Jonathan Toews will go down as one of the greatest modern day Chicago Blackhawks. Toews was the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and immediately altered the direction of the franchise. Toews led the Blackhawks to 3 Stanley Cups, while also winning the Conn Smythe trophy in 2010. To say Toews has had a Hall of Fame career would be an understatement.
Unfortunately for Toews his career hit a massive speed bump in 2020/21. Toews missed the entire season, for what at the time was an undisclosed reason. Upon his return, Toews announced that he was suffering chronic immune response syndrome or CIRS.
Toews has since returned to the Blackhawks lineup and played 71 games last season and an additional 46 games this season. But as the team returned from the All-Star break, Toews was nowhere to be found. News quickly surfaced that Toews was currently away from the team due to illness.
In most cases this wouldn't be concerning, similar to how Sasha Barkov missed significant time due to illness, but Toews case is much different and fans realize that.
CIRS does not have a cure and can only be managed by medication and treatments. At this time all hockey fans can do is hope for the best for Toews, and hope he's able to make a full recovery from whatever he's battling at this time.
