{"id":230007,"date":"2025-10-21T13:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/230007\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T13:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:19:07","slug":"toews-starting-to-feel-comfortable-playing-with-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/230007\/","title":{"rendered":"Toews starting to feel comfortable playing with Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALGARY \u2014 Jonathan Toews<\/a>\u2019 first NHL goal in more than 2 1\/2 years was a pivotal one on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Toews\u2019 power play marker at 2:41 of the third period came off a deflection of a Neal Pionk<\/a> point shot to tie the game 1-1. Mark Scheifele<\/a> notched the game-winner at 15:06 as the Jets rallied for a 2-1 decision over the struggling Calgary Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number 1 thing was the chemistry and the energy in the locker-room that this team has, that was a big selling point, and playing for a team like this that can contend and have a chance to win a Stanley Cup,\u201d said Toews, playing his 16th season in the NHL.<\/p>\n

After missing the past two seasons due to health issues, the longtime Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> star signed a one-year deal in the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of all that, to do it in my hometown in Winnipeg, that\u2019s a big part of it too,\u201d said Toews. \u201cSo when I really came down to it, I couldn\u2019t really see myself wearing any other sweater.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, so good with his new team. After Winnipeg dropped its season opener, 5-4 to the Dallas Stars<\/a>, the Jets have reeled off five consecutive victories with Toews looking more and more comfortable every night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese last few games, I feel like I\u2019m really starting to settle in, and just think less,\u201d said Toews. \u201cNow that some of the systems, and the play calling, and the draws, and what we do off faceoffs, all those little details of our team game have finally become second nature, I can go out there and maybe not overthink but start to relax with the puck and feel a little bit more comfortable and not as afraid to make mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then from there, the offence comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toews\u2019 last goal was on April 13, 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis game has been getting better every game,\u201d said Jets\u2019 coach Scott Arniel<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s probably a big weight off his shoulders, but at the end of the day, we\u2019re not looking at these early games, we\u2019re just trying to get him up and running and playing and being comfortable with how we play, and him feeling good about himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to logging more than 18 minutes in ice time, the 37-year-old was a deadly 15-6 at the faceoff circle against the Flames, bumping his season win percentage to a stellar 63.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a huge asset for us. We weren\u2019t the best faceoff team over the years and he\u2019s helped us in that area, and it\u2019s helped everybody pick up their game,\u201d said Arniel.<\/p>\n

But the intangibles the three-time Stanley Cup champion brings extends far beyond that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat leadership, the hockey sense that he has. He\u2019s got a great mind for the game. You can hear him when he talks to his linemates, talks to his teammates. He has drive,\u201d said Arniel. \u201cAll that stuff we\u2019ve seen in the past, but now he\u2019s real good for our group in the sense that he passes on that knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this stage in his career, slotted in as the club\u2019s No. 2 centre, Toews is no longer relied upon to lead the offence. The team has Mark Scheifele<\/a> and Kyle Connor<\/a> to lead the way on that front, both of whom are off to a superb start.<\/p>\n

Scheifele (7-3-10) and Connor (3-6-9) have both opened the season with six-game point streaks. Scheifele has goals in five straight games to pace the club with seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game nowadays, there\u2019s no space, it\u2019s so fast, but they just have that connection. And a guy like Gabe (Vilardi) goes out there too and just finds that empty space. He\u2019s such a good catalyst for those two. So it\u2019s fun to watch that line,\u201d said Toews.<\/p>\n

Scheifele welcomes Toews\u2019 veteran presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy that wants to get back in the rhythm of things. He wants to excel each and every game and I think that\u2019s the coolest thing,\u201d said Scheifele. \u201cA guy with as much experience as he has is still wanting to grow his game each and every night. He fits right into this group and we\u2019re lucky to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toews sees great things ahead for his new club.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I had heard was that they\u2019ve got an experienced group, and you saw what they did in the playoffs last year, and experience like that only continues to build, and especially their success in the regular season,\u201d said Toews.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2025.<\/p>\n

Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALGARY \u2014 Jonathan Toews\u2019 first NHL goal in more than 2 1\/2 years was a pivotal one on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-230007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}