Blackhawks By the Numbers

The Blackhawks are one of the the NHL's legendary "Original Six" franchises, are in their 95th season of play, and have enjoyed a recent run in which they won the Stanley Cup three times in six years--equaling the number of times they captured the Cup in the previous 83 seasons. 

     For no particular reason, we thought it would be fun to name the greatest Blackhawks by sweater number, so here goes. (Asterisks indicate retired numbers.)

     No player ever wore No. 35 for the Blackhawks before Tony Esposito, and no one has ever worn it after him. Likewise, Patrick Kane is the first and last Hawk player who will ever wear No. 88. It also seems likely that numbers 2, 19, 50, and 81 have each been worn by the last player who will ever do so.

     Please note that there are many numbers beyond 45 that have never been worn by a Blackhawk or have been worn by very few players, none of whom made much of an impact. Those numbers are not represented below.

 

 

THE FIRST NUMBER RETIRED BY THE BLACKHAWKS.

 

  1. * Glenn Hall, G, 1958 - 1967

  2. Duncan Keith, D, 2005 - present

  3. * Pierre Pilote, D, 1955 - 1968

  4. Keith Brown, D, 1979 - 1993

  5. Phil Russell, D, 1972 - 1979

  6. Bob Murray, D, 1975 - 1990

  7. Brent Seabrook, D, 2005 - 2020

  8. Bill Mosienko, RW, 1941 - 1951

  9. * Bobby Hull, LW, 1957 - 1972

10. Patrick Sharp, LW, 2005 - 2018

11. Doug Mohns, LW/D, 1964 - 1971

12. Pat "Whitey" Stapleton, D, 1965 - 1973

13. Alex Zhamnov, C, 1996 - 2004

14. Doug Bentley, LW, 1939 - 1952

15. Eric Nesterenko, RW, 1956 - 1972

16. Chico Maki, RW, 1961 - 1976

17. Ken Wharram, RW/C, 1951 - 1969

18. * Denis Savard, C, 1980 - 1990, 1994 - 1997

19. Jonathan Toews, C, 2007 - present

20. Doug Jarrett, D, 1964 - 1975

21. * Stan Mikita, C, 1958 - 1980

22. Grant Mulvey, RW, 1974 - 1983

23. Behn Wilson, D, 1983 - 1988

24. Doug Wilson, D, 1977 - 1991

25. Cam Barker, D, 2005 - 2010

26. Steve Sullivan, RW, 1999 - 2004

27. Jeremy Roenick, C, 1989 - 1996

28. Steve Larmer, RW, 1981 - 1993

29. Bryan Bickell, LW, 2007 - 2016

30. Ed Belfour, G, 1988 - 1997

31. Antti Niemi, G, 2009 - 2010

32. Kris Versteeg, RW, 2007 - 2010, 2013 - 2015

33. Dirk Graham, RW, 1987 - 1995

34. Tony Horacek, LW, 1992 - 1995

35. * Tony Esposito, G, 1969 - 1984

36. Dave Bolland, C, 2007 - 2013

37. Adam Burish, RW, 2006 - 2010

38. Cristobal Huet, G, 2008 - 2010

39. Nikolai Khabibulin, G, 2005 - 2009, 2013

40. Darren Pang, G, 1985, 1987 - 1989

41. Jocelyn Thibault, G, 1998 - 2004

42. Jon Klemm, D, 2001 - 2003

43. James Wisniewski, D, 2005 - 2009

44. Patrick Poulin, C, 1993 - 1996

46. Colin Fraser, C, 2008 - 2010

50. Corey Crawford, G, 2006 - 2020

51. Brian Campbell, D, 2008 - 2011, 2016 - 2017

52. Dustin Byfuglien, D, 2005 - 2010

55. Eric Daze, RW, 1995 - 2005

56. Erik Gustafsson, D, 2015 - 2020

57. Trevor van Riemsdyk, D, 2014 - 2017

60. Collin Delia, G, 2018 - present

65. Andrew Shaw, C, 2011 - 2016, 2019 - present

72. Artemi Panarin, LW, 2015 - 2017

77. Kirby Dach, C, 2019 - present

81. Marian Hossa, RW, 2009 - 2017

82. Tomas Kopecky, C, 2009 - 2011

86. Tuevo Teravainen, C, 2014 - 2016

88. Patrick Kane, RW, 2007 - present

92. Bernie Nichols, C, 1994 - 1996

93. Doug Gilmour, C, 1998 - 2000

 

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2011 Chicago Sports Memories Awards

Play of the Year: Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks, April 27

JONATHAN TOEWS

     After spotting the Vancouver Canucks the first three games of their first-round playoff series, the Hawks roared back to take the next three contests, forcing a Game 7 on April 27.
     In that game, the Hawks trailed 1-0 as the clock wound down to the two-minute mark in the third period. Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews took possession of the puck off an errant Vanvouver pass at center ice, circled, then moved in on the left wing. As he was being dragged down by two Canucks defenders, Toews slid the puck across to Marian Hossa, whose backhanded attempt was stoppped by goalie Roberto Luongo.
     Unfortunately for Luongo, the rebound landed in front of Toews, who poked it into the net as he himself skidded face-first along the ice. There was 1:56 remaining in regulation, and it looked as if the Hawks might pull off a miracle and capture the series after all. They ended up losing in overtime, but they demonstrated the heart and resilience that will contimue to be their trademark for years to come with Toews as their captain and Joel Quenneville as head coach.

JAY CUTLER

Game of the Year: Bears vs. Green Bay Packers, January 23

     For the first 90 years of their existence, the Bears met their ancient rivals from up north only once in posteason play, in 1941 when the two teams tied for the Western Division title and needed a special playoff game to decide which would go to the NFL championship game.
     The Bears and Packers met for the second time in postseason play this past January, again with a trip to the NFL championship game (now known as the Super Bowl) riding on the outcome.
     In the NFC title game at Soldier Field on January 23, a knee injury forced Bears quarterback Jay Cutler out of the game early in the third quarter with the Bears trailing 14-0. Afterwards, Cutler had to endure ridiculous questions about why he hadn't been able to continue with a torn MCL (medial collateral ligament)!
     The Bears got to within 14-7 early in the fourth quarter, but finally went down to defeat 21-14. The biggest Chicago game of the year and of the past several years ended in frustration and recrimination. Meanwhile, the Packers went on to win the Super Bowl.       

DERRICK ROSE

Player of the Year: Derrick Rose, Bulls

     The third-year point guard carried the Bulls to the NBA's best regular-season record at 62-20 and in so doing became the youngest winner of the league's Most Valuable Player award at only 22. The Bulls made the conference finals, and they have justifiably high hopes again as they enter the truncated 2011-12 season.
     Rose's play on the court is truly jaw-dropping, but what makes him so much more impressive is his maturity, dignity, and humility. You might lump it all together under one word: class. Fame and fortune have not changed Rose at all. If anything, they have made him even more respectful and accountable to his teammates, to the game of basketball, and to those less fortunate than himself.
     Is it all too good to be true? We'll have plenty of time to find out, because Rose will be with the Bulls for a long time. For now, we'll close with a quote from Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf: "If you don't see something special in Derrick Rose, then you're blind."

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order):
Marian Hossa, Blackhawks; Patrick Kane, Blackhawks; Paul Konerko, White Sox; Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks; Brian Urlacher, Bears.