Jonathan Toews is serious about his NHL comeback attempt: ‘There’s something left in the tank’

Jonathan Toews figured he’d pick up surfing quickly. After all, he’s a world-class athlete who spent his whole life playing a sport that hinges on balance, core strength and raw athleticism.

Costa Rica had other ideas.

“No one tells you that when you’re learning how to surf, it’s not really surfing,” Toews said. “It’s more like, go out there and paddle your ass off, and struggle for your life for hours and hours and hours before you catch any legitimate waves and truly get the hang of it. I’m pretty pumped about where I’m at skill-wise now, though. I can catch waves pretty regularly, a little more effortless.”

This has been Toews’ life for nearly two years now — gallivanting about the globe, living the dream as the ultimate beach bum. A few months in Costa Rica. A few months in Bali. A spiritual and physical journey in India.

Toews seems to be in a good place both mentally and physically. He sounds rested, upbeat, proud of himself for prioritizing his health over his hockey. He’s a free agent in life, able to go anywhere and do anything with the literal fortune he made in hockey. He turns 37 next month, a young man by any reasonable measure, with his whole life in front of him. And behind him is the kind of glory most athletes can’t even fathom — three Stanley Cup rings with the Chicago Blackhawks, two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a Selke Trophy. One thousand and sixty-seven NHL games, with 137 more in the playoffs. He’s a sure-fire, first-ballot Hockey Hall of Famer. He’s done it all. He has nothing left to prove.

It begs the question: Why has he been putting himself through grueling conditioning skates on an ice rink in Arizona the last couple of weeks?

Well, you remember the fire that made him so intense that his Blackhawks teammates dubbed him Captain Serious? The fire in that steely glare he shot at teammates, at opponents, at referees? The fire that drove him to heights few players ever reach?

That fire still burns. And surfing’s just not going to cut it. Not yet, at least.

“I’m not satisfied the way things ended in Chicago,” Toews told The Athletic. “It’s not about proving anything. It’s just that there’s something left in the tank and I want to explore that. I want to go have fun, have a blast, play with passion. But at the same time, I still have some high-level hockey left. I want to be able to step away from the game having said that I’ve given it my all. And I still think there’s something left to give.”

Yes, Toews is dead serious — is he ever not? — about making an NHL comeback next fall, more than two years after his last NHL game, two years after his failing body finally gave out. Plagued by Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and symptoms of long COVID, Toews fought like hell for two seasons after sitting out the 2020-21 campaign with symptoms so severe he sometimes couldn’t get out of bed. But he struggled to stay in shape, struggled with the grind of the NHL season, struggled with the weight of his legacy and the pressure of propping up a Blackhawks franchise in free-fall.

But he never retired. Not officially, and not in his mind. And after what he called his “hiatus,” he’s feeling the best he’s felt in several years — physically and mentally — and he’s ready to give the NHL one last shot. It’s a decision he didn’t come to lightly but came to on his own. Asked if he had a doctor’s blessing, or if he’s even going up against medical advice, Toews demurred.

“I don’t think there’s any expert out there that has a perfect bead on what’s going on (with me), and I think in my situation, just going off of my own feeling and my own instinct, the time away was definitely good for me,” Toews said. “If this wasn’t in the cards and it didn’t feel right, I wouldn’t be pushing myself to do anything in that sense. I’m really proud of the time I took away from hockey.

“Everyone just assumed I was retired, but I think in my mind, I wasn’t too sure for a long time. I just needed to not think about it, to just give myself time and space. … Now I’m really missing hockey, and I think that’s the biggest sign. I really miss the game and feel I have a whole different perspective and a new lease on things.”

Since playing his last game with the Blackhawks on April 13, 2023, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Flyers at the United Center in which he scored the 372nd goal of his career, Toews had skated exactly once — as part of Marián Hossa’s charity exhibition farewell game in Slovakia in August of 2023. When he got back to the States last month after his travel odyssey, he called up Blackhawks head equipment manager Troy Parchman and asked him to send his gear to Arizona.

“I gave it away to charity,” Parchman told Toews.

“Bulls— you did,” Toews fired back.

Of course Parchman had held onto the gear. It was tucked away in the back of the Blackhawks’ practice facility somewhere, sitting in the same bag where Toews left it more than a year and a half ago. When Toews laced up and took the ice in Arizona for the first time less than two weeks ago, he was pleasantly surprised how naturally skating came back to him. Like riding a bike, he said.

The first week, he did some skills work. Last week, he went hard on conditioning skates. He’s most looking forward to skating with some old friends and teammates in the summer, once they’re done with their seasons. That’s when he’ll know for sure how feasible this whole comeback thing really is.

Toews admitted the conditioning skates left him a little tired, saying “the legs don’t have the pop I’m looking for yet.” But he also used another word for them: “exhilarating.”

More than anything, Toews was struck by how much fun he was having. His last two NHL seasons were incredibly challenging, which was reflected in his production — 68 points in 124 games for a team on the verge of tearing it all down.

(Source: NHL.com)

“I just remembered how poorly I felt when I was finishing my last year in Chicago,” he said. “Now I go out on the ice and it’s a new sense of energy and lightness, and I’m just really excited to be out there. I was just remembering how much I was battling through every day and now it’s a whole different story. That contrast is really motivating and really exciting for me. I really do feel like I’ve done the work, and I’m in a different place. It’s just a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to every time I get to go on the ice right now, and that’s a really good feeling.”

Toews hasn’t been in contact with any NHL teams yet. He never had any intention of returning ahead of Friday’s trade deadline to try to get on a playoff roster this spring; that wasn’t realistic. Toews joked that he’s never been an unrestricted free agent before, so he doesn’t even know how this whole process works. While interest would be high among GMs and coaches to have a legend like Toews in the locker room and, if healthy enough, in their lineup, he’s got a long way to go.

But one thing’s clear: If he returns, it won’t be with the Blackhawks. Chicago GM Kyle Davidson wanted to cut ties with both Toews and Patrick Kane to allow the next generation of Blackhawks to flourish without living in their shadows. However Blackhawks fans feel about that decision, Toews understands it. He talked at length about how much leeway he and Kane had so they could find their own paths without any pressure in a city that had long since fallen out of love with hockey, and how Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks’ other young players deserve a shot to have the same, impossible though it may be.

He said there’s not a veteran in the league that knows what it’s like to be Bedard, “because nobody’s ever dealt with the hype he’s dealt with.” If Toews returned, the circus would be that much bigger.

Toews just wants to play hockey again. He doesn’t want to have to be Jonathan Toews, Captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, Iconic Leader of Men again, with all the pomp and weight that comes with it.

“I honestly do think that chapter is closed,” he said. “I respect what Kyle and the organization is doing. They decided a few years ago to move in a different direction and I’m all for that. … I don’t think that’s a fit for me anymore. I want to go somewhere and have a chance to be myself and play the game. I know my best hockey’s going to come through that way, instead of trying to be in that role where I’m still living with the pressure of our Cup-winning days. That era’s over.”

In an interview with GQ in late December that went into great detail about what he deemed his “healing journey” in India, Toews casually mentioned that he was contemplating a comeback bid. It raised eyebrows around the hockey world and even in Toews’ inner circle. Nobody knew how seriously to take it.

Yes, 21 players aged 37 or older have played in the NHL this year, and a handful more will turn 37 before the season ends. The Blackhawks have two 37-year-olds on the roster right now: Nick Foligno (who took over the captaincy from Toews) and Alec Martinez. There’s nothing unusual about a 37-year-old playing in the NHL. But after two years away? After missing three of the last five seasons because of chronic health issues?

No matter how many people are pulling for him, Toews’ comeback attempt — now that it’s real, now that it’s on the record — surely will be met with equal parts curiosity and skepticism.

“I totally understand that,” he said. “I feel like I’ve already felt that from some people when I tell them what my intentions are. Like, I get that feeling from them, ‘Oh, are you for real? You’re not joking?’ I realize it’s a lot of time away, especially watching games now and seeing that the game is so fast and so young. But I think back to my younger years in the NHL when you don’t know what you’re getting into. You’ve got to be kind of delusional sometimes, and not think too hard about what you’re up against. You’ve just got to go do it and the body slowly adapts.”

And what if the comeback bid falls short? What if the legs never find that pop again? What if the spirit is willing but the flesh remains weak? Can Toews ever feel satisfied, knowing how many good seasons he lost to his health issues? Can he find solace in the championships, the trophies, the Hall of Fame, the respect just about every player in the league holds for him?

Can he live with that fire that still burns deep inside without playing another NHL game? Can the attempt itself put out that fire?

Can surfing suffice?

“Only one way to find out,” he said. “Gotta give it my best shot.”

(Top photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)