"He is probably a coach's dream and he will be a coach's dream in the NHL," said Canada's Head Coach, Craig Hartsburg. "He is very intense and he wants to do what is right for the team and he practices the same way. He comes to practice to improve. He comes to practice to get better and he is just going to get better and better because of it."
There is a reason why Hartsburg isn't worried about such high praise swelling Toews' head. It just won't happen. There is no ego. Just hard work shift after shift, game after game, night after night.
[...]
"He's just got big eyes, bright eyes," Hartsburg said. "He wants information, he wants to be taught. He wants to be coached. He loves his teammates, he talks to them on the bench. He competes, pays a big price and he's got skill."
[...]
That drive to get better every day started at an early age. When Toews was a 10-year-old growing up in Winnipeg, someone told him how NHL legend Guy Lafleur would skate in the middle of the night. Toews decided he'd do the same thing so at 3 a.m. in a blistering cold winter morning, he slipped on his skates and headed out to the backyard rink.
"My dad woke up, came out and said, 'What the heck are you doing out here?"' Toews said. "Then I called it quits because I was freezing and I couldn't move."
I am...actually somewhat surprised that he agreed to come back inside.
(Also featured in this article: Ryan O'Marra gazing at Jonny's eyes and admiring their "ferocity.")
