After 15 seasons and three Stanley Cups, Jonathan Toews will play his last game as the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, team general manager Kyle Davidson announced.
“I've had a number of conversations with Jonathan throughout the season about his future with the Blackhawks, and recently, we had the difficult conversation that we won't be re-signing him this offseason,” Davidson said in a statement on Thursday morning.
“Tonight will be his final game as a Blackhawk, and it was very important to us to be able to provide the proper send off for Jonathan and our fans. He has done so much for this organization, and no matter where he plays next, we're excited our fans get the chance to show Jonathan exactly how much he means to them.”
End of an era
It truly is the end of an era in Chicago after Patrick Kane was traded to the New York Rangers at the NHL Trade Deadline, and Toews now confirmed to be playing his last game with the team.
Kane and Toews were the backbone of an early 2010s dynasty, bringing three Stanley Cups to Chicago in 2010, 2013 and 2015, and being one of the top teams in the Western Conference for over a decade.
But all good things come to an end, and after Chicago began rebuilding last season, and with Kane and Toews at the end of their massive eight-year contracts, it only makes sense that both players move on.
Curtains for the captain
It’s been an extremely difficult last few seasons for the captain, who stepped away on Feb. 21 to deal with the effects of long COVID-19 and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, which kept him out of the lineup for the entire 2020-21 season.
The 34-year-old has played his entire 1,064-game NHL career with the Hawks, accumulating 882 points over his career with the team.
“I owe so much to the fans and the people in the city that made it so special to be a Blackhawk for all these years. I owe a lot to the organization; they’ve given me everything,” Toews said earlier this week.
The Chicago Blackhawks will host the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center on Thursday night in the team's regular season finale, and the end of a truly incredible run for Jonathan Toews as the captain and heartbeat of the franchise.
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