Leave it to Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews to say what needs to be said.
Winless after three exhibition games and with only three more to play, Toews thinks it's time for the Hawks to get serious about cranking it up for the start of the regular season against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 2.
"Everyone says these games don't count for nothing, which I think is complete (nonsense)," Toews said. "They do mean something. It's a way for us to get ready for the season and get our stuff together.
"They schedule these games for a reason, so we don't want to waste our time anymore. We've got to go out there and work and play the way we're supposed to and get excited about it."
The Hawks host the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at the United Center in their final North American preseason game before heading to Europe.
They play two more exhibition games on Monday and Tuesday in Zurich, Switzerland, against HC Davos and ZSC Zurich. The game Tuesday won't be an ordinary exhibition game. It's for Europe's Victoria Cup, which means ZSC Zurich will be playing to win.
Toews said so will the Hawks.
"We've got three more games before the season starts and we have to treat them as regular-season games," Toews said.
"It's time to motivate ourselves a little bit more to play hard. We've got one more game at home here to play in front of our fans and hopefully make some big plays, play hard and start building our foundation before we head overseas."
The Hawks have scored only 4 goals in their 3 preseason losses.
"Our last two games haven't been very good," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We didn't generate much in either game. Our compete level has got to get better and more intense.
"It's too early to think that complacency is part of the mix. We've got some good kids and some good pros here that know the value in preparing ourselves. We talked today about the on-off switch and how it's not available at any moment."
The 6-2 loss in Washington on Wednesday wasn't Corey Crawford's greatest moment, but Quenneville said the competition for the backup goalie spot still is too close to call and will continue in Europe.
Cristobal Huet gets the start tonight against Minnesota and will play the entire game. Quenneville said Crawford and Antti Niemi would split Monday's game against HC Davos with Huet getting the call Tuesday in the Victoria Cup game.
Crawford allowed 2 goals to Alex Ovechkin, the best goal scorer in the NHL.
"Playing against Ovechkin, he's probably one of the best shooters in the league," Crawford said. "I'll look at it like more experience for myself, even though it didn't go the way I wanted."
Quenneville didn't fault Crawford for the 4-goal loss.
"You have some good games and some just OK games and we didn't give him a lot of help around the net on a lot of occasions," Quenneville said. "It's still very close and very competitive."
Winless after three exhibition games and with only three more to play, Toews thinks it's time for the Hawks to get serious about cranking it up for the start of the regular season against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 2.
"Everyone says these games don't count for nothing, which I think is complete (nonsense)," Toews said. "They do mean something. It's a way for us to get ready for the season and get our stuff together.
"They schedule these games for a reason, so we don't want to waste our time anymore. We've got to go out there and work and play the way we're supposed to and get excited about it."
The Hawks host the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at the United Center in their final North American preseason game before heading to Europe.
They play two more exhibition games on Monday and Tuesday in Zurich, Switzerland, against HC Davos and ZSC Zurich. The game Tuesday won't be an ordinary exhibition game. It's for Europe's Victoria Cup, which means ZSC Zurich will be playing to win.
Toews said so will the Hawks.
"We've got three more games before the season starts and we have to treat them as regular-season games," Toews said.
"It's time to motivate ourselves a little bit more to play hard. We've got one more game at home here to play in front of our fans and hopefully make some big plays, play hard and start building our foundation before we head overseas."
The Hawks have scored only 4 goals in their 3 preseason losses.
"Our last two games haven't been very good," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We didn't generate much in either game. Our compete level has got to get better and more intense.
"It's too early to think that complacency is part of the mix. We've got some good kids and some good pros here that know the value in preparing ourselves. We talked today about the on-off switch and how it's not available at any moment."
The 6-2 loss in Washington on Wednesday wasn't Corey Crawford's greatest moment, but Quenneville said the competition for the backup goalie spot still is too close to call and will continue in Europe.
Cristobal Huet gets the start tonight against Minnesota and will play the entire game. Quenneville said Crawford and Antti Niemi would split Monday's game against HC Davos with Huet getting the call Tuesday in the Victoria Cup game.
Crawford allowed 2 goals to Alex Ovechkin, the best goal scorer in the NHL.
"Playing against Ovechkin, he's probably one of the best shooters in the league," Crawford said. "I'll look at it like more experience for myself, even though it didn't go the way I wanted."
Quenneville didn't fault Crawford for the 4-goal loss.
"You have some good games and some just OK games and we didn't give him a lot of help around the net on a lot of occasions," Quenneville said. "It's still very close and very competitive."
