"Just a little friendly wrestling. We're ready to go," Toews said with a smile after the Blackhawks prepared to face former coach Joel Quenneville and the Florida Panthers at United Center on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCH, FS-F, NHL.TV). "It's a big game tonight. That's the whole point of coming off morning skate is to get yourself ready to go for tonight's game. I think we're ready now."
There were no punches thrown between the center and defenseman. Toews had Keith pinned on the ice and his jersey over his head before the two were separated by assistant coach Sheldon Brookbank. The skate resumed shortly afterward.
Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton also smiled at the scrap.
"You got a brother? Yeah. I do, too," Colliton said to laughs. "And I have two boys at home, so I've seen that movie before."
The Blackhawks (24-20-6) have won five straight games and are three points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Panthers (27-16-5) have also won five in a row and are third in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and two points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
