“My health is more important” – Jonathan Toews hints retirement following 2022-23 season after suffering long-term COVID-19 symptoms

‘Captain Serious’ talks about his health issues and the problems they are creating in his professional life during a recent press conference.

<strong>“My health is more important” – Jonathan Toews hints retirement following 2022-23 season after suffering long-term COVID-19 symptoms</strong>

Jonathan Toews [Image Credit: NHL]

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews talks about possible retirement from NHL after missing out on 25 games in the 2022-23 regular-season due to long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Toews has been battling for a long time, and on Tuesday he joined the team practice, for the first time in a while.

He spoke about possible retirement after the season, as he is determined to focus more on his health than hockey. He said that if he continues to play the sport, he wants to give it his 100%, and not undergo health issues frequently. The captain has been suffering from COVID-19 and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. 

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This may very well be the 34-years last NHL season, as he prepares to debut on ice, breaking his long slump for the past few months. He stated, “It’s nice.” “It’s definitely nice to be back and be on the ice with the guys”. The players are ecstatic to have their leader back, as their coach stated they’ll look at his progress and design the future course accordingly.

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Jonathan Toews admits that he misses Patrick Kane in the locker room

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane [Image Credit: Sweet Serendipity]
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane [Image Credit: Sweet Serendipity]

Jonathan Toews said during the press conference, “I don’t know if it was when we were on the road a lot or leading up to the break and it just got to the point where I couldn’t move on the ice and didn’t even want to put on my skates or roll out of bed to come to the rink“. 

“So it was pretty rough there for a bit, and so I think it probably took me a couple of weeks of just wrestling with, in my own mind, trying to figure out what the right decision was, if I should keep trying to push through it, which really didn’t feel like an option anymore … or kind of pulling the plug and trying to focus my energy on getting better.“

“It was kind of a thought in my mind that I made the decision to pull myself out and put myself first to try and take care of my body and do what’s right for myself”. That wasn’t an easy decision, obviously, especially given the situation where your team is and how things are going.” 

“Everyone’s playing through something, everyone’s battling something, so it’s hard to let your teammates down in that sense.” Toews is running out of time as there are only nine games left before the end of the regular season. “I’ve gotten to the point where my health is more important“.

Toews further said, that regardless of what the future holds, he wants to try to get back on the ice as now. No matter how much time he’s left with he wants to soak in the NHL light, demonstrating his best performance as always. 

He also noted that he was “shocked” to learn that Patrick Kane has joined NY Rangers, but admitted that the Rangers jersey suits him well. He said it’s weird to see your teammate donning another jersey and standing opposite on the ice. Toews accepted that going back into the locker room, he has felt the absence of Kane very much.

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