Yesterday I talked about the impact Patrick Kane had on the franchise and what it means for him to return to the United Center. Tonight we have the second part of this special day as the Hawks will officially retire Chris Chelios’s number 7, and he will forever be remembered as a Chicago Blackhawk legend. I think the fan base is split on the Hawks decision to retire his number. For some fans, number 7 was Brent Seabrook, the man who was the Ying to Duncan Keiths Yang. For others, Chelios was the reason you tuned in to Hawks games during a time when there wasn’t much going on with this team in terms of success. For me, Chelios represents an era that I will always remember as the time I fell in love with the game of hockey. The leader of the core of players who deserved to win a Stanley Cup in Chicago. I will always hold some of my closest memories of watching games with my late father, as he tried to turn me into a hockey fan and get me involved in this amazing game. It's funny how people who don’t follow the sport will look at you like you're nuts because it's just a game or just a person, but when you take a step back and really look at it, it's so much more, and because of that, you will always hold these players to a different level, and Chelios is always the root of my memories.

Chris Chelios is arguably the best American-born defenseman to ever lace them up. A playing career that spanned 31 years and was kicked off with the Moose Jaw Canucks of the SJHL would see him play until he was 48 years old, and if you look at him today, you could even argue that he can still give you a solid 14 minutes of ice time if need be. He is a three-time Norris winner (two in Chicago), an 11-time All-Star (8 with the Hawks), a three-time Stanley Cup winner, a Hockey Hall of Fame member, a four-time member of the USA Olympic Hockey Team (winning silver in 2002), holds the record for most playoff games played (266), and is the Hawks all-time leader in penalty minutes (1,495), which is truly an underrated stat. If it could be done in the game of hockey, Chelios did it.

Chris Chelios got to live the dream of every Chicago area hockey player of playing not only in the NHL but for the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a tough pill to swallow when he was dealt to the Red Wings in March of 1999, but it stung more when he re-signed there again and again, especially after famously saying he would rather retire than play in Detroit. Looking at it now, it was the best thing for him and his career, as he would go on to win multiple Stanley Cups and really lock down his place in hockey history as an all-time great. If anything, he helped make the Chicago/Detroit rivalry better because when the Wings came up on the schedule, it meant it was time to put Chelios in his place, even though that never happened.

Tonight will be a night that is much deserved; it was one I wasn’t sure was going to happen, and when it started to seem like it was possible, I thought it was going to look much different having two players heading to the rafters at the same time. As a Hawks fan who grew up watching this team in the 90s, this is a night that I cannot wait for, and I cannot wait for the next time I can head down to the UC and see number 7 up in its rightful place among the legends in the rafters.

Check out the latest WCBPodcast

Join the Discussion: » 371 Comments » Post New Comment

» Hawks Lockdown Vlasic

» Finding The Good in The Bad

» One More Time Hawks vs Kings

» Vegas Baby! Hawks vs Knights

» Game Day Hawks vs Canes and Draft Lottery Update