OK, let’s get back to some sports talk… yay! The NHL inducted some new members into their Hall of Fame the other day. I’m happy to say that the Chicago Blackhawks were well represented.
Going chronologically, Doug Wilson got the call. Although I was only 1 year old when he first took the ice for the Blackhawks back in 1977, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways. Those were the dark days… meaning, unless you paid for the games, either on TV or in person, you weren’t going to see the Blackhawks play… unless of course you went by somebody’s house who had the games, or maybe a restaurant that showed them. Doug played through the 1990-1991 season with the Blackhawks; nice long career. And oh yeah, the Blackhawks were pretty good during that time frame too. From a quick glance at his wikipedia page, he won the Norris Trophy in 1982, was NHL 1st team one time, and NHL 2nd team twice. He made 8 all star teams and is still the Blackhawks leader in career goals and points for a defenseman. Of course I had to double check how Duncan Keith compares. He’s 159 points behind him!!! Dunc may catch him in assists, needing only 45 to do so, but forget about the goals and points. Doug Wilson has 124 more goals than Keith, and currently 169 more points; I guess this Wilson guy was legit. Oh yeah, and Keith has already played 200 more games than him in a Hawks uniform! Wowza!
The 2nd member of the Blackhawks that got the call is a lot more familiar. Coming out of the dark ages, putting the Blackhawks on TV, zoned us all in for the past decade plus. There was of course Toews and Kane, but in 2009 the Blackhawks may have signed their biggest free agent in history. Marian Hossa certainly deserves the Hall call. I thought I had wrote about him before; let me post it here:
This was more than 5 years ago, but the feelings are still the same. Since I wrote this, Hossa helped the Hawks win their 3rd Cup. I know we had to deal with the cap, and everybody has been getting older, but it’s no coincidence that the Blackhawks haven’t been the same since Hossa. In that last Cup year, Marian played all 82 games; in his last 2 years with the Hawks, he missed a combined 28 games… still not too bad. Hossa’s last year with the Blackhawks was the last year the Hawks made the playoffs. OK, ok, I guess we’ll say that streak is over now, with the boys making the COVID influenced qualifying round which will hopefully be starting in about a month, but you get what I’m saying.
Marian was front and center in the Blackhawks dynasty. Again, it’s no coincidence that his arrival in 2009 helped the Hawks take that next step, winning the Cup in his first year with the team. We were young, hungry, with our two young superstars in Kane and Toews; adding someone like Hossa with over 700 NHL points already in the bank before he took the ice with the Indian head sweater on, someone like Hossa who hadn’t lifted the Cup and came painstakingly close the previous two years… oh yeah, I love it when a plan comes together. The first image of Hossa that jumps to my mind is him sliding on the ice, pumping his arms, after scoring the OT game winner against Nashville in the first round of that first Cup year. After showing my son the highlights, that’s one of his go to moves now… That memory will be etched in the minds of Hawks fans forever, along with all his contributions over the years. If he didn’t get in first ballot, I think we would have lost our minds. It’s quite the contrast from the 1st inductee above, who had to wait 24 years until the call.
I guess it doesn’t matter when you get it, unless you’re dead of course; more importantly though, is IF you get that call. Very proud to see two more Chicago Blackhawks recognized for their outstanding careers, both of which I’m sure droves of Hawks fans can cosign on. Welcome to the Hall Hawks! Congratulations!
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