After testing postive for COVID-19 antibodies, Hawks' Toews taking training camp one day at a time

Most of us are creatures of habit.

This goes double - maybe triple - for longtime professional hockey players.

So when someone's routine drastically changes - whether it's because they retired or they're missing time due to injury - life can get awfully difficult.

This is the world Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said he was living in at times while dealing with an illness that just would not go away.

The debilitating condition forced him to miss the entire 2021 season, keeping him away from friends, teammates, competition and the sport he loves so dearly.

When training camp began at Fifth Third Arena on Thursday, Toews was back where he feels most comfortable - on the ice. He took part in all the drills, led a line with wingers Dominik Kubalik and Brandon Hagel, and closed out the opening session with a marathon bag skate that tested even the best-conditioned athletes.

As for the toughest part of sitting out?

"I just think it was just a lot of things coming unglued - the normal routine, the normal people you're surrounded by, the usual things you kind of expect out of yourself," he said. "We all have habits and routines every day that we rely on to find some sense of normalcy and consistency in our lives. And when none of that was there, you kind of feel like you're in outer space sometimes."

Toews is going to take this journey into the unknown one day at a time. He's going to stay patient and do his best to become the player who led the Hawks to three Stanley Cups in six years from 2010-15.

As for next week or if he'll be ready for the season opener on October 13? Who knows.

"I'm just taking one day at a time," he said. "That's all I can really handle right now."

In the video he released on Twitter, Toews said he was suffering from Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. Those words never came up Thursday, however. Instead, Toews said he tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.

"That's what I was told," he said.

What happens next is anyone's guess. While Jeremy Colliton threw Toews into the fire Thursday, the Hawks' coach made it clear there is no pressure on the captain.

"Obviously to take a year off, it's tough," Colliton said. "We've just got to let it play out. I definitely will not be daily handicapping the percentage of, 'Is he going to be ready or not. What's his role going to be?'

"Let's just give him the space to keep working at it. He's worked extremely hard this summer. Now we're in camp and we'll see how he responds."

Patrick Kane also weighed in.

"I think he looks good," Kane said. "It's great to have him back obviously. The biggest thing is you want him to be himself, right? He's such a big part of this organization and part of this team for such a long time."

Toews, who scored 18 goals and had 42 assists during the 70-game 2019-20 campaign, returns to a vastly different squad than the one that lost to Vegas in that postseason. New additions like goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, defensemen Seth Jones and Jake McCabe and forward Tyler Johnson have injected the organization with newfound excitement and hope.

Combine those four with a healthy Toews and Kane, along with Alex DeBrincat, Dominik Kubalik, Kirby Dach, Connor Murphy and a few up-and-coming D-men, and it's not unreasonable to think a playoff berth is attainable.

Or maybe even expected.

Of course, leadership roles will need to be filled now that Duncan Keith is in Edmonton and with Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw retired.

Replacing their voices may not be easy.

But, eventually, a new routine will emerge. A new normal, if you will.

"Yeah, it's weird," Toews said. "I mean I've been in the room with guys like Seabs and Duncs since the start of my career. Now ... you look around and you see pictures on the wall of those two guys hoisting the Stanley Cups. You just didn't think it would change this soon this fast.

"I owe a ton of my success as a player to those two guys - (and) to Shawzie, to (Patrick) Sharp. ... At the same time you've got to do what you always do. It's just about the next game and about the next day.

"It's a fresh start in a lot of ways so it'll be a lot of fun."