Morning Flurries: National TV schedule, Jonathan Toews out for a while and a World Juniors update

Tuesday morning, the NHL was met with the news that yet another star will be missing from action this season - at least to start. The Chicago Blackhawks announced that Jonathan Toews will be away from the team “indefinitely” as he deals with an unknown illness. Toes mentioned that he has felt “drained and lethargic” for the past couple of months and will be unable to report when training camp gets underway next week.

“I am working with doctors so I can better understand my condition,” Toews said. “Until I can get my health back to a place where I feel I can perform at an elite level and help my team, I will not be joining the Blackhawks for training camp. I do not have a timetable for when I will rejoin the team. I am extremely disappointed, but it wouldn’t be fair to myself or my teammates to attempt to play in my current condition.”

Toews joins Alex Nylander and Kirby Dach on a growing list of top players who will miss significant time for Chicago this season.

In Edmonton, Team Canada continued their winning ways as they defeated The Swiss 10-0 in the third game of the preliminary round. Both Avalanche defensive prospects, Bo Byram and Justin Barron were held off of the score sheet. Alex Newhook picked up the slack for the Avs draft picks on the team as he pitched in two assists - pushing his tournament total to five points.

As for Drew Helleson, he was held without a point in Team USA’s 7-0 victory against the Czech Republic. It wasn’t exactly the best game to evaluate a defender tasked with shutting down top competition. Helleson - along with his partner Jake Sanderson - will show his worth when things get going in the medal round. Trevor Zegras led the way for Team USA with two goals and three assists in the game.

Not to be over dramatic but I think Team USA needs to make an in-tournament cut after this nonsense:

Tuesday afternoon, NBC released their national schedule. The Avalanche will make three separate appearances on the national stage - February 14th & 20th against the Vegas Golden Knights and April 20th against the St. Louis Blues.

As in past year, NBC hasn’t learned from their mistakes - those Chicago and Detroit matchup are going to be some ugly games that are being televised on national television.