16 Years Went By In The Blink Of An Eye. Jonathan Toews Has Played His Last Game In Chicago And Sounds Like His Last Game In The NHL
Last night officially marked the end of the greatest run of our lives and the Golden Era of Blackhawks hockey.
From the moment Jonathan Toews arrived in Chicago he was the PERFECT player. When he was at his peak there was nobody I'd rather have leading the franchise. Measured, thoughtful, fiercely competitive. Willing to be the tyrant or the punching bag depending on what the locker room needed in that moment. Whatever the team needed. That was the theme of his time. Who would match up against the other team's top line...Toews. Who was the best penalty killer...Toews. Who took every important face-off...Toews. Who provided offense...Toews. He always seemed to deliver in the big moments. He was a guy who thrived against the very best. You just think of those iconic playoff matchups where he was tasked with going up against the very best. The Sedins, Kesler, Bergeron, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kopitar, Stamkos, Backes, Getzlaf...Toews got the better of all of them when it mattered most. A guy who could impact a game without scoring a point, but he did that too.
I can not imagine a more perfect Blackhawks captain for the era. There were so many memories. Memories of moments with my dad, my brother, my friends, and then also the entire city. Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabs, Hjalmarsson, Sharpie, and Hossa captured this city. Hockey was DEAD here. When I was growing up in Chicago there were very few hockey hockey fans my age and if they were it was more likely that they were fans of the Red Wings or Avalanche than the Blackhawks. The building was cavernous and had echos. Toews and company arrived and you went from having echos to your ears ringing until the next morning. Rocky, Dale, Joel, Toews, Kane, Keith and the supporting cast took a franchise that was voted on as ESPN as the worst professional franchise in sports and made it hottest ticket in town and made Chicago a hockey town almost overnight. Those guys created generations of fans that will be here for 50 years. They gave me some of the happiest memories of my life with the people I love the most.
And now it's over and I still can't believe it. I don't know when we all got so old. The fastest 16 years imaginable. I hope that the Blackhawks are able to be competent again. I hope they win again. Even if they do though, this generation of leadership and the next generation of players are standing on the shoulders of giants. Those icons built a foundation. The allowed millions to rediscover their love for a franchise. No matter who comes next, no matter what level of success they have, they'll never mean as much to this city as Toews and 2009-2015 Blackhawks.
This comment sure does make it sound like this is truly the end of the road for one of the all-time greats.
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It was time to move on, but we'll never forget. Here are your favorite memories in a thread
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Too many to list. We talked about Toews and the state of the Blackhawks on Midshow/Redline this week. Episode below