Chicago Sports Memories: Pierre Pilote

Showing posts with label Pierre Pilote. Show all posts

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Duncan Keith

Duncan Keith, who was traded to the Edmonton Oilers this week, is ranked by Hockey-Reference.com as the sixth greatest Blackhawk of all time, after Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Patrick Kane, and Glenn Hall. Keith is first among defensemen, ahead of Hall of Famers Doug Wilson and Pierre Pilote and his perennial backline partner Brent Seabrook.

DUNCAN KEITH

Keith played 16 years in a Blackhawk sweater and ranks second, after Mikita, in games played for the franchise (Seabrook is third).

In addition to winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015, Keith won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman in 2010 and 2014 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2015. He was an Olympic gold medalist for Canada in 2010 and 2014, and he was named among the 100 greatest NHL players of all time in 2017. It seems certain that sweater number 2 will never be worn again by a Blackhawk—except when Keith himself wears it on the night it is retired.

Although Keith seemed to grow tired of hearing about it and talking about it over the years, an incident from Game 4 of the Western Conference Final in 2010 showed us all we needed to know about his toughness and heart. Keith dropped to one knee trying to block a shot—and succeeded, catching the puck square in the mouth.

"They [his teammates] didn't say much when I came off," said Keith, "because they didn't want to scare me about the way it looked. No stitches. Just stuck a bunch of needles in there and froze it all up." Minus seven teeth, Keith returned to the ice just in time to assist on the game-tying goal with barely a minute remaining in the second period. The Hawks scored two unanswered goals in the third period to complete a sweep over the San Jose Sharks and qualify for their first Stanley Cup Final since 1992.

"It's just missing teeth," Keith said through his ravaged mouth after the game. "It's a long way from the heart."

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

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

The Puck Stops Here

The Blackhawks of the early 1960s were blessed with three outstanding young forwards (Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Bill Hay) and two rock-solid veteran defensemen (Pierre Pilote and Elmer “Moose” Vasko). But the glue that held the whole enterprise together was goaltender Glenn Hall, who was so respected around the league that both teammates and opponents called him “Mr. Goalie.”

GLENN HALL

After the Hawks won the 1961 Stanley Cup, they went through the traditional handshake line with the runner-up Detroit Red Wings, received the greatest trophy in team sports, and then paid Hall the ultimate compliment--lifting him to their shoulders and carrying him off the ice. Mr. Goalie had allowed just 12 goals in the last eight games of the playoffs.

Hall did not win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1961 because the award was not introduced until 1965. (He did win it in 1968 as a member of the St. Louis Blues, even though the Blues were swept in the Stanley Cup Final series by the Montreal Canadiens.) He won the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goalie three times, was a first-team All-Star seven times, and finished in the top ten for the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP eight times.

Throughout his career, Hall was entirely fearless in doing whatever it took to stop the puck. He pioneered the “butterfly” style of goaltending, in which the goalie drops to his knees with his shin pads splayed out in either direction. This practice tended to put his face directly in range not only of the puck, which was more or less a given, but of swinging sticks as well. Hall nonetheless disdained the protective masks that other goalies had taken to wearing.

A year and a half after leading the Hawks to the Stanley Cup, Hall was forced to leave a game against the Boston Bruins because of a back injury. Denis DeJordy replaced him. It was November 7, 1962, and the date was noteworthy because it marked the first time since the start of the 1955-56 season that Hall had been off the ice during a regular-season or playoff game. He had played—without a mask and without a break—for 552 consecutive games, or more than seven full seasons (the first two were for Detroit, the rest for the Hawks).

“Hall had played the most demanding position in sports,” George Vass wrote in his 1970 history of the Blackhawks, “for 31,195 minutes and 33 seconds. He had played despite severe injuries, despite the constant tension that kept his stomach in turmoil and brought him to the bench on occasion to throw up. He explained his unbelievable tenacity as a case of simply doing his job. ‘Sure, there have been times in the last seven years when perhaps I wasn’t in condition to play,’ Hall said, ‘but making that decision is not my job. My job is to stop the puck.’”

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