Devon Toews calls out Avalanche teammates after loss: ‘I think they’re kidding themselves at this point’

“It’s tough to play in this league when you don’t know where your teammates are gonna be.”

It was a disappointing loss for the Avalanche, who sit with a 19-11-2 record this year. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are 10-20-1.

The 29-year-old defenseman played a season-high 29:50, but came up short in the scoresheet.

“It’s our awareness of what it takes to win hockey games,” Toews told reporters. “That’s the difference, having guys in this room self-aware that it takes 60 minutes, a hard game play to play against any team in this league. I don’t care who we’re playing. This league is so good. It’s hard to win any night against any team in this league. You have to show up.

The Avs have been without start defenseman Cale Makar for the past three games due to a nagging lower-body injury. They’ve gone 1-2 in that span, with their lone victory coming against San Jose on Sunday. The Avs are 4-5-1 over their past 10 games, but sit tied with the Dallas Stars for first in the Central Division with 40 points apiece. The Avs have played two more games, with Winnipeg sitting just one point behind in third.

The team’s recent performance is unacceptable for Toews, a big part of Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup victory.

“We’ve got guys in here who aren’t showing up right now,” Toews added.

The Avalanche will look to bounce back this weekend with games against Ottawa on Thursday and Arizona on Saturday.