A big comeback inherently carries some uncertainty with it. That said, it’s blatantly apparent Jonathan Toews’ return to the NHL is made more meaningful for all parties involved by the fact it’s happening in Manitoba.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he signed a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets on June 20 following two full years away from hockey, Toews was open and honest about the personal nature of this career development.
“I’m just really feeling blessed to play the game of hockey again at this level, (especially) for the Winnipeg Jets,” he said.
It’s not every day the mayor of a city and premier of a province show up to welcome a pro athlete to the fold, but that’s the lay of the land in this hockey-mad and comparatively small place that’s gone from being proud of a native son’s achievements to actually cheering for that guy while he wears his hometown colours.
“I was making a joke earlier that, I knew there’d be some excitement, I kind of expected that, Toews said. “But when my phone started blowing up the way it did when we made the announcement, the reality set it in. I was like, OK, there’s a lot of pressure playing in a Canadian market and a lot of expectations, especially with the way the Jets have performed the past few years. I’m excited to be a part of all that.”
It’s certainly been a long journey to get here.
Toews — the three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist who wore the captain’s “C” for the Chicago Blackhawks — was forced to step away from hockey at the end of the 2022-23 season. He battled long COVID and a condition called chronic immune response system without really knowing for certain if he’d ever be able to resume his incredible career.
“I’d gotten to a point where I pretty much needed to let myself get off a timeline to return,” he said. “So in my mind, I’d kind of accepted in a way that I might not play again. I think that was a challenging thing to do, but also a healthy thing to do. I’d wake up every day and not think about (where is this all going?)”
Toews said, just through the course of working out and — with or without hockey — having a desire to take care of his body, he got stronger and stronger with each passing month toward the end of 2024 and the start of 2025. As things improved, he began to form ideas about what might lay ahead.
“I’d say these past five or six months, things have really trended in the right direction, since I started skating in February and March,” he said. “Those were the moments where I (thought) OK, I still have the hands; the hands are there, the feet will catch up and things have slowly gotten better since then.”
Toews said he just felt different on the ice this past spring compared to what he felt like two years ago, struggling to get through an NHL season. Now, a guy who’s done it all in hockey is starting to feel like a kid all over again, preparing to return to the game he loves in the place that first sparked the affair.
“It’s just surreal to be sitting here right now, putting this jersey on,” Toews said, not long after he opened the press conference by greeting his mom in the front row. “You have these moments throughout your career where some things, I don’t want to say you get jaded, but you kind of get used to it and you kind of settle in. This is another moment that brings me back to, it’s like that new feeling, like you’re getting drafted again.”
Nineteen years after Toews really was drafted by the Blackhawks, he’s got a new lease on life. The 37-year-old has been all over the globe, both as a star athlete representing his country and as a person on what he’s referred to as a “healing journey” in India last fall. Toews acknowledged he’s been influenced and altered by all his stops along the way, but he also believes there’s a core part of you that never changes.
“I’ll always be a Winnipegger through and through,” he said.
Starting next fall, he’ll be playing in front of family, friends and fans who feel the same way.
