Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews remains serious about an NHL comeback at the age of 37 even though he hasn’t played a professional hockey game in almost two years (as per Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). The three-time Stanley Cup Champion has been plagued by health issues for several years now but says he is in a good place both mentally and physically and has even begun skating in Arizona as he begins an attempted comeback. Toews never officially retired when he wrapped up his time in Chicago and refers to his time away from the game as a “hiatus.”
With Toews ready to give hockey one last shot, many people will wonder about potential suitors for his services. One team that he will not play for is the Blackhawks as they have made it clear in the past that they were ready to move on from Toews and hand the keys over to their new core. Toews holds no hard feelings over this and acknowledged that he understands their reasoning.
Toews had skated just once since last playing in the NHL back on April 13th, 2023, dressing in a charity exhibition game in Slovakia. He returned to the United States last month and had his hockey gear sent to him in Arizona. Since then, he’s been doing skill work and conditioning skates but admits he doesn’t have his legs under him yet, which is understandable given the length of his absence. Toews tells Lazerus that he is excited to skate with other NHLers when their seasons end and will have a better idea at that time whether or not an NHL comeback is feasible.
Toews returning to the NHL would make for an exciting story, given the challenges he has dealt with. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native has nothing left to prove at any level of hockey but does admit that the desire to play in the NHL again is still burning strong.
Sadly I wonder if he has been taken in by quackery. The last thing I read about his comeback was: “a five-week stint in India where he practiced Ayurveda, a traditional form of alternative medicine that involves herbal medicines, yoga, meditation, and enemas.” and an IG story from him about an “Ayurvedic detox” that works “by cleansing and releasing toxins stored deep in the body” to “better align ourselves with nature’s rhythms.”
When modern medicine has failed you that’s when you go looking for anything and everything that could help you. I don’t blame him. It would be worse if he didn’t try at all.
I completely sympathize with trying to find answers to stubborn personal maladies, but there is an entire world of fake “medicine” out there just waiting to exploit desperate people who possess piles of cash. Unfortunately by what I read Toews post, he is looking for miracle cures in ghee butter, “pain massages,” Ayurvedic enemas, and induced vomiting to “release toxins.”
If he was told to eat seal nuts and it makes him feel better, who cares? The body and mind is an insanely complex thing we still don’t know a ton about. The guy is a professional athlete and has access the best medical professionals in the world. That also includes alternative and experimental medicine. He’s not meeting some hippie in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I’m sure he’s done his vetting.
As a Hurricanes fan, I’d be for bringing him in as a low cost option. No clue if he can play anymore, no one knows. But, his leadership would be welcome.
Come to Detroit and play with Kane as we ride out this depressing season.