Kane, Toews set to play 1,000th game together for Blackhawks
Three-time Cup champions driven by friendly competition
The two forwards have had their share of individual and team accolades, including winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Now they'll celebrate another milestone together.
Kane and Toews will play their 1,000th game as teammates when the Blackhawks face the New York Rangers at United Center on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, ESPN+, SN NOW).
Asked if the time has flown by or if it's felt like 1,000 games, Kane joked, "maybe 2,000."
"Yeah, I'd agree with that statement," Toews said with a laugh. "I guess moments where you think of memories or you see a clip from years past and it looks like it's from another era almost, but at the same time, it's almost Christmas already and it's another year where it's flying by.
"That's the thing, you have to try and slow things down and appreciate and not take things for granted even though you're so much in a rhythm. But at the same time, it's been pretty special to share the ride and be a Blackhawk for as long as I have and have done it with 'Kaner' the whole time. It's been pretty special and we're both pretty thankful for everything that's happened."
Toews and Kane are the 11th set of teammates to play 1,000 regular-season games together and the second active duo to do so, along with Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and forward Anze Kopitar (1,028 games from 2009-present). Kane and Toews' former teammates, defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, are also on that list, playing 1,069 games together from 2006-2020.
Keith said Toews and Kane had a lot of the same characteristics that he and Seabrook had.
"In terms of that internal competition, no matter if you're teammates and best friends, you're always striving to be better. I know me and 'Seabs' certainly had that, and it pushes one another to be better," said Keith, who retired from the NHL on July 12.
"You look at other duos around the League on different teams, like [Pittsburgh Penguins forwards] [Evgeni] Malkin and Sidney Crosby. I think they've taken turns with winning the Conn Smythe trophies. That's a healthy thing for teammates to push each other to be better. I know Kane and Toews certainly do that with one another."
The Blackhawks are 530-346-123 in the games Toews and Kane have played together. The 34-year-olds have combined to factor into 298 goals: Toews has scored 116 goals on which Kane has assisted and Kane has scored 101 goals where Toews has had an assist. Both have gotten an assist on 81 goals.
According to NHL Stats, when Toews and Kane each score a goal in a game, the Blackhawks are 91-9-5 in the regular season and 6-1 in the playoffs. They have played 620 regular-season games in which they have been on the ice at the same time for at least one instance at even-strength for 30 seconds or more. There have been two games with 24 such instances, both in 2010-11, Nov. 6 vs. Atlanta and March 9 against Tampa Bay.
"I mean, coming into a franchise that was hurting and turning it around, obviously with a lot of help but those two guys being the front men and the face men and whatever you want to call it of being the leaders," former Blackhawks broadcaster Eddie Olczyk said. "It's the success individually, the success collectively, team-wise.
"And obviously look at what they've done for the game locally, the impact it's had on youth hockey. I was very much front and center of being a part of the Blackhawks youth hockey camps. We saw it where it was dormant and then all of a sudden, every young boy and girl wanted to grab a hockey stick, put on a Blackhawks sweater and be Kaner or Jonny."
Kane leads the Blackhawks with 22 points (four goals, 18 assists) in 29 games this season and has 1,202 points (434 goals, 768 assists) in 1,136 games with them. Toews has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 28 games this season and 869 points (367 goals, 502 assists) in 1,042 games. Each is in the final season of the eight-year contract he signed on July 9, 2014.
"If you look in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks, and it's a long and rich tradition of hockey here in Chicago and you know, there's Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita and there's Toews and Kane," Blackhawks broadcaster Troy Murray said. Hull and Mikita led the Blackhawks to the 1961 Stanley Cup and both are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"Those are names that generations will remember for years and the impact that Kane and Toews have had on the city of Chicago, not only the franchise but brought this franchise back into relevance, so to speak," Murray said. "Three Stanley Cups, so the whole new generation of fans can appreciate the championships here in Chicago because of those two guys, namely, in large part. So, the impact is very significant of what these guys have meant to the city of Chicago as a duo and to the Blackhawks."
Toews was selected No. 3 in the 2006 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks. Kane was picked No. 1 in the 2007 draft. The two were part of a young core the Blackhawks hoped would bring them back to their former glory. Keith, Seabrook, defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and forward Patrick Sharp were also part of that core but much of the onus fell on Toews and Kane's shoulders. But they said they never felt extra pressure.
"I think we were just like too young and stupid to know any better, to be honest with you," Kane said. "I think we were just excited to play hockey and try to help the team as much as possible.
"It obviously got exciting when the building started filling up and we started winning games. Even toward the end of my rookie season, kind of making a push to the playoffs. The next year, the city was just on fire and all about the Blackhawks and it was really fun to grow up that way. Yeah, obviously we were very fortunate to come to Chicago, a great sports city, an organization like the Blackhawks that's been run so well over the years."
Toews and Kane's first game together was a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 10, 2007. It was Toews' NHL debut and Kane's third game of his rookie season. Their first shift was as linemates, with Tuomo Ruutu, a little more than a minute into that game. Toews scored his first NHL goal on his first shot and Kane had the secondary assist at 13:43 of the first period.
Kane said he and Toews played together a lot during their first few seasons in the League. Later, as the Blackhawks' depth improved, former coach Joel Quenneville would split them up to give opposing teams two scoring threats to try to defend.
"There's a bunch of different players who played with them, be it Sharp or me or [Brandon] Saad," said former NHL forward Bryan Bickell, who won the Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015. "You can go down the line on what makes a good line, but 90 percent of making that line because of those two. They had a skilled playmaker and the workhorse who did everything it takes to make the line work. You throw a couple of plugs like me in there, you make a good line to be successful."
When the Blackhawks needed an offensive kick, Toews and Kane were put back together again. That "nuclear option," as Quenneville used to call their reunions, was employed more often in the playoffs. Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez, who won the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014, has a lot of experience dealing with Kane and Toews separate and together. The Blackhawks and Kings faced each other in the Western Conference Final in 2013 and 2014.
"They can both put the puck in the back of the net but obviously Toews is a real hard-nosed down low," he said. "The tough guy to battle with down low. He's great on face-offs, aside from being great defensively. With Kane, the way he can stick handle, he can move the puck, his vision, the way he can skate, and the way he creates space for himself is unparalleled in the League."
"When they're put together, it's a pretty tough combo. You have to be ready for either of that, maybe a little more aware of one or the other in different parts of the ice. Kane likes to really bring it back and create that space for himself. Then below the dots, Toews makes his presence known too. That's not to say Kane doesn't make his [presence known] down low. They're complete players, they bring something a little bit different and when they're together, they're a tough matchup."
On the ice, the two found success. Off the ice, they had their moments, especially as road roommates early in their careers.
"I mean, you room with someone for five or six years, there are bound to be some battles in there," Kane said. "So it's funny when we kind of look back at those times and talk about certain stories here and there."
The two were also the subject of pranks by Sharp or former forward Adam Burish. Or fellow linemates would try to start arguments between them.
"There were times when we were on a line with 'Buff' [Dustin Byfuglien] and if we were quiet [and] we weren't on each other on the bench, Buff just knew how to stir the pot. He'd usually same something like, 'Kaner, why don't you pass to Toewser there?' And then all of a sudden, we look at each other. He would just get us going. Next thing you know the two of us would be fighting and Buff would just be chuckling and laughing."
Toews and Kane always knew how to drive each other. That competition fueled the Blackhawks to a lot of success when they qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs nine straight seasons from 2009-17.
"I see the relationship as similar to brothers," former Blackhawks assistant coach Marc Crawford said. "I have a lot of brothers, I'm one of seven boys, and I see that relationship that they push each other, that they compete with each other and I just think that the overriding factor of it is that they really care for each other in a funny sort of way.
"They push each other and want to outdo each other. That part is really good. Again, like brothers, the fact that they care for one another, they want to see each other do well, yet much like the [former Vancouver Canucks forwards Daniel and Henrik] Sedins, they like the bragging rights of being a little bit better than the other. It's largely unspoken but I always sensed that it was there."
Kane and Toews helped put the Blackhawks back on the hockey map. Their future here is uncertain, with each on an expiring contract and the Blackhawks (7-18-4) who are last in the Central Division, rebuilding. Whether they're still here after the NHL Trade Deadline on March 3 remains to be seen. Regardless of what happens, it's been quite the journey for both in Chicago.
"It's been a good ride," Kane said. "It's crazy it's been 1,000 games but obviously he's meant a lot to the franchise and the teams over the years with his leadership and being the captain, and the way he drives the team, too. It's been a pleasure to play with him that long."
