For the first time in months, there’s an update on Jonathan Toews from the captain himself.
On Wednesday morning, Toews posted a two-minute video on Twitter detailing the ailment that kept him sidelined for the entire 2021 NHL season.
The video opens with Toews heading into the team practice facility, with a voiceover from Toews narrating everything.
“It feels great,” Toews said. “It’s been a long time. Honestly, I haven’t taken this much time off of the ice since … probably ever.”
“It’s nice to be back in Chicago and see some of the guys again. Slowly but surely settle into the life and the routine again. It’s a good feeling right now.”
As Toews takes to the ice at the Fifth Third Arena in the video, it shifts back to the locker room where Toews revealed his diagnosis: Chronic Immune Response Syndrome.
Toews then went into more detail about what the last six months have been like:
“I couldn’t quite recover and my immune system was reacting to everything. Anything I would do throughout the day, there was always a stress response. It took some time and that was the frustrating part, not really knowing when or how we were going to get over the hump. But, thankfully, I had a great support team of people who helped me through it and I learned a lot about the stress I’ve put on my body over the years.”
The video then shows Toews skating and stick-handling around the ice, with teammates like Connor Murphy and Vinnie Hinostroza making cameos during those on-ice activities.
The entire video is below:
I wasn’t too vocal about the things I went through this year. I appreciate the understanding and support and wanted to share this message on where I’m at. pic.twitter.com/3qgftKki10
— Jonathan Toews (@JonathanToews) June 30, 2021
Hard to overstate how refreshing it is to see Toews healthy again. That he’s apparently feeling well enough to get back on the ice and progress towards resuming his hockey career is inexplicably relieving.