Before the start of the season, at the first Blackhawks Convention, the announcement was made that Jonathan Toews would be the Blackhawks' Captain. This caused a stir, as it meant that Toews would not only be the third youngest Captain in NHL history, but he would be charged with the leadership of a team in the process of re-emergence into hockey relevance with only one NHL season under his belt.

Then, once the season started, Toews was obviously pressing, and went 13 games without a goal to start the season. Of course, the fact that he had 7 assists in those 13 games meant nothing to those who felt that Toews lacked the maturity to take on this role. What also meant nothing was the fact that in those 13 games, there were at least 5 instances where the opposing goaltender made highlight-reel saves on him.

Also, in those thirteen games, Toews had 3 shootout goals, including one game winner. He currently has 4 shootout goals, good for a tie for 5th in the league.

These are significant, since the shootout is when a team is directly on the edge of win or lose. During this pretture situation, you need your leader to step up.. When your Captain is the best you have under pressure, you can feel pretty confident you have the right guy.

A lot of people (full disclosure: including this blogger) thought Patrick Sharp was more deserving of a trip to the All-Star game than Toews. This might still be true. But there is a difference between Sharp and Toews, which will be more defined once they each hang up their skates for good...Sharp is a very good player, having a pretty good year. Toews is on his way to being one of the greats. In fact, it has been predicted both on this blog and on the PUCKCAST that some day Toews' #19 will take its place in the United Center rafters between #18 and #21.

And that makes sense. Toews is the latest in the proud legacy of great Hawks centers, from Mikita to Savard, now to Toews. He has, after his goal drought to start the season, quietly gotten up to 16 goals, and is now second on the team in scoring, 5 points behind Patrick Kane and closing.

Last season, he called out his teammates for not hating losing. Which reminds one of another player who had some success as a Captain in this league, Mark Messier. Messier once said that it wasn't that he wanted to win that drove him, it was that he hated losing.

Another thing about Toews and his leadership...he's actually getting better as the season goes along. Perhaps he'll hit a wall, never having played an 82 game season followed by playoffs.

Perhaps he'll continue this current trend. This is how the greats do it. Maybe it's not that he gets better, but that other guys get a little more tired, their legs get a little heavier. This hasn't been the case with Toews.

Along with his leadership, his play has improved this season. He's really starting to take charge along the boards, and he may have the quickest wrist shot in the league. Earlier in the season, he was always looking five-hole, and goalies were ready for it. Now he's roofing that wrister,

Bottom line is, even though there's still plenty of hockey to play this season, one thing can be laid to rest.

Jonathan Toews deserves to be Captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. The fact that he is is to the benefit of the organization. We're seeing the beginning of a very special career here. Enjoy it.