During the first round of the NHL Draft, the hometown Blackhawks elicited loud cheers from the United Center crowd when general manager Stan Bowman asked Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to come on stage before the team’s first pick of the draft.
Toews and Kane announced the franchise’s first selection of the draft, Henri Jokiharju, with the 29th overall pick.
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Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews announce the team's selection of Henri Jokiharju with pick 29. pic.twitter.com/zLHWsDafwr
— RMNB (@russianmachine) June 24, 2017
Minutes before the two Blackhawks all-stars were publicly introduced, Sportsnet cameras captured Toews backstage and accidentally aired, what appears to be, a rare moment of candor.
did Toews say "that kid looks like an asshole?" 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/sDepE5TyNp
— Abdi Omer (@AbdiOmerr) June 24, 2017
Let me set the scene. With the 28th pick, the Ottawa Senators picked 17-year-old center Shane Bowers. As Bowers made his way down from his lower-concourse seat, he stopped to sign an autograph for a fan. Sportsnet commentators then compared Bowers’ style of play to Toews and panned to the Blackhawks captain, who was waiting backstage.
We can’t be sure, but it appears Toews says, “He’s stopping. That kid looks like an asshole.”
Again, I am not a lip-reader, but I am fairly confident in that analysis.
Bowers, who scored 22 goals in 60 games for the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks, is committed to Boston University next season. The viral moment thankfully did not appear to affect the prospect who called his selection by the Senators a “dream come true.”
Honoured to be drafted by the @Senators organization! Dream come true, can't wait to get things started ! #sens
— Shane Bowers (@shanebowers15) June 24, 2017
Hopefully the pair of centers will have a laugh about this when Bowers likely makes the NHL within the next few years.
