One day after a report surfaced that Jonathan Toews voted against the NHL’s Return to Play plan and Collective Bargaining Agreement extension, Toews said Thursday he actually voted in favor.
“I’ll be completely honest, I don’t know how much I want to get into my reasons why, but I wasn’t one of the guys who voted no,” said Toews, the Blackhawks’ representative in the NHL Players Association.
“I voted yes. If anything, I kind of wanted the guys in our room to educate themselves on what was going on to the best of their ability, and ultimately make their own decision. But deep down, I wanted guys to really think about voting yes. That’s where I stood.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had said on his podcast last week — comments that came to light Wednesday — that Toews and Hurricanes representative Jordan Martinook were the two ‘no’ votes in the NHLPA’s 29-2 approval.
“A couple of guys told me at times they thought Toews was a real pain in the butt for some of the people at the NHLPA, but it was from a place that had good intentions,” Friedman said on the podcast.
But Toews said Thursday that Friedman, generally one of the league’s most trusted and connected insiders, must’ve gotten incorrect information.
“From what I understand, it was Elliotte Friedman who made a comment on a podcast, and I don’t know where he got that from,” Toews said. “I don’t know...who maybe who gave him the impression that I voted no.”
Toews has been in the news constantly since the Hawks training camp started.
First, his comments about COVID-19’s transmissability created a stir last week. “Does anybody really know how and when people catch this thing?” he asked rhetorically at one point.
Then Toews missed half of Monday’s practice and all of Tuesday’s practice, and was declared “unfit to participate” by Jeremy Colliton after the latter. Toews returned to practice Thursday and said his absence was merely “maintenance.”
The confusion about Toews’ vote on the RTP plan is now the third storyline to swirl around the Hawks’ captain.
In addition to denying Friedman’s report, Toews also briefly addressed his controversial coronavirus comments during his interview session Thursday.
“This is a long conversation, and I realize some of my previous comments probably came out the long way,” he said. “It’s easy to cherry-pick that at this point. I’m not sure how much more I can say on that subject.”
