NEW YORK (AP) — reached another milestone in his NHL comeback on Monday, recording his first point in nearly 2 1/2 years.
“I guess when you put it that way it’s nice to get the monkey off your back,” Toews said after he and the Winnipeg Jets 5-2.
Toews helped set up Nino Niederreiter’s power-play goal in the Jets’ third game of the season and picked up a secondary assist. Toews last got on the scoresheet April 14, 2023, in his final game with Chicago before stepping away from hockey because of health issues.
“Felt like I had a few chances to score, too,” Toews said. “Hopefully find a way to get that first goal here, too. I think ultimately you just concentrate on making plays, getting around the net, being more confident when the puck comes to you in those dangerous areas. It’s a numbers game. Just got to keep creating and find ways to find the back of the net.”
Toews, now 37, chose his hometown team to make his return after missing the past two seasons because of the effects of . He said he’s feeling good physically while getting up to speed.
“Still finding my way a little bit,” Toews said. “It takes time to become second-nature. And then you have to find your game. You’ve got to go out there and relax a little bit. The first couple games I felt like I was getting tired late in shifts, because you’re just over-skating everything and over-working yourself. You’d rather be safe than sorry, and sometimes less is more.”
Toews captained Chicago to the Stanley Cup three times, in 2010, ‘13 and ’15. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP during the franchise’s first championship run since 1961 and in 2016 was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league’s 100-year history.
“He’s worked hard to come back and feel good, and I think that’s the most important thing is he’s feeling good,” longtime Blackhawks teammate and current Detroit Red Wings winger Patrick Kane said last month. “I’m really happy that he’s back.”
Toews also helped Canada win two Olympic gold medals. Those tournaments and world championships are the only times he and Kane have faced off against each other since breaking in together with the Blackhawks in ’07.
Assuming they’re healthy, that is set to change on Dec. 31 when Winnipeg visits Detroit. Kane already asked coach Todd McLellan to put him out for the opening faceoff against the former teammate with whom he’ll forever be linked.
Asked before camp opened if he thought Toews — nicknamed “Captain Serious” for his low-key demeanor — has mellowed over the years, Kane shook his head.
“I don’t think so,” Kane said. “I’m sure he’s pissed off about something. Someone said something about him, or he’s always got to prove someone wrong. That’s a great thing about Johnny. He’s always out to prove something.”
Toews is proving he still has it, averaging over 17 minutes of ice time as the Jets’ second-line center. Coach Scott Arniel used Toews on the penalty kill against the Islanders after forward Cole Koepke got injured blocking a shot, but the staff is trying not to overplay him.
“He’s getting better every day,” Arniel said. “That’s what we talked about, him and I, that it wasn’t going to come in one fell swoop. Every day, he’s gotten better and better and I think he’s recognizing just how to kind of play the game with his hockey smarts.
“He does veteran things. He does elite things, whether it’s using his body or his stick or his positioning and you’re just seeing him getting more and more comfortable: getting comfortable with our team and how we play but also his linemates and different people, as well.”
The next task is a long shot bid to make Canada’s Olympic team one more time in NHL players’ return to the Games in Milan in February. He’d also like to help the Jets win the Cup for the first time, and his teammates love having Toews around.
“It’s the leadership he has, the things he’s done in this league, and there’s nothing that he hasn’t done,” Tanner Pearson said. “It goes a long way. (He) helps us along. He’s very vocal in the room, says the right things.”
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