Remember Troy Brouwer? Big galoot, about 6'2, likes taking the body, scored 22 goals last year?

The other night he actually skated with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, but failed to be the Viagra the impotent Hawks offense needed when they sleepwalked through their 3-0 loss in Boston.

Back in mid-February (2/16, to be exact), he scored his 17th goal of the season, and he was looking like he was not only going to surpass last year's goal total with ease, but that he'd parlay the 25-30 goal season into a nice juicy payday as a restricted free agent.

But since then? Bupkus.

In the 19 games since then (that's damn near a quarter season for you kids keeping score at home), he's had a whopping 2 assists.

Granted, he's been getting shuffled from line to line, and only got the one game with Kane and Toews, which is where he spent the majority of last season, but 2 assists in 19 games?

Look, he's been doing a lot of other things out there. He's the only forward the Hawks currently have who has been taking the body on a consistent basis. He's willing to get into traffic. He's bringing his lunch pail every night.

But his offense is nonexistent. While the stars like Kane, Toews & Hossa are getting paid what they get because they are expected to carry the load, guys like Brouwer need to fill those secondary roles, and that hasn't been happening on a consistent basis. In Brouwer's case, it hasn't been happening at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. If all he ever did in his life was kick Dustin Brown's ass last year, that would have been enough. But he was looking like the guy to step up and be a regular Top 6 forward, and he was racking up the numbers, at least until President's Day.

Maybe we should blame George Washington.

Seriously, throughout Brouwer's career, his story has been one of confidence ebbing and flowing. Right now it appears to be ebbing like a motherfucker. Not only is he not scoring, he's not even shooting. In those 19 games, he's got 22 shots.

Joel Quenneville moved him off the Kane/Toews line today in practice. It's obvious that it Brouwer wants to get back on that wing, he's going to have to earn his way there.

Tomorrow night the Blackhawks face Columbus. Brouwer's goalless streak started against the Blue Jackets. Let's see if he can end it there as well.