NEW YORK (AP) — Jonathan Toews reached another milestone in his NHL comeback on Monday, recording his first point in nearly 2 1/2 years.
Toews helped set up Nino Niederreiter's power-play goal at the New York Islanders in the Winnipeg 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.
“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, now 37, chose his hometown team to make his return after missing the past two seasons because of the effects of chronic immune response syndrome and long COVID.
Before that, 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.
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 nearly 17 minutes of ice time as the Jets' second-line center. 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.
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