Jonathan Toews is comfort food. He's fried chicken. He's popcorn. He's chocolate cake.
Feeling stressed about the Blackhawks' prospects? Here's Johnnnny! Ready to just throw himself into the glass in jubilation at the thrill of scoring a goal in his first game following his concussion hiatus.
He can give us all the swan flu, contagiously making us smile as he takes flight.
Vancouver's Willie Mitchell should have known that he could never turn the unflappable, unquenchable Winnipeg wonder into a head case, no matter how big the blow that sent the center into momentary memory lapse and into the land of the lost.
For a guy who everyone claims doesn't have much to say, that joy of life moment of Toews wiping the glass behind the net Monday night against Los Angeles with unrestrained vigor can sell untold tickets and earn this city's respect and enduring love for the way he goes about his business.
He will be asked to shoulder an even larger load now that the inevitable has happened and center Dave Bolland will have back surgery, perhaps sidelining him as much as two months, although the team says he is out indefinitely and won't guess at a return. There aren't many good options to replace second liner Bolland, so I think Toews being twice as good is the preferable alternative.
And who's to say he can't be? For Toews, there is no current limit to his potential. No matter who subs for Bolland, it's up to Toews to plug the gap with his ability to rise to challenges.
Toews copies Walter Payton's body language. That tells you the rose-strewn path he is traveling into Chicago history. Just like Payton, Toews exudes ease of effort in everything he does, as well as exuberance, discipline, steely grit and a merry twinkle in the eye that promises innocent mischief when the time is right.
No Chicago franchise has a better face to sell their product this winter. Derrick Rose is too stiff and forced. Jay Cutler is too smug and smirky. Toews is not only the top faceoff option. He's a mug with broad appeal that extends from Madison Street to Main Street.
You won't catch him in blackface in his private moments. He may be costumed as Dumb and Dumber, but he gets ever smarter and smarter.
Toews has the knack to know what feels right and do it properly, whether he is winning a faceoff, hanging loose in his free time or defining a moment for the masses.
"I want to be a responsible player and a leader," he told CBC Sports when he was still in college at North Dakota. "I'm not going to be that guy who goes out there and makes a big statement."
I hate to disagree with the captain. But you are wrong there, Johnny boy. Maybe you never will be Winston Churchill, and yet the energy you emit is bubbling over.
No one will make a bigger statement over the next several months in Chicago than Toews. It bears repeating that like Payton, Toews speaks best by how he plays and how he handles the ebb and flow of hockey and its passing parade.
The Bulls and Bears have malcontents with Tyrus Thomas and Tommie Harris. The Hawks have no nagging problems individually, even if collectively the power play remains a work in progress and capable of being downright moody and divisive.
But as long as Toews sustains his start of being 21-6 on power-play faceoffs and a rather astounding 76-45 on home-ice faceoffs, sooner or later Toews is going to wrestle the balky power play into submission, too, digging ever onward like a Jack Russell dog until he gets his teeth into his prey.
Toews' goal was his only shot in the 4-1 win over the Kings. He was even a minus-1, pulling down the fact he is the Hawks' best plus-minus forward with a plus-6 to his credit.
These ordinary figures didn't stop him from being the main story line in most game reports. It wasn't so much what he did in point of fact, but the comfort of just knowing that he's back that drew the attention to him.
He wasn't even one of the game's 3 stars.
In a true team effort, those honors were bestowed on Troy Brouwer, Duncan Keith and John Madden. Other than Toews, the goals went to the busy bee workers in Brouwer, Madden and Andrew Ebbett, while the stars Keith, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell contributed assists.
When all was said and done, Toews' return trumped them all. His presence was the deciding factor to many. He has spirit that is visible. On a night when the Hockey Hall of Fame opened its doors again, Toews exhibited his famed demeanor.
Some day, it might lead him to those very doors himself.
"Typically, highly-regarded kids are very good offensively but are not very developed defensively," current GM Stan Bowman said of Toews shortly after the Hawks drafted him in 2006. "But Jonathan is the exception.
"He's well-rounded, intelligent and has a good hockey sense. Overall, he has those qualities that can't be taught. You either have them or you don't--and he's got them."
Not all those qualities are on the stat sheet. Since Colorado, Wednesday night's foe at United Center, allowed four power-play goals in last Sunday's 5-3 loss to Edmonton, I'm looking forward to Toews further straightening out the PP against the Avalanche.
He's got to take his amazing 62.8 per cent success winning faceoffs on home ice and raise that figure into the stratosphere. And if he wants to keep window-washing the glass with those post-goal leaps, I'm eager to see Toews Air fly in his own distinct way.
Like Payton, he's going places others have never been. He's going to make our heads spin more than Willie Mitchell ever dreamed was possible when he sent Toews into dream land.
The only thing Toews might break in the process is the salary cap.
7 Comments
Dave Morris said:
Mike, a great article about a great player.
Yeah, Toews is one of those players who have greatness in them--as you said, like Walter Payton.
He's already become emblematic of the era of these new Blackhawks, just as the Hawks legends are, of theirs.
Thanks for this one.
Dave said:
Great article. Just a little curious though where you got your -1 for him though. Not quite possible if he scored a goal and the Kings only scored one.
David Hager said:
Toews' goal was on the powerplay you don't get a plus or a minus for a powerplay goal.
Jerry Kayne said:
Funny how you started this article. I think of Tazer as a great breakfast at a diner. Start with a large glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice with lots of pulp. Then 3 eggs over easy with a side of bacon. Not the flimsy, wrinkly kind but the flat thick kind grilled on the flat-top. And don't you dare forget the sahsage links! And for the "one minute to play in the game" dessert, that perfectly browned whole wheat toast with evenly melted butter all the way to the crust topped with orange marmalade. Not the kind from the jar but from those teeny tiny Smuckers aluminum trays with the lid you have to peel off.
And I see Toews more like Rodman. Will recklessly risk life and limb and dive into the crowd to tap the ball to the star player for the basket (2 points) and the get the assist. And then get up and do it again and again. Only to go to the locker room and put on a tasteful dress. But first add in a pinch of Butkus for leadership by example and nice legs.
Great article and thanks for pumping me up for my Wednesday work day. Now back to your regularly scheduled program. Discuss.
Jerry Kayne said:
One more thing. I love Bolland on the ice. I pray he's not going to be another Daze.
Mike Kiley said:
There are only a handful of athletes who get respect for how they go about their jobs and their lives. He's one. It's a rarity and a joy to watch.
pilote3 said:
Payton comparision right on Mike,this KID is a warrior.Although Brouwer doesnt have the same skills also a warrior great column Mike
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