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![\"Angelina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3803555_web1_04b8a4dd40e2428787e4ef2bb8dafe4f.jpg\")
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Angelina Katsanis \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
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While Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Jonathan Toews (left) said it doesn\u2019t matter to him what line he plays on as long as he\u2019s helping the team, the forward admitted being demoted to the fourth line was a little bit of a check to his ego.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fast forward to the present, and history shows Toews was immediately given second-line duties on a team coming off its best season in franchise history.<\/p>\n
But now \u2014 two months after his NHL comeback story began \u2014 there was Toews down on the fourth line. And not even at his natural position of centre, but on the right wing beside Morgan Barron and Cole Koepke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always prided myself on the way I play at both ends of the rink and playing a two-way game as a centreman.\u201d<\/p>\n
So how, exactly, is that going over?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a little part of it where it\u2019s a little bit of a check to your ego,\u201d Toews told the Free Press prior to puck drop against the Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think I\u2019ve always prided myself on the way I play at both ends of the rink and playing a two-way game as a centreman, so the second you kind of see your name on the wing, it\u2019s a bit of an adjustment.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is obviously not how anyone drew things up, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And the slumping Jets simply can\u2019t afford to wait any longer to see if the struggling Toews can re-discover his game, at least not in a prominent role.<\/p>\n
Arniel said Toews took the demotion like a champ.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the part about Jonathan, he\u2019s been fantastic about everything. Our very first conversation, way, way back in the summer, was just, \u2018I want to fit in and I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win,\u2019\u201d Arniel said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Darryl Dyck \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Jonathan Toews has just one point over his last 12 games.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t envision him being where he is right now. I\u2019m just trying to get four lines going and I\u2019m trying to get him going.\u201d<\/p>\n Toews has just one point \u2014 a secondary assist \u2014 over his last 12 games. His nine points (three goals, six assists) in 28 games are the fewest of any NHL team\u2019s second-line centre except for the last-place Vancouver Canucks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just taking a little bit of the wear and tear of (Toews) having to defend all of the time in our end of the rink,\u201d Arniel said of the shift to the wing.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, he\u2019s open. For me, with Jonathan, he just wants us, first, to have success. The biggest thing is us winning, that\u2019s what he cares most about. However it comes about, wherever he is and the part he plays, however large or small. Because that\u2019s what he wants first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jets \u2014 and Toews himself \u2014 have always insisted this relationship was never about how he plays in October, November or even December. The hope was for him to keep building, with the payoff coming in the spring, where his three Stanley Cups might help lead to a lengthy playoff run.<\/p>\n There\u2019s just one potential problem.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get in,\u201d said Arniel. And right now, the Jets are on the outside looking in, and a lack of production from Toews along with plenty of his ice-cold teammates is a big reason why.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Jonathan, he just wants us, first, to have success. The biggest thing is us winning, that\u2019s what he cares most about.\u201d<\/p>\n The original plan was for Toews to anchor Winnipeg\u2019s second line with Cole Perfetti and fellow free-agent signing Gustav Nyquist on the wings. Against the Stars, none of them were in the top six: Toews was on the fourth line, Perfetti was moved to the third line with Vlad Namestnikov and Tanner Pearson, and Nyquist was a healthy scratch for a fourth straight game.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless of (where) your name is on that that board and the lineup you just want to go out there and help your team, and I think we\u2019ve been working hard as a group to break through and find some offence,\u201d sad Toews.<\/p>\n The 37-year-old admitted the NHL game has changed considerably during his two-year, health-related hiatus, which has caught him by surprise at times.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone on the ice is so skilled nowadays and the game is so fast. There\u2019s not a lot of room,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Karl DeBlaker \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Right now, the Winnipeg Jets are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in and a lack of secondary scoring on the team is a major reason why.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s not just when I have the puck and getting my feet moving and creating space for myself, it\u2019s playing a little bit better without the puck and being a little bit more of a threat to be a shooter in certain areas when my teammates or my linemates have the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n Toews insisted he\u2019s feeling \u201cbetter and better\u201d physically with each passing game, even if the results aren\u2019t showing. All of which can take an emotional toll on a proud athlete not used to any type of struggle.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s a little bit easier to not get wrapped up in your own thing when the team\u2019s going through it. You tend to find a way to gravitate to the energy that the locker room needs when we\u2019re all going through something like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone on the ice is so skilled nowadays and the game is so fast. There\u2019s not a lot of room.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just trying to be a positive, lighthearted energy that\u2019s showing up grateful to play hockey and grateful to go to work and to be able to do it in a locker room like this every day. You keep reminding yourself of the big picture of what things look like and what they could look like at the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n A little reality check never hurts either \u2014 such as the one he and his teammates got on Monday afternoon when they made their annual holiday visit to the Children\u2019s Hospital and Children\u2019s Rehabilitation Centre.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s easy to get caught up and focus on your problems or the things that you feel aren\u2019t going perfectly well in your life. But then when you go visit people who are going through some real stuff, it snaps you out of that immediately,\u201d said Toews.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t \u201cIt definitely gives perspective. I think it gives you a little bit more inspiration, too, to keep counting your blessings instead of focusing on the negative and just going from there. I think it was a good thing that we did that. Obviously a lot of guys in this locker room understand the influence that they have, so it\u2019s pretty cool to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/mikemcintyre<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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