CALGARY – There are friendships in hockey, and then there are lifelines.
Tethered to one another in ways that transcended locker room banter and shared ice time, theirs is a bond forged not just in the intensity of competition, but in the quiet moments between battles, when the weight of the world presses hardest on a man’s soul.
As emotional leaders of a dynasty, the driving force behind three Stanley Cups in Chicago, as well as Olympic gold for Canada, they always knew they could count on one another in good times and bad.
So when the two met rink-side in Calgary earlier this week, sharing smiles and plenty of conversation at the conclusion of the Winnipeg Jets’ morning skate, you can bet talk of Toews’ healthy return to the NHL was as much a source of pride and excitement for one, as the other.
“It was just good to see him back out there,” said Seabrook, who joined the Calgary Flames’ player development department this fall.
“I hope he has an amazing season and gives Winnipeg a good chance to win hockey games. But for me, it’s just seeing him with a smile on his face and seeing him happy and being out there again, because that’s the way he deserves to go out.”
Support like that was vital in helping Toews through his two-year absence from the game as he battled long COVID, which robbed him of breath, energy and the identity he’d built as one of hockey’s fiercest competitors. It helped the first ballot Hall of Famer become a beacon of hope for millions of others suffering from COVID complications.
Through it all, Seabrook was there, not just as a friend, but as a sounding board, a confidant and a believer.
“I never thought he was retired, I’ll put it that way,” said Seabrook, whose Flames face Toews and the Jets in Winnipeg Friday night.
“I knew what he was going through. I knew the battles. I had a lot of conversations when he couldn’t breathe about, ‘what are we doing here? Are we trying to get healthy? Are we coming back to play?’ There was never a definitive answer.”
Deep down, Seabrook knew that the man he dubbed Mr. Serious (later morphed to Captain Serious) would find a way to come through, as the man with 69 career game-winners did so many times with the Blackhawks.
That support meant everything to Toews as his well-being, let alone his career, hung in the balance.
“Right from my rookie season living with him, he’s just one of those guys that cares so much about his teammates,” said Toews, hours before scoring his first goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Calgary Monday.
“It showed up in the way he played, and just the way he carried himself every day.”
Both known for sacrificing their bodies throughout lengthy careers, Toews said Seabrook was equally as willing to throw his body in front of a puck as he was a teammate’s emotional storm, like he did in one of the most iconic moments of the Blackhawks’ 2013 playoff run.
On the verge of going down 3-1 against Detroit in the second round, Toews took three straight minor penalties, allowing the Red Wings to score twice. The captain was unravelling.
It was then, in a scene that still gets replayed in Chicago sports lore, Seabrook skated over to the penalty box, stepped in, put his hand on Toews’ head, and his face in Toews’ grill.
Not to berate, but to calm.
“I don’t remember what he said specifically,” said Toews of an exchange in which the seething captain said nothing while staring blankly ahead.
“I think he just recognized I was having a bit of a meltdown. There was a lot of pressure that year. I wasn’t scoring a lot and wasn’t contributing. And at the time, I was like, ‘dude, get out of my face. This is so embarrassing and humiliating, like, you’re making it worse.’ But afterwards, I look back, I see where he’s coming from, and he’s just trying to just be like, ‘Dude, chill. We got this.’”
They did. Seabrook scored the overtime winner in Game 7 to eliminate Detroit, extending their run through L.A. and then Boston, en route to their second Stanley Cup win in four years. They won it again two years later.
But the real victory was in that box, a moment that summed up their relationship better than any stat line ever could.
“I think that, in a nutshell, kind of shows what kind of guy he is – it really sums it up,” said Toews, 37, who was also there for “Seebs” through a series of hip and shoulder surgeries that led to Seabrook’s retirement in 2021.
“He was always that kind of even-keel guy. He didn’t really have any bad days. I wish I could say the same for myself, more of a roller coaster ride. But he was always there to pick you up and talk you out of it when you’re kind of spiralling or not feeling your best.”
“I looked up to him in a lot of ways. One of my closest friends, and a guy I got to play with all those years. It’s definitely special to look back on our memories we shared together.”
Memories they can continue building off the ice, knowing how much each one’s happiness means to the other.