Late on Thursday night we learned that Hall of Famer Chris Chelios will have his jersey retired by the Chicago Blackhawks in February. “Rocky wanted Chris to be the next Blackhawk to have his jersey retired and would have loved to see this moment,” Blackhawks chairman Danny Wirtz said in the team’s statement.
Chelios played nine years for the Blackhawks and was a great captain for the team. He also won the Norris Trophy twice while representing his hometown team. If you’re a fan in the 38-55 age demographic, Chelios was a huge part of your fandom in the 1990s. And your heart broke when he was traded to Detroit.
He will wbe the ninth Blackhawks player to have hꦰis number𝔉 retired, joining: Glenn Hall (#1), Pierre Pilote (#3), Keith Magnusson (#3), Bobby Hull (#9), Denis Savard (#18), Stan Mikita (#21), Tony Esposito (#31) and Marian Hossa (#81).
In the Blackhawks’ press release announcing Chelios’ jersey retirement, the organization indicates new guidelines are in place to celebrate more careers with banners at the United Center.
With Chelios being the ninth Blackhawk꧂s jersey retired, this continues an organizational jersey retirement plan that began last year with Hossa’s celebration. That plan defines jersey retirement as “a player who is amongst the most important individual players of their era to Chicago, based on their on-ice performance and their lifetime contributions to the game of hockey and the Blackhawks organization.” Internal eligibility guidelines have been established for future jersey retire𓆏ments and fans can expect more celebrations in years to come.
Ben Pope at the had some additional information regarding specifics of the standards for players’ jerseys to get retired:
Those standards, per sources, include that a player must be retired from hockey for at least thrꦰee years (not including long-term injured reserve); must have spent at least eight years with the Hawks; must have played more games for the Hawks than any other team, with a minimum of 500 Hawks games (400 for goaltenders); and must either have played at least 1,000 games in his overall career (700 for goaltenders) or have been enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, among other standards.
But t♓hose standards 𒅌just set minimums, meaning that on-ice excellence, awards, All-Star selections and Cup rings will remain the biggest factors. Players’ off-ice contributions (such as broadcasting for the team), influence on the sport of hockey and personal character will also be considered, per sources.
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