Blackhawks announce they will not re-sign Jonathan Toews

[UOK]

I'll be honest with you guys regarding the Blackhawks: I'm still in a mourning phase of my fandom. The Kyle Beach scandal radically tainted my view of the franchise, the players from that time, and definitely soured the shit out of my experiences watching them win some cups. Rocky Wirtz making a horse's ass of himself to Mark Lazerus did me in, and I've essentially removed them from my world.

It's been very, very hard to basically omit them from my life, having 20-odd years of fandom shoved into a large plastic tote for indefinite storage. I've basically been waiting for all of the previous eras players, coaches, management, and ideally ownership to exit the franchise before I feel like I can review and possibly renew my fanship. Kane being traded was weird, and now Toews being let go is painful.

I've read that Toews has improved in recent years, but the many seasons of concussions and injuries has deeply affected his abilities on the ice. Prime Toews was absolutely amazing to watch, and while he rarely was a stat sheet guy, he was an instant and tremendous leader as Captain, likely will be remembered as the greatest Captain in Blackhawks history. 19 and 88 should be mutually retired and hung from the rafters; hell, maybe 2 and 7 as well.

I hope Toews finishes up his career raising the cup again or at least going somewhere to get one more run at a cup. Maybe he'll go home to play for the Jets or net some sweet dough in Florida relishing the land of no income tax.

I wish him well, and am grateful for so many great memories, even if many of them are tainted for me.

[Otis Day]

Definitely a strange time. Toews needs to hang up the skates. 1) for his health. He has suffered to many concussions and the Long COVID has not helped. 2) He is done. Maybe due to health reasons, but he is just done. Walk away as healthy as possible. PLEASE.

I have continued to watch, although not as much as I head to bed to early to see much of any of the games. I was excited about some of the young players (The Cat, Hagel, Stromme and some other) then they traded them.

That era from '08 til the last cup was magical. The kind of era that will not be forgotten.

Sad day, but we knew it had to end at some point.

[Otis Day]

It was kind of sad watching Toews last game. Know how great, for the most part, the past 15 yrs have been. It was strange to think that amount of time has went by so fast. Toews is an outstanding person. He understood why he was not being signed. I hope he walks away at this point.

Here is to hoping the team can rebound within the next few years and get back to competing.