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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets forward Jonathan Toews played all 82 games this season in his return to the league after past health issues related to COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if they need a specific shoutout at this point. They know who they are, but yeah, it was really great,\u201d said Toews. \u201cEven when I signed here last summer, the reception from friends, family, people I hadn\u2019t talked to or seen in years was really special and something that I didn\u2019t think about or didn\u2019t really expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to reconnect with some childhood friends and people I hadn\u2019t seen in a long time, where I\u2019m flipping pucks to kids in warmups and all of a sudden I see the dad behind the kid catch the puck, and I look at him and I\u2019m like, \u2018I went to high school with that guy.\u2019 It happened once or twice, I\u2019m not going to lie. It was cool to see the pride of people I\u2019ve known for a long time, and that means a lot to me as well, so I appreciate all the support over the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toews, 37, was one of the last players off the ice on Thursday after the regular-season finale and he admitted to taking some additional time to soak in the scene, whether it was during the pre-game warmup to well after the final buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n
What was going through his mind as he skated off the ice?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good question \u2014 I see what you\u2019re getting at there,\u201d said Toews, who reiterated his gratitude for the opportunity to play for his hometown team. \u201cI\u2019ve been saying it all along, I\u2019m just taking it one day at a time and trying to enjoy it even when it\u2019s not going great, you\u2019re not feeling great. You take the good with the bad, that\u2019s part of being an NHL hockey player. It\u2019s been so special.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a moment like that, I\u2019m just trying to soak it in. You never know when your next game is going to be your last. And I\u2019m at that point in my career where it\u2019s a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
When does Toews expect to have some clarity about next season?<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably in the next couple of weeks to a month,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously I\u2019ve got a lot to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toews, who is his own harshest critic, conceded that things didn\u2019t go quite as smoothly as he\u2019d hoped when it came to his on-ice performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely feels like a huge accomplishment. I\u2019m very proud that I went after it and did what I could to get back to this level and to play in the NHL again. That being said, I think there were parts of my game that really struggled early on,\u201d said Toews. \u201cThe one thing I really struggled with was the speed and playing fast with energy every night. I think it was a challenging year for everyone in the league with the schedule. So including that, it\u2019s not easy for everyone, especially given the fact that I hadn\u2019t been playing for quite a while. So to answer your question, I\u2019m super happy and proud that I went after the dream of playing in the NHL again.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the same time you have expectations in your mind of what kind of player you can be and how you want to contribute to your team. And obviously I wasn\u2019t anywhere close to that, unfortunately. But it\u2019s disappointing and sometimes you feel like you want to be giving more, helping your team.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a hope when he signed that Toews might fill the second-line centre role, but he finished the season with 11 goals and 29 points while suiting up in all 82 games and finishing second in the NHL in face-off percentage at 62.1 per cent, which left him just behind Claude Giroux at 63.1 per cent.<\/p>\n
Playing in 82 games was something he hadn\u2019t done since the 2018-19 season and was just the third time he accomplished the feat in his 16 NHL seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember my parents kind of giving me a hard time for a couple of seasons where I was missing the last game or two of the year, and my mom said something like, \u2018you\u2019re going to regret it if you don\u2019t play all 82 \u2014 it looks better on your HockeyDB,\u2019\u201d said Toews. \u201cShe might have been right about that one, but yeah, it feels good. I think you count yourself lucky, too, if you can get through a season like this without getting any serious injuries. One of the things I\u2019ve always prided myself in as well has been my preparation, so it\u2019s nice to see that pay off in that way, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets forward Jonathan Toews (left) embraces teammate Cole Perfetti after the club\u2019s regular-season finale at Canada Life Centre Thursday night.<\/p>\n Toews has always been someone whose value isn\u2019t solely reliant on statistics and one of the main reasons he was brought into the organization was to pass along some of his experience and championship pedigree to a group that was trying to get over the top.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting to add a guy like that, a future Hall of Famer, he\u2019s won pretty much everything there is to win,\u201d said Jets captain Adam Lowry. \u201cHe\u2019s an unbelievable person, he\u2019s an unbelievable leader and he\u2019s a guy that a lot of us looked up to growing up. I make him sound old. But watching him come into the league and playing against him for many years, we were able to learn a lot from him. I think having his leadership in the room is invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n Not being able to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs might be one of the reasons Toews considers delaying hanging up the blades for one more season.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we fell short of our goal,\u201d said Toews. \u201cAt this time last year, thinking about playing hockey and gearing up to try and make a comeback, obviously I was dreaming of playing in front of a whiteout, and I\u2019ve been dreaming about that since I was a kid, and unfortunately it didn\u2019t work out that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Toews is the Jets\u2019 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is handed out annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, dedication to the sport of hockey and sportsmanship.<\/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\t\t\t Jets centre Mark Scheifele said having Toews around is a valuable resource and he believes he\u2019s someone that can still contribute moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been an absolute treat to be around, a treat to learn from, a treat to have dinner with, to pick his brain on so many things,\u201d said Scheifele. \u201cHe was fantastic for us. And coming back from being off for two years playing every single game, 82 games, that\u2019s not an easy thing to do. Not many people do it in a season. That\u2019s pretty incredible.<\/p>\n \u201cTo see the work that he\u2019s put in, the diligence that he has every day to be at his best. I\u2019ve loved having around him. I hope he keeps playing.\u201d<\/p>\n If this is the end of the line for Toews, he will finish his career as one of the most decorated hockey players that was born in Manitoba, with a resum\u00e9 that should eventually land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/kenwiebe<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Ken Wiebe Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Ken 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 Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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