Toews out Saturday; return date still unclear

Jonathan Toews' concussion symptoms haven't completely gone away — especially when he's been on the ice practicing — so he'll remain out of the lineup Saturday when the Blackhawks take on the Detroit Red Wings in the regular season finale.

My status hasn't changed, unfortunately,” Toews told reporters following Friday's practice at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. “I'm still progressing, “I guess. It's kind of a frustrating to let another game go by but I just don't feel comfortable that (Saturday) is the right way to get back into it.”

Saturday marks the 22nd consecutive game the Hawks captain will miss — an agonizingly long stretch compared to the last time he went through this process.

“I had a concussion two years ago and after two weeks, boom, I was myself again,” Toews said. “That's why this is so frustrating. It's not a clear-cut thing. I expected to be back in two weeks. I thought that was going to be it. That's what happened last time, why isn't this the same thing?”

Toews and the Hawks were hoping he could return for one or both of final two regular season games. Now, a return date is up in the air.

“It would've been nice to get him into one of these games,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “But Game 1 in the playoffs is much more meaningful. With five more days, let's side with caution.”

Joining Toews on the sidelines Saturday will be Andrew Brunette (lower body) and Dave Bolland (upper body).

Stick to the plan:

The Blackhawks are 11-2-4 since Brandon Bollig arrived from Rockford.

Some would point out that Bollig arrived at the same time as defenseman Johnny Oduya did in a trade deadline deal with Winnipeg.

But hey, there's enough praise to go around, right?

“He's been a real nice fit since he came up at the trade deadline,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “He made an impact, brought us some energy, got us some toughness, did well when he got in some fights.

“He can do a lot of things besides just fight. He's not just that one-dimensional guy.”

Bollig, who has already been in 8 scraps, realizes his pugilistic skills won't be in such high demand once the playoffs roll around.

“I think I just have to play the same exact way I have — finish every check and get in on the forecheck and things like that,” Bollig said. “Obviously I'm not going out there looking to fight, but … that happens more in the regular season … but yeah, don't change anything. Play the same way. “

Can't do that:

Minnesota's Nate Prosser is paying the price for his head butt to Hawks forward Jamal Mayers' face on Thursday.

Prosser was suspended 1 game for the hit, which drew blood and resulted in a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the Wild defenseman.

Pick your spot:

For those hoping the Blackhawks manage to stay in the sixth spot in the West and avoid an opening round series against Nashville, the good news is that the Red Wings still have an outside shot of leapfrogging the Preds for the fourth overall seed — and home-ice advantage in the first round.

A Detroit win and a Nashville loss in regulation at Colorado is their only hope.

“It's still important, you want to finish as high as you can, you want to take advantage of the home-ice if you can,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said after the Wings' 2-1 loss to New Jersey on Thursday. “But if that doesn't happen, you know that you have to play well on the road to have success, and that's something that you have to do, so you're still trying to finish as high as you can.”