Toews missed season due to chronic immune response syndrome

Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews shed some light Wednesday on the previously undisclosed medical issue that kept him off the ice for the entire 2020-21 NHL season, and he said he's working his way toward a return.

"I just think there's a lot of things that just kind of piled up, where my body just fell apart," Toews said in a video. "So what they're calling it was chronic immune response syndrome, where I just couldn't quite recover and my immune system was reacting to everything that I did."

"Any kind of stress, anything that I would do throughout the day, it was always kind of a stress response," he continued. "So, took some time. That was the frustrating part, was not really knowing when or how we were gonna get over the hump. "

Toews was ruled out indefinitely in late December and said at the time he felt "drained and lethargic." The Blackhawks' captain thinks his bout with COVID-19 in February 2020 could have precipitated his ensuing illness.

"I have a hard time mentioning the word COVID because then everyone’s asking about it, and that's going to be the headline," Toews told The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. "So I'm trying to stay away from that. And I'm not a doctor, but from what I've learned about a lot of these COVID long-haulers is that a lot of them had pre-existing conditions or some kind of stress they're dealing with, and all of a sudden, (COVID) is the straw that breaks the camel's back.

"That's why I look at this thing as a whole. I think a lot of things just came to a head. My body has been under so much stress for a long time. I've had some different times where I just hit the wall. I don't think I ever really recovered the way I should."

Toews posted 60 points in 70 regular-season games during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign before authoring a vintage playoff performance in the bubble; he averaged a point per game through nine postseason contests as Chicago surprisingly topped the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 1.

Toews has spent his entire career with the Blackhawks, who drafted him third overall in 2006. While captaining the franchise, Toews has captured three Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, and a Selke while registering 815 points in 943 games. The 33-year-old has two seasons remaining on his contract.