Jonathan Toews foreshadows revival season with strong performance in Blackhawks’ opener

LAS VEGAS — In an ideal world, Jonathan Toews’ last Blackhawks season will be a final demonstration of what has driven his stardom for so long.

Entering this week, that outcome seemed possible but unlikely. Toews’ increasing age and health issues had been noticeable the past few years; the 34-year-old center had remained a competent NHL player but had certainly not dominated to the same degree he did during his prime.

He did finish last season playing his best hockey since the pandemic began, tallying 17 points over his final 25 games, but he was still far from an all-three-zones puck-possession monster.

This preseason was particularly worrying, as Toews looked glaringly lost — or, at best, apathetic. During his even-strength ice time in four exhibition games, scoring chances favored Hawks opponents by a 29-6 margin (and the Hawks were outscored 6-1).

But then the puck dropped Wednesday in the Hawks’ regular-season opener and, suddenly, vintage Toews reappeared. His performance against the defending-champion Avalanche — albeit in a 5-2 Hawks loss — was arguably his best in any game since last summer, when he returned from his year away with chronic inflammatory response syndrome.

If he somehow maintains this level all season, a storybook ending to Toews’ Hawks tenure — or at least to Toews’ current Hawks contract — could actually happen.

On a line with Tyler Johnson and Taylor Raddysh, Toews recorded the Hawks’ best ratios in terms of shot attempts (12-7), shots on goal (7-3) and scoring chances (8-4) against the Avalanche. He won 10 of 14 faceoffs, not that his faceoff abilities have ever faltered whatsoever.

And he buried the Hawks’ first goal of the season off a savvy Philipp Kurashev power-play pass, quickly extinguishing any concerns that last year’s initial drought — he didn’t score until his 26th game — might repeat itself. He laughed sheepishly, with a dose of genuine emotion rarely seen in his soft-spoken post-CIRS public persona, when asked about that postgame.

“Let’s not go there right now,” Toews said. “But having said that, it feels good to get on the board and get some confidence. In this situation, in this game, you just want to go out there and make plays. You can’t dwell on whether they go in or not.”

Even more importantly, Toews’ assertive, rational leadership skills were on full display, as well.

He provided head coach Luke Richardson an unofficial extra assistant to help him survive his debut. He argued with the referees about several questionable penalty calls, and lightly complained about those calls after the game — a nightly ritual so on-brand for Toews at this point in his career that it’d be odd if he didn’t do it.

And when defenseman Seth Jones was stuck on the ice late in the second period for a marathon shift over three minutes long, it was Toews who reamed out the Hawks for not giving Jones the time or support needed to change.

“We didn’t have to say anything as coaches,” Richardson said. “He, as a leader, stood up and told those guys. He was yelling at them from the bench, but when they got to the bench, he told them in a calm but stern manner. That goes a lot further on the team than a coach telling a guy.”

There’s a long season ahead, and a good first week hardly foreshadows a full, year-long return to form. Plenty of question marks remain: Can Toews, long defined by his competitiveness, mentally handle all the Hawks’ inevitable losses? Can his own stamina hold up? (His aforementioned strong finish to last season, after all, came after a five-week rest recovering from a concussion.) Will the inescapable trade rumors distract or bother him?

If Wednesday was a true sign of Toews reviving his stardom, though, the Hawks’ 2022-23 season will be guaranteed to feature at least one fitting, heartwarming, enjoyable plotline.