Usually near the beginning of the NHL offseason, players to take a few weeks off to relax, spend time with family and use their millions of dollars to travel places they haven’t already been. The best of players might stick to a light weekly regimen of workouts to keep in shape. And then there’s Jonathan Toews, who is still planning eight-hour practice sessions for himself — on down days.
“I’m embarrassed you guys caught me slacking,” said Toews from his parents’ house in Winnipeg. “Usually I figure eight hours of sleep, two hours for eating, an hour of watching curling and the rest is full-contact scrimmage.”
Toews has gone through three pairs of skates and countless sticks since the Hawks untimely April playoff exit. The only thing to ever cut into his rigorous schedule is inclement weather knocking the power out, and even then he managed a blind bag-skate.
The reason Toews took yesterday off? He says, “Just one of those rare days, you know. Wanted to kick my feet up and do 25,000 leg presses. After that I just kinda felt like bumming around.”
“Don’t know what I’ll do with all this down time. Maybe go anger-up a few bears and take a casual sprint through the woods, eh? Boy, my accent really comes back up here.”
