Jonathan Toews

Jonathan Bryan Toews (born on April 29, 1988 is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who plays for and is the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He was selected by the Blackhawks with the third overall pick in the 206 NHL Entry Draft. Jonathan joined the team during the 2007–08 and was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

The following season, Jonathan was named team captain, becoming the third youngest captain in NHL history (behind Gabriel Landeskog, and Sidney Crosby) at the age of 20. In 2010, he won the Stanley Cup in 2010 along with the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff MVP.

After winning the Cup, Jonathan passed Peter Forsberg as the youngest player to join the Triple Gold Club. He competes internationally for Team Canada and has won gold medals at the 2005 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championships 2007 World Championships, and the 2010 Winter Olympics (a tournament in which he was named Best Forward).

In 2013, he won the Stanley Cup again in the 2013.

Amateur Career
Jonathan was selected first overall in the 2003 WHL Bantam Draft by the Tri-City Americans, but chose to play midget AAA hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's boarding school in Faribault, Minnesota instead during 2003-04 and 2004–05. The decision enabled Jonathan to retain his NCAA eligibility. He scored 110 points in 64 games in his second season with Shattuck-St. Mary's, before moving on to play college hockey.

Jonathan played for the University of North Dakota's men's ice hockey team, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux for two seasons, compiling 85 points (40 goals, 45 assists), a plus-38 rating and a 56.7% faceoff winning percentage in 76 games. He helped UND reach the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship in both 2006 and 2007, serving as an alternate captain in his sophomore season.

Professional Career
In 2007–2008, Jonathan opted out of his final two years of college hockey eligibility to debut with the Blackhawks after signing a 3-year entry level contract on May 16, 2007. On October 10, 2007, he scored his first NHL goal on his first shot in his first game on October 10, 2007, against the San Jose Sharks. He then recorded the second-longest point-scoring streak to start an NHL career, registering a point in each of his first 10 games (5 goals, 5 assists).[7]

On January 1, 2008, Jonathan sprained his knee in a game against the Los Angeles Kings. Despite missing 16 games from the injury, he led all rookies in goal-scoring and finished third in points. He finished second in team scoring behind fellow rookie Patrick Kane.

Jonathan and Patrick battled all season for the lead in team and rookie scoring before Toews went down to injury. They were both nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year along with Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Bäckström. Jonathan finished as a runner-up to Patrick.

Following his successful rookie campaign, Jonathan was named the team captain of the Blackhawks on July 18, 2008. At the age of 20 years and 79 days, he became the third-youngest team captain in NHL history, behind Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Jonathan had previously been named an alternate captain in December 2007, during the 2007–08 season. In the subsequent season, he was voted as a starter along with teammates Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal.

On February 27, 2009, Jonathan netted his first NHL career hat trick in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He finished the 2008–09 season with 69 points in 82 games, helping the Blackhawks to their first post-season appearance since 2002. Jonathan added 13 points in 17 playoff games as the Blackhawks advanced to the Western Conference Finals where they were eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings in five games.

Less than a month into the 2009–2010 season, Jonathan was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after receiving an open-ice hit from defenceman Willie Mitchell in a 3–2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on October 21, 2009. He had his head down while receiving a pass in the neutral zone when Willie left the penalty box and checked him with his shoulder. He was sidelined for several games before returning to the lineup.

In the final year of his contract, Jonathan (as well as teammates Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane) agreed to extensions in early December 2009. His deal was structured similarly to Kane's, worth about $6.5 million annually for five seasons. He finished the season with 68 points in 76 games.

During the 2010 playoffs, Jonathan recorded his second career hat trick, along with two assists, leading the Blackhawks in a 7-4 playoff victory against the Vancouver Canucks on May 7, 2010. On June 9, 2010, he led Chicago to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship since 1961, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth game of the Finals.

Jonathan became the second-youngest captain in the history of the NHL to win the Stanley Cup, behind Sidney Crosby who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to the championship the previous season. He scored seven goals and 29 points in the playoffs, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. By winning the Stanley Cup, he also became the youngest player at the age of 22 to become a member of the Triple Gold Club (Olympic gold, Stanley Cup, World Championship).

In the off-season on June 21, 2010, Jonathan was selected to be the cover player for EA Sports' video game NHL 11. It marked the first time in EA Sports history that two players of the same team were featured on a video game cover two years in a row, as Patrick Kane had been on the cover of NHL 10.

During the 2010–11 season, Jonathan recorded a career-high 76 points in 80 games. Due to salary cap restraints, the Blackhawks were forced to trade away many of their players from the previous seasons' championship-winning team, including Antti Niemi, Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd. As a result, the Blackhawks narrowly made the 2011 playoffs, ending the regular season eighth in the Western Conference.

Down three-games-to-none in the opening round against the Vancouver Canucks, the Blackhawks won three straight games to force a game seven. In the deciding contest, Jonathan scored a shorthanded game-tying goal with 1:26 remaining in regulation. The Canucks went on to score five minutes into the ensuing overtime period to eliminate the Blackhawks. Jonathan had four points in the seven-game series.

Jonathan was supposed to play in the 2012 All-Star Game, but an injury sustained during a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators kept him from playing and was replaced by Scott Hartnell. He finished the 2011-12 NHL season with 57 points in an injury shortened year.

Jonathan returned to play at the start of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs where he scored the overtime winner in Game 5 to send the series back to Chicago for Game 6 where Phoenix won 4-0 to eliminate the Blackhawks from the playoffs.

In the lockout shortened season of 2013, Jonathan returned to top form & helped the Blackhawks win the President's Trophy as the team with the best regular season record. In the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he led the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup championship. He was awarded the Selke Trophy and named an All Star.

International Play
In 2005, Jonathan captained Canada West at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge to a gold medal. He scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 win over Canada Pacific in the championship game. He finished with 12 points, first in tournament scoring, and was named tournament MVP.

In his draft year, Jonathan competed on Team Canada's under-20 team at the 2006 World Junior Championships as the youngest player on the team. He tallied 2 assists during the tournament, both against Norway in preliminary play as Canada defeated Russia in the gold medal game 5-0.

In 2007, Jonathan earned a second straight World Junior gold medal. In the semi-final game against the U.S., he scored three times in the shootout to advance to the final. With 7 points, Jonathan led Team Canada in scoring and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team with teammate Carey Price.

Shortly after his gold medal win, on February 3, 2007, Jonathan was honored by his hometown AHL team, the Manitoba Moose as he was presented with an honorary jersey for his tournament efforts.

During same year, Jonathan also made his senior international debut at the 2007 World Championships and recorded 7 points in 9 games competing against mostly professional players after just his second year of college hockey (at the time of selection, Toews had not yet turned pro). Team Canada earned gold over Finland 4-2 in the championship game. In doing so, he became the first Canadian to win a World Junior championship and a World Championship in the same year.

On June 29, 2007, Jonathan was awarded the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, which is an award given by the Province of Manitoba in honour of sporting achievements, for his play in the junior and senior world championships.

After his rookie year in the NHL, Jonathan competed in his second World Championship in 2008. On December 30, 2009, he was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He was named to the squad along with Blackhawks teammates Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith.

Jonathan ended the tournament with a team-leading eight points. His seven assists tied with Pavol Demitra of Slovakia for the tournament lead. His lone goal of the tournament opened the scoring in Canada's 3–2 overtime win in the gold medal game against the United States. As a result, he was awarded "Best Forward" and tournament all-star team honours.

Personal Life
Jonathan was born to Bryan Toews, an electrician at the University of Manitoba, and Andrée Gilbert, a native of Quebec from Sainte-Marie, Quebec who was the managing director and finance expert for a credit union in the Winnipeg region before retiring to oversee Toews' media relations. Like his brother David, Jonathan is bilingual, speaking fluent French and English. David also attended Shattuck-St. Mary's and began his freshman year at the University of North Dakota in 2008–2009.

In January of 2007, Jonathan and former teammate T.J. Oshie received alcohol-related citations for being minors in a Grand Forks, North Dakota tavern. They pled guilty to the charges, were later placed on probation and ordered to perform community service.

In 2010, following the celebration of Jonathan bringing the Stanley Cup to his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the province of Manitoba announced that they would be naming a northern lake after Jonathan in honour of his success. The lake is located 150 km north of Flin Flon and is named Toews Lake. On the same day, the Dakota Community Centre in St. Vital where Jonathan first played organized hockey was renamed the Jonathan Toews Community Centre. He was also given the Keys to the City to honour his achievement and hard work ethic.