when he took a pass from forward Matt Duchene and deflected the puck*past Jaroslav Halak to make the game 2-0.
His second goal came with 5:12 left in the second period when he fired a puck past Halak on a 2-on-1. Team Europe defenseman Roman Josi was defending, but had to drop his stick after it broke.
“I know if I can just enable the players around me to have time and space and let them do what they do, good things are going to happen,” Toews said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do regardless of the situation is make things easier on my linemates. Can’t say I’ve done that a ton so far. I think tonight we got a few bounces and a couple of goals went in, but I think we’re all finding our game more and more as the tournament goes along.”
Team Canada has now won 13 straight ‘best-on-best’ games in international competition and Toews has been with all those groups. A player like Toews, with his on-ice battle skills, hockey sense and scoring touch has proved vital for Team Canada. Not only can he shut down the opponents’ top lines – which is his main job – he can also create offense if it’s there. He’s a luxury a lot of other countries don’t have.
“He’s just a guy that goes out there every day, takes care of his own end, makes sure he’s on the right side of pucks and that stuff leads to offense,” Canada forward Steven Stamkos said. “And for me that’s a great guy to just watch and observe. He has a fine line between playing the right way and still finding ways to produce so it’s pretty nice to see.”
In some ways, Toews exemplifies much of the storyline that has revolved around Team Canada since their Olympic gold in 2010. He’s a superstar who has given up some offense for the greater good of the group. It’s why this team is undefeated in the tournament and why no team has been able to compete on its level so far.
“He knows what it takes to win,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “He shows up every night and I think that’s the case for a lot of guys, but he has that ability and that knack to step up in big games and he’s been able to do that for a long time.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooperMORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS