Jonathan Toews said he is not ready to step away from hockey.
“I’m not satisfied the way things ended in Chicago,” Toews told Mark Lazerus in comments published Monday in 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.
“I want to be able to step away from the game having said that I’ve given it my all.”
The 36-year-old last played for the Chicago Blackhawks on April 13, 2023. That morning, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said their longtime captain and pending unrestricted free agent would not be re-signed that offseason.
The game capped a two-season stretch where Toews was limited to 124 games after Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome kept him out of the entirety of the 2020-21 season and from Feb. 21-April 1, 2023, to deal with the effects of long COVID-19.
Toews didn’t sign with another team, and though he hasn’t played since he never officially announced his retirement from hockey.
On Nov. 21 of last year, Toews shared on Instagram that he spent about five weeks in India for what he called “a bit of a healing journey.” The Athletic reported he went surfing in Costa Rica and for the past couple of weeks has skated in Arizona.
“Everyone just assumed I was retired, but I think in my mind, I wasn’t too sure for a long time,” Toews said. “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.”
Nicknamed “Captain Serious,” Toews played 1,067 games for Chicago, getting 883 points (372 goals, 511 assists), winning the Stanley Cup three times (2010, ’13, ’15), the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2010) and a Selke Trophy given to the best defensive forward (2013).
He also won gold with Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2014 Sochi Olympics as was named of the 100 Greatest NHL Players during the League’s Centennial Celebration in 2017.
“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.”
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