NHL Player Profile: A Look at Jonathan Toews

The Blackhawks may have known what they were getting when they drafted Jonathan Toews back in the 2006 NHL draft with the third pick overall in that draft, but they didn’t know he was going to be that good.  Toews became a permanent part of the Blackhawks starting in the 2007-2008 season and was immediately nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy in that season.

It appeared as if the Blackhawks had found the guy that could help take them to the Stanley Cup playoffs and maybe even win the Cup.

Toews was part of the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, and it’s likely they may not have made it without him in the lineup. 

Some of the honors that Toews has received during his career in hockey overall include, at the top of this list, winning the Stanley Cup back in 2010, named team captain making him the third-youngest team captain in NHL history and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy that same year as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Toews is also known as the youngest player to win the Triple Gold Award which is where a player wins the gold in the Olympics, the Stanley Cup and a World Championship gold medal.  Toews is one of few to win all three.

Before he came to the Blackhawks, Toews won gold at the World Under 17 hockey challenge in 2005, won gold in the World Junior Championships in 2006 and 2007 and the World Championships in 2007.
And with that he also won the gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Before becoming a NHL player, Toews was the first selection in the World Hockey League’s Bantam draft back in 2003.  He was selected by the Tri-City Americans in that draft but he decided to stay in high school and play at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minnesota. 

After his time in high school, Toews went on to attend the University of North Dakota and while there he played hockey for the school team, the Fighting Sioux.  During his time with the Fighting Sioux he helped lead them to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2006 and 2007.  During his time there he also earned rookie of the week honors two times.  He also helped the Fighting Sioux win the WCHA’s Boradmoor Cup and was also named the West Regional MVP.

After just two years of playing in college Toews decided to make the jump to the NHL where he was taken early by the Blackhawks.  He scored his first goal in a game against the San Jose Sharks (October 10, 2007).  Toews also has earned the honor of having the second-longest scoring streak for someone starting their NHL career, as he had at least one point in each of the first 10 games that he played in his rookie year.

In his rookie season, Toews led all NHL rookies in goal scoring and came in third in terms of scoring points.  Toews ended up scoring the second-highest point total on the Blackhawks, coming in behind Patrick Kane who was also a rookie that year.

Toews really shined in the playoffs prior to the Blackhawks' appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  He managed to get his second-career hat trick (against the Vancouver Canucks) and then played well enough to help lead his team to a series win over the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Some of the off-ice things that Toews has been involved in include being named the “cover player” on the front of the NHL 11 game for EA Sports.  Ironically Patrick Kane had been on the cover of the same game just the year before. 

When Toews came into the league there were those that had a lot of good things to say about him.  They talked about his maturity and how he appeared to be much more mature than some of the other younger players coming out into the same draft.  It was also said that he was a leader, could play both ways very well and has solid puck skills.  You couldn’t find too much wrong with Toews.