Toews on joining Jets: “Huge Potential To Win A Championship” | HOME ICE, presented by Canada Life

Toews on joining Jets: “Huge Potential To Win A Championship” | HOME ICE, presented by Canada Life

Jonathan, when you and the Jets agreed to terms, one of the things that stood out to me was the Instagram posts that you made. You don’t post a ton on social media, but you certainly posted a lot of pictures. And one of the things you said was, “Am I dreaming or is this real life?” What do you think a young Jonathan Taves would think about the fact that you were going to play for the Winnipeg Jets? I mean, to put it simply, it is a dream come true. I didn’t uh in my wildest dreams think I would get the chance to come play here. The reality started setting in. how special it was and and all the memories flooded back from from my childhood of uh just why and when I f fell in love with a game of hockey. And uh it really all started by being a young kid going to the Winnipeg Arena and watching games and and just being in that that atmosphere. [Music] What is the best reaction that you had after your signing? I didn’t really have any expectations of what the reception was going to be like, but it definitely blew me away. Possible. How could you not think that far ahead, I guess. But no, it it felt really good. It was definitely, you know, a lot for the ego. My head was a little big there for a couple days, but then at the same time, very quickly kind of set in like, okay, this is a Canadian market. like this people in Winnipeg are huge hockey fans and and their expectations are high too. So I think this the the realization of like how much pressure there is to play in this city kind of set in too and I think that was a huge motivating factor too. You’ve mentioned a couple times you couldn’t see yourself playing anywhere else. Why why here? I am a Winnipeg. I think you know it’s always important. I was 15 years old when I left home. Um, to be able to to come here and maybe hopefully, I don’t know, it’s too early to say yet, but but wrap up my career here in Winnipeg would be an incredible way to to cap off um my career. And but aside from that, I think one of the biggest things like was just looking at this team and how they did LA last year and the year before. They’re just a bunch of pros in there. They know how to they know how to work. They know how to show up. They know how to enjoy their life away from the rink. And um there’s a lot of great chemistry and I think there’s huge potential for this team to to win a championship. [Music] What’s it like to walk into that dressing room for the first time? We’re in September right now. It’s back to school. Is it kind of got a feel of it? I mean, it’s different for you. For sure. Yeah. A little nerve-wracking. A little nerve-wracking trying to placing names and faces and not trying to integrate too fast and just take it slow with that. But everyone’s been really great, really awesome. So just I mean three days into this week where the most of the team is back and I already feel really comfortable around the guys. So it’s been a lot of fun. [Music] What are your expectations for yourself on this team this year? What do you see your role being? I mean whatever. I mean, I I think I’ll just have that whatever it takes mentality and uh whether it’s going out there winning faceoffs, killing penalties, you know, playing in defensive situations, if you’re protecting one goal lead late in games, like I pride myself on, you know, being a reliable player in those situations, but obviously I want to go out there and create offense and and put points on the board and and um you know, give this team some depth in that sense, too. And so I think I’ve always prided myself on being the type of player that makes other players a little bit better around me. So just try and make everyone’s job easier. So that can show up in a lot of different ways. So, you know, however that looks doesn’t matter. I’m excited to to have the chance. There’s going to be so many eyes on your return regardless of where you would have signed, but obviously especially here. Are you ready for all of that attention? you’ve dealt with it throughout your career, but I mean it’s there’s different layers to it this time around. Yeah. Yes and no. I mean, I think it’s not something I’m going to worry about or focus on too much. I’m really really happy and really proud of like the work that I’ve done to get to this point. And uh and that’s a good feeling and I think I’m just going to keep being very present with that going forward and just showing up every day and taking one step at a time. You know, I know in my mind what I’m capable of, but I know even just a couple days skating here, just seeing how good every single player is out on the ice that the game has progressed and the game is evolving. So, obviously, even just getting back to where I was, you know, a handful of years ago, I’m going to have to grow and improve from there, too. So, so I’m not going to think too much about the outside pressure. Just uh try and work and get better every day with my teammates. [Music]

Sara Orlesky goes in-depth with one of the newest Jets, JONATHAN TOEWS!

Hear from the product of St. Vital on his excitement to join his hometown team, his expectations for the upcoming season, and so much more!

HOME ICE, presented by Canada Life

— — — — —

Download the official Winnipeg Jets app:
https://www.nhl.com/jets/fans/app

Follow us on all your favourite socials 🔽

https://www.facebook.com/nhljets
https://www.instagram.com/nhljets/
Tweets by NHLJets

@nhljets

#NHLJets #NHL #GoJetsGo