Toews 'on healing journey' in India after health issues derailed career with Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews hasn’t been in the NHL for nearly two seasons, but the former Chicago Blackhawks captain has recently been on what he calls “a bit of a healing journey.”

The 36-year-old posted on Instagram on Thursday about spending five weeks in India to undergo a detox, saying, “I’m happy to say things are trending.”

Toews had health issues through the final few seasons in Chicago. The three-time Stanley Cup champion missed the entire 2020-21 season with Chronic Immune Response Syndrome. He was also out from Feb. 21-April 1, 2023, to deal with the effects of long COVID-19.

“It’s too long of a story to share all the details here, but it’s been almost (five) years of searching for a way to heal the inflammatory and immune system issues that took me out of hockey,” Toews wrote in the post. “The wisdom of Ayurveda has taught me that everything I experience, I am responsible for. Not only did it teach me better diet choices specific to my body type, it has deepened my intuitive relationship with myself and the world around me.”

He was not re-signed by the Blackhawks at the end of the 2022-23 season when the eight-year contract he signed on July 9, 2014, expired. His final game with the Blackhawks was a 5-4 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on April 14, 2023.

“There [are] absolutely no hard feelings. I have nothing but love and gratitude for the Blackhawks and Rocky Wirtz and the Blackhawks family, everyone over the years who's been a part of that. Like I said, you can't ask for more than that,” Toews said following his final game. “At the end of the day, it's a business. It's a business where you want to win games and you want to go out there and entertain the fans and chase Stanley Cups, and I think it's exciting for me too, at the same time, not knowing what's really around the corner for me personally. But at the same time, it's a new start for the Blackhawks.”

Toews has never announced his retirement from the NHL and remains an unrestricted free agent.

Toews was one of the faces of the Blackhawks, along with forward Patrick Kane, as they rebuilt through the early 2000s. The No. 3 pick by Chicago in the 2006 NHL Draft, Toews had 883 points (372 goals, 511 assists) in 1,067 career games with Chicago. He was named their captain on July 18, 2008, and helped lead the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He also won gold with Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2014 Sochi Olympics. During the NHL’s Centennial Celebration in 2017, Toews was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players, along with Kane and Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith.