Chicago Sports Memories: Ed Belfour

Monday, December 13, 2021

Shining Between the Pipes

The Blackhawks are well represented on the list of winningest goalies in National Hockey League history. Among the most prominent Hawks netminders of the past six or seven decades, only Corey Crawford does not rank among the all-time leaders in career regular-season victories. Glenn Hall, Tony Esposito, Ed Belfour, and Dominik Hasek do.

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY

And so does Marc-Andre Fleury, who is only the third goalie of all time to log 500 victories. He reached that milestone last Thursday night with a 2-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens, the team he idolized while growing up just an hour from their rink. Canadiens fans chanted Fleury’s name as the clock ticked down and gave him a standing ovation after the horn sounded.

“I don’t know why,” Fleury said, “but in this building I’ve always had a tough time winning games. It meant a lot to have so many people from Quebec being proud of me being from here and achieving this goal.”

In the dressing room, the humble Fleury grabbed the WWE-style belt that goes to the Hawks’ most valuable player of each winning game and presented it to Jonathan Toews, in honor of the captain’s first goal this season. Reasoning that Fleury’s 500th victory (a shutout, no less) was the greater achievement, Toews gave the belt right back to Fleury.

Fleury already has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup three times from his days with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s outstanding goalie of 2020-21 belongs to him thanks to his performances for the Vegas Golden Knights.

He has won 375 games for the Penguins, 117 for the Knights, and eight (so far) for the Hawks.

Below is the current list of the NHL’s all-time leaders in regular-season wins by goalies. (Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of victories achieved in a Blackhawks sweater.)

Goalie Years Wins

1. Martin Brodeur 1991 - 2015 691

2. Patrick Roy 1984 - 2003 551

3. Marc-Andre Fleury 2003 - 500 (8)

4. Roberto Luongo 1999 - 2019 489

5. Ed Belfour 1988 - 2007 484 (201)

6. Henrik Lundqvist 2005 - 2020 459

7. Curtis Joseph 1989 - 2009 454

8. Terry Sawchuk 1949 - 1970 445

9. Jacques Plante 1952 - 1973 437

10. Tony Esposito 1968 - 1984 423 (418)

11. Glenn Hall 1952 - 1971 407 (276)

12. Grant Fuhr 1981 - 2000 403

13. Chris Osgood 1993 - 2011 401

14. Ryan Miller 2002 - 391

15. Dominik Hasek 1990 - 2008 389 (13)

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

Monday, August 10, 2020

Chicago Blackhawks Trophy Case

No member of the Blackhawks ever won the Conn Smythe Trophy, emblematic of the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs, during its first 45 years of existence. The award was introduced in 1965, four years after the Hawks' last Stanley Cup championship prior to 2010. Now there are three recent Stanley Cups in the Hawks' trophy case, and (not coincidentally) three Conn Smythes as well.

Below is a recap of the honors the Blackhawks have won over the years. Stay tuned for a future post in which we review those enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Blackhawks retired numbers:

1 - Glenn Hall

3 - Keith Magnuson

3 - Pierre Pilote

9 - Bobby Hull

18 - Denis Savard

21 - Stan Mikita

35 - Tony Esposito

Stanley Cup champion head coaches:

1934 - Tommy Gorman

1938 - Bill Stewart

1961 - Rudy Pilous