Jonathan Toews’ Chicago Blackhawks teammates feel a mix of loss and optimism as they push on without him
Patrick Kane has a lot going on with himself right now — like the daily trade tracker — but some of his thoughts are devoted to the health of longtime Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
Toews announced Sunday he’s stepping away from the team indefinitely because of lingering symptoms from long COVID-19 and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome (CIRS).
Kane, like other Hawks, expressed sympathy.
“Obviously we’re supporting him and what he has going on and hoping he gets better,” he said. “There’s definitely been flashes this year where he feels good and you can see it on the ice.
“We’re with him, we’re supporting him and we let him know that, and hopefully he does what he has to do to feel better and be able to play the way he wants.”
Philipp Kurashev said he and others in the locker room are cheering Toews on and hoping he returns soon.
“I feel bad for him because he’s going through so much,” Kurashev said before Tuesday night’s 3-2 shootout victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at the United Center. “And I hope he recovers as soon as he can and hopefully he feels even better than before all of that.”
Kurashev and Taylor Raddysh have logged the most 5-on-5 minutes with Toews — 293, which remains a team high as a line.
While the stats also show that line was vulnerable defensively, it still leads the Hawks with 104 scoring chances in 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com.
Kurashev has spent 39.2% of his ice time in some combination with Toews at even strength, and together they’ve produced 10 points, according to Dobber Hockey. So Kurashev has a lot of time under Toews’ wing.
“He’s a legend, a Hall of Famer and all that,” Kurashev said. “I’m really grateful I have the opportunity to play on the same team as him and was on the same line with him for most of the year.
“It’s really fun. Hopefully he comes back and I can learn even more from him.”
Caleb Jones echoed others’ sentiments that the Hawks will miss their captain, but “first and foremost you want (him) to be healthy as a human.”
“Just for everyday life, you want to feel good about his health and where he’s at,” Jones said. “So he needs to take whatever time he needs to get healthy. But the impact on our lineup he has with his leadership and his faceoff ability (a team-high 63.3% among Hawks with at least 10 draws) and just the experience he has, it’s been a tough loss.
“But, you know, it’s just a next-man-up kind of mentality. (Jason) Dickinson stepped in pretty well there for a bit and we have a couple other young guys now stepping in to take some minutes, so just kind of fill it in by committee.”
Goalie Alex Stalock thought of Toews’ and Kane’s collective impact, taking stock of the possibility Kane could be traded by the March 3 deadline as well as Toews’ statement that he had “no choice” but to step away for the time being.
“I’ve spent one year with those guys here and you see what they mean to this logo, this city, the fans,” Stalock said. “Man, they’ve done a ton here and it’s fun seeing them every day still in red and black.”
But will Toews wear red and black again, or is he likely done at least for this season?
“We’re hoping that he isn’t,” coach Luke Richardson said, “and personally it’d be great to see him get a grip on things, whatever that is, and feel good about himself and feel healthy and get back here and play and finish off the season with the team.
“He’s the captain of the team. I think the team would love it, I think it’d be good for him and be great for everybody around, like the media and the fans and everybody, to see him back. So we’re just hoping for that and supporting him whatever way we can.”
