Column: Jonathan Toews punctuates end of the season with a question mark about his future — but it won’t be with Chicago Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews was practically a kid himself when he happened to meet Tim McGinnis’ son, Charlie, who had a chance meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks star in 2010.

Toews had just won the Stanley Cup for the first time, and he and some of his teammates were playing at Klein Creek Golf Club in Winfield when some young fans spotted them, McGinnis said.

“He called the house and said, ‘Bring my Jonathan Toews jersey. We’re all going to try to see him,’ ” the Wheaton resident recalled. “And we’re like, ‘Seriously?’ “

The boys waited at the edge of the course until Toews and company arrived, then started shouting his name.

“He got out of his cart, he walked over to where this group of like 20 (high school and middle school) kids were,” McGinnis said. “He spent time and talked to all of them, signed everything they had, took time out of his golf game. Took pictures, the whole bit. And right there you’ve got Blackhawks fans for life. …

“My son’s now close to 30 years old. He’s got that jersey and he’ll never give that up.”

McGinnis and his buddy Bill Swanson, both retired chemists from the same company, were wearing No. 19 jerseys Monday, chowing down during the first intermission and sharing Toews memories.

McGinnis plans to attend the season finale Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, and Swanson said he would do his best to make it to the United Center as well.

“He’s my favorite player … and this might be his last game,” McGinnis said.

Thursday morning, Hawks GM Kyle Davidson announced the team would not be re-signing Toews in the offseason, calling it a “difficult conversation.”

Toews has been heavily weighing retirement after sitting out February and March, saying a recurrence of energy-draining chronic immune inflammatory syndrome and long COVID-19 made it a grind to keep playing.

He was activated from injured reserve April 1 and has played six games since then, averaging 17 1/2 minutes.

“Honestly, I think he will retire because I just don’t think he can do it anymore, and I think he knows he can’t do it anymore, which has got to be really hard for him,” Swanson said. “But he knows when it’s time, and he’ll do what’s right for him.”

When it comes to his future, Toews has played his cards close to the vest — while being ambiguous.

“I feel like I’ve answered that one quite a few times here (lately),” Toews said Monday. “And like I said, I don’t really have an answer right now.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the last few days of the season with this group and not thinking that far ahead.”

Yet when asked about watching longtime running mate Patrick Kane have fun playing with the playoff-bound New York Rangers, Toews allowed himself to entertain a similar situation.

“Definitely a little bit” of longing, Toews said. “It’s easy to think in terms of hypotheticals of whether you’d like to be in a different city, a new situation, kind of a fresh start and just what that would feel like and the energy that would give you. But everyone’s different, and (I’m) happy for Kaner that he’s doing well.

“I’m excited to watch him play some good hockey with a really good team down the stretch. For myself, not really there yet. So we’ll see.”

As it stands, Toews heads into the finale having played 52 games and recording 14 goals and 16 assists. But the numbers — which Toews has said don’t meet his standards — don’t really matter in the grand scheme.

He would have so many hurdles to cross to keep going.

Toews would have to consider the cumulative cost to his body, which he said became a day-to-day battle to gear up for games and practices.

Asked how he has been feeling lately, Toews said: “Definitely been better. But everyone in here, it’s been a long season and guys are playing through stuff. … It’s just the nature of the game.”

Despite Toews not announcing his plans, fans will acknowledge the three-time champion’s career during the finale Thursday, just in case. The team said it “1,000%” will hold ceremonies for Toews and Kane at the United Center in the future.

“We want to make sure that our fan base can honor them because they are so loved by the city of Chicago, they are so loved by our fan base, we absolutely have to create a moment where we allow our fans to be able to share that with them to thank them and honor them for everything that they’ve done,” Hawks president of business operations Jaime Faulkner told the Tribune. “We absolutely are planning to celebrate Jonathan, whenever that time comes, (and) we will absolutely celebrate Patrick Kane when he comes back to this building next year.”

Words of advice: If you want to see Toews play in person one last time, your best bet would be to head to the UC on Thursday.

Toews certainly sounds as if he’ll savor the moment.

“It’s one of those things that doesn’t fully sink in until after it’s over,” he said. “And you reminisce to the big moments when you win the Stanley Cup and you know everything (that has) happened around you is going to be a memory before you know it, so you’re trying to soak it in.

“So in a sense it’s like that, but obviously it’s different. But just trying to be present and enjoy everything.”