If you went to bed before the end of the Pearl Jam show at the United Center last night and didn’t look at your phone this morning, you might have missed the announcement that the Blackhawks will retire Chris Chelios’ No. 7 in a ceremony before they play the Red Wings on Feb. 25 this season. The Blackhawks also announced some new guidelines the organization will use when considering players for the honor — and said more are coming. Which is awesome because there are some players who meet the criteria (retired, great players, made a huge impact on the Blackhawks, etc) who deserve to have their jerseys in the rafters (Steve Larmer and Doug Wilson specifically).
But I wanted to take a moment to talk about a couple things that continue to come up in the wake of the announcement﷽ last night.
First, to the Blackhawks fans who are still unhappy that Cheli accepted a trade to Detroit. That was in 1999 — 24 years ago. We all need to move on. And, when you look at the way the great players of the 1990s moved on throughout that decade — Larmer, Jeremy Roenick, Ed Belfour and others — Chelios was the last one standing here. AND, perhaps most importantly, if a general manager in today’s NHL got two first-round picks for a 37-year-old defenseman, he would have a statue built almost immediately. It isn’t Chelios’ fault the best deal the Blackhawks were offered was by the Red Wings and the Hawks’ front office wasted those two picks.
Secondly, regarding the fans asking about why Brent Seabrook isn’t being honored at the same time since he wore the same number and did it in Chicago longer and was a key part of three championships: I have no doubt Seabs will get his. He checks every box in the new guidelines except two: he isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame (yet, I’ve argued he should be eventually) and, more importantly, he isn’t officially retired yet. He’s still on the Lightning’s payroll for one more year. When it’s time, Seabrook will be in the rafters. I also submit one more consideration:
Chelios met with the media on Friday morning, which was clearly rough on the poor guy after being at the Pearl Jam concert last night. He spoke about how important the Blackhawks are in his career and some of the people who made an impact on him. I was interested that he singled out Mike Keenan as not only a coach who meant a lot to him, but also someone who texted him last night after the announcement.
It appears NHL coaches and GMs are in town for a one-day meeting. That’s kinda cool (be nice if you see anyone familiar, maybe do a man-on-the-street interview with Kyle Dubas?) but this was an interesting note from Eric Engels this morning. Former Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville and general manager Stan Bowman are here to speak with the group. They’re both still trying to be reinstated by the commissioner’s office and get back in the game.
The US Hockey Hall of Fame announced it’s induction class for this year, and there are a few names that will bring up memories for Blackhawks fans. Dustin Brown and the Kings had some epic battles with the Blackhawks during the dynasty years. Congrats to the new class!
xxx
