Jonathan Toews speaks to the media. Photo: USA TODAY Sports
Anything can happen in the Stanley Cup Final, but right now Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is the favorite to win the Conn Smythe.
According to odds maker Bovada and via Yahooo’s Puck Daddy blog, Toews is a 7-to-2 favorite to win the trophy awarded to the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP.
Oddsmakers like to bet on these things ahead of time and while speculating on potential MVPs is a favorite pastime in the days before the Cup Final starts, Toews’ name keeps coming up again and again, along with teammates Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane, as well as Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson.
At 27, Toews is already an eight-year veteran and has led the Blackhawks to two previous Cup championships. He won the Conn Smythe in 2010 when he was just 22. He won a Selke Trophy in 2013 and has two Olympic gold medals.
And as this season and these playoffs progress, the legend of Jonathan Toews keeps growing.
In Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, with the Blackhawks down 4-2 against the Ducks, Toews scored two goals in 72 seconds to single-handedly send the game into overtime. Even though they eventually lost to Anaheim in OT and were down three games to two, the momentum of the series seemed to shift back towards the Blackhawks.
In a decisive Game 7, Toews gave the Blackhawks a commanding lead with two goals in the first half of the first period and the Ducks never caught up.
“I think he grows every year as a leader,” Patrick Kane told reporters Tuesday. “He knows what to say, knows what not to say. You know when he’s going to play good. He has that fire in his eyes. You can tell he’s focused and that he’s going to have a good game.”
As the Blackhawks look ahead to winning their third Cup, it’s Toews’ leadership they’re counting on to take them there.
“He’s incredibly competitive,” said Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “He just wills his way to it. You watch him in practice, he gets mad if things don’t go his way. He has a high standard for himself. He holds himself accountable. For that reason he is the thing that makes everything go.”
Jonathan Toews celebrates a goal. Photo: AP.
In a way, Toews is like that other MVP, Steph Curry. Both are 27 and at the peak of their careers, but both lack the high-wattage star power of a LeBron James or a Sidney Crosby. Like Curry, Toews is neither the strongest or the fastest, but has found success on skill, hard work and pure determination.
“It’s an uncanny ability he has that you don’t see in too many players,” said head coach Joel Quenneville of Toews. “It’s will, competitive, warrior, leader. He’s got all the intangibles that you’d like to see in a hockey player.”
Even Toews’ idol, former Detroit Red Wing and current Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman feels like Toews is poised to surpass him in the record books.
“The reality is, Jonathan’s bigger, stronger, faster. Just a better hockey player. He just is a tremendous all-around player, and great person.”
Toews isn’t a big name outside of hockey circles, but the NHL should see that he has the potential to be.
A few months ago, the Blackhawks released a short (and adorable) video of Toews buying Girl Scout cookies from a fan. It has over 137K views on YouTube and shows the young captain as personable, caring and downright funny.
At the 2015 NHL All-Star game, the man everyone teasingly calls Captain Serious charmed fans and the media alike.
Toews isn’t just a good player. He’s a great player and an even better leader. The odds are better than good that Toews could win a third Cup and hoist the Conn Smythe again.
Coach Q summed it up perfectly.
“He’s an amazing person and an amazing hockey player.”
This post has been edited to reflect a correction in the headline
