The text came through on a Friday afternoon, and for anyone who watched the Chicago Blackhawks dynasty unfold, it landed like a pass to the slot. Patrick Kane posted his tribute to Jonathan Toews, who officially retired this week after a career that included a brief return with the Winnipeg Jets in 2025-26.
“Congrats to this legend on retirement. One of the best leaders the game has seen,” Kane wrote. “I could not have asked for a better teammate to come into the league with and I’m proud of all our success together over the years.”
That success was staggering. Kane and Toews entered the NHL together in 2007-08 and within three years they had Chicago’s first Stanley Cup since 1961. They added two more in 2013 and 2015, the last one clinched on home ice against Tampa Bay. The Blackhawks became a modern dynasty and those two were the engine, with Toews as the captain and Kane as the offensive dynamo.
But their partnership ended the way a lot of hockey marriages do: messy and incomplete. Kane was traded to the Rangers at the 2023 deadline with Chicago well out of a playoff spot. Toews stepped away that summer after dealing with what was later reported as Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and long COVID symptoms. For a couple seasons he was out of the league entirely, then signed with his hometown Jets for a farewell lap in 2025-26.
Kane landed in Detroit as a free agent later that November and the two future Hall of Famers finally faced each other as opponents on New Year’s Eve 2025. The Red Wings won 2-1. They met again January 24 and Detroit took that one 5-1. It was weird seeing them on opposite benches. But that’s the way it goes.
Toews finished his career with three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals with Canada, and a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2010. Kane has three Cups of his own plus a Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2016 and a Conn Smythe from 2013. Both are locks for the Hall of Fame.
Kane is still playing. He’s 37 now and still producing for the Red Wings, though Detroit is in a rebuild of its own. Whether he gets another Cup run before he’s done is a real question. But he made it clear that whatever happens from here, the years with Toews in Chicago are the ones that matter most.
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