Jonathan Toews brings healthy body, healthy attitude to his first game against the Blackhawks

The 37-year-old Winnipegger is all about his hometown Jets, of course. He’s stoked that Kyle Connor just signed a long-term contract extension and that this talented and accomplished core will be chasing the Stanley Cup for years to come. The little market that could deserves nothing less, and this guy is bursting with hometown pride.

But like a lot of other hockey fans, this one grew awfully fond of the Chicago Blackhawks during their championship years in the 2010s. So when the Jets are off and the Hawks are on, it’s a safe bet that he’s watching from home.

No, Jonathan Toews can’t quite quit the Blackhawks.

“They’ve been fun to watch — they have a lot of good, young talent,” Toews told The Athletic on Monday. “I think Kyle (Davidson) and Norm (Maciver) have a pretty good idea of where the team has come from and what we’ve lacked as far as replenishing the team with draft picks. And now they have a good idea where the team is headed. There’s no guarantees, but it looks like some of the young picks are going to turn into good players.”

Yes, that was a “we” in there. You can take the captain out of Chicago, but you can’t take the Chicago out of the captain. So it’s no surprise Toews has had Thursday’s home game against the Blackhawks circled on his calendar ever since he signed a one-year contract with the Jets after two years away from the game for health reasons.

“I’ll be ready, that’s for sure,” he said.

Ready for what, though? The only Blackhawks left with whom Toews spent any significant time with are Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson. Nick Foligno is wearing Toews’ “C.” Connor Bedard is wearing Toews’ burden. Other than the equipment and support staff — almost all of whom Toews rattled off by name, the smile on his face evident in his voice — these are his Blackhawks in laundry only.

“I’ve been watching them a lot on TV and it’s strange — it does feel like a completely different team,” he said. “They’re just wearing the same jerseys.”

It’s been more than 30 months since Toews played his final game in that jersey, scoring one last goal before a raucous and appreciative United Center crowd. Given his age and chronic health issues, which hindered his fitness and his recovery over that last season, it seemed reasonable to believe it would be the last time Toews would wear any NHL uniform.

But Toews’ well-documented healing journey over two long years away has brought him back to hockey, back to his native Winnipeg, and back to those dirty areas around the net and in the corners where he made his living for all those years in Chicago. The colors are unfamiliar, but the hallmarks are all there — the heavy stride, the savvy stick, the fiery facial expressions contorted with concentration. A step slower, perhaps, but still Jonathan Toews. Still pretty darn good.

It’s been a remarkable story, perhaps underplayed league-wide because it’s been tucked away in Manitoba, far from the spotlight. Remember, Toews’ comeback bid was greeted with a heavy dose of skepticism back in March when he made his intentions clear. After he signed with the Jets, the hockey world wondered if he’d even make it out of training camp.

So did Toews, from time to time.

“I’ve always been pretty confident that my game is in there,” he said. “I watch hockey and I can still see things that I did well, and things that I understood about the game — things that a lot of young players with tons of skill and tons of energy, flying all over the ice, still have to learn. I had confidence I could go in and contribute. But a little fear, a little doubt will creep in once in a while. In a way, it’s a good motivating factor, to keep you grounded.”

Toews talks a lot about that these days: staying grounded, living in the moment, smelling the roses. That was never his strong suit as a player in Chicago. He’d take a bad shift back with him to the bench and chew out his linemates. He’d take a bad game home with him and spend the night staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping. He’d dwell on the negative, stew on it, even as he was winning championships and gold medals and the Conn Smythe and Selke trophies.

His time away from the game forced him to see things differently. Or, at least, to try to see things differently.

“The struggle is to walk the line of appreciating how far I’ve been able to come and acknowledging how difficult that journey has been to get to this point, to be patient and allow the process to keep unfolding,” he said. “You score a goal and it’s a good feeling, and you want to go out and score again the next game. When that doesn’t happen, those old expectations and frustrations set in. You have to catch yourself and take a second.”

Those expectations always weighed heavily on Toews in Chicago — particularly as he got older and the team got worse. It’s the primary reason he didn’t even consider the Blackhawks as an option when he decided to make his comeback. He wanted to start again, free of the history and encumbrances that came with being Jonathan Toews, captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. The hill he was climbing was steep enough without having to carry all that on his back.

Those last few years in Chicago took their toll emotionally, Toews said. He saw Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane get traded, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford retire. New players would sign with the Blackhawks and Toews would embrace them and work with them to show them the ropes, to connect with them, “but they were in one year and out the next year,” he said.

The team was going in one direction while Toews was desperately — futilely — trying to drag it in another. It wasn’t ideal for either side, and so they parted ways. Amicably, but painfully all the same.

“There’s definitely — I don’t know if prestige is the right word, but it’s pretty cool to be that guy that ultimately was a cornerstone of a team his entire career,” he said. “That’s something you take pride in. But it’s pro sports, right? You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do for your career sometimes, and go where the opportunities are. It’s nice to be the guy who didn’t switch sides. There’s an aspect of that in my mind. But it is what it is. The Hawks wanted to move on. It was probably best for me, too.”

Toews could have been that one-jersey player, a Chicago institution. He could have just skated off into the sunset after that final game, his on-ice legacy secure. But the lost time gnawed at him. He was robbed of three seasons by chronic inflammatory response syndrome and symptoms of long COVID, not to mention another half season by the 2012 lockout. He won’t reach 500 goals and he’s still 112 points shy of 1,000. Yes, his two-way brilliance and the reverence he commands in the hockey world as a heart-and-soul leader make him a shoo-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Toews left Chicago unsatisfied. His career felt abridged, incomplete. He still had something to prove — to himself, to the Blackhawks, to the hockey world at large.

So here he is, Jonathan Toews, Winnipeg Jet: a depth scorer and a middle-six center without a letter on his sweater. It’s all so … odd. For Toews more than anybody. And the surreality of it all hits him at the strangest moments.

On Sunday night, in the home locker room at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Toews found his mind wandering to what his pregame routine was like in Chicago. Head equipment manager Troy Parchman knew exactly how he liked his skates. Mike Gapski and the athletic training staff knew exactly what he wanted and when. Even massage therapist Pawel Prylinski was always in sync with Toews’ needs.

It’s not like that in Winnipeg. Not yet, at least.

“You’re in a whole new ecosystem with different guys and different staff,” he said. “So you just slowly find your way.”

There are other differences, of course. Toews is recognized in Winnipeg a lot more than he was in Chicago. After Sunday’s game, his parents and a few friends were waiting for Toews back at his house. That didn’t happen in Chicago. There will be regular family dinners once the Jets’ hectic early-season schedule lets up a bit. Toews was a full-time Chicago resident for most of his career, so it’s been jarring to come back home and have it feel like … well, home.

“I couldn’t have imagined a better reception from the people here,” he said. “I think they’re really proud and happy to have one of their own playing for the Jets. It’s a wild thing — after being in Chicago all those years, after a while, Chicago feels small. But it was easy to forget how small Winnipeg really is, and how everyone pretty much knows each other.”

It couldn’t be going much better on the ice, either. Toews has two goals and three assists in nine games. He’s not the dominant two-way force he once was, but he still looks like he belongs. He can hang. He bounced back quickly from an early injury, and his body has so far held up well under the relentless stresses of the NHL season. He feels good — physically, mentally, emotionally. And he said he’s certain he’ll keep getting better, that he’ll be “a completely different player” by the time the postseason — Toews’ time — rolls around.

He’s no longer dwelling on the lost years, the lost milestones, the lost time. He’s just grateful for this time, right now.

So, no, the Toews that lines up against the Blackhawks on Thursday won’t be the same player who used to line up for the Blackhawks. Not even close.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all.

“It definitely is a thought that pops in my head once in a while,” he said of the lost years. “But that comes with the attitude of ‘Why me?’ and I’m trying my best not to think that way anymore. I’m grateful for the challenges I’ve had these last few years, because ultimately, there’s more to life than hockey. Besides, I don’t want to be one of those guys who just hangs his hat on the goals and assists and numbers you can see on a sheet of paper at the end of his career. Quite frankly, there’s more to the game than that. Right now, it’s cool to be in a new environment, with new guys, in a new organization, wearing a new jersey. It’s fun and it’s exciting. I’m happy I’m here in Winnipeg and I’m super excited to see how things go this season. I’m just extremely grateful for everything.

“And hopefully, there’s a few more milestones coming up.”

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