Top 10 Blackhawks 1965-2016

Photo Courtesy of Bing

I’ve been watching sports, Chicago sports in particular, for over 50 years.  With that in mind, I’ve been putting together some lists.  Here’s my list of the greatest Blackhawks from 1965 until now.

You’ll notice there are no goalies on the list.  Tony Esposito might have made it if Jacques Lemaire hadn’t beaten him from the center ice in the seventh game of the 1971 Stanley Cup Final.  After that, there was a feeling of impending doom amongst Hawks fans.  And rightfully so as it turned out.  But I’m not bitter.  On to better hockey times and my Top 10 Blackhawks, 1965-2017.

10.  Brent Seabrook:  Sometimes Seabrook looks like he’s skating in quicksand and he’s probably not as good as Chris Chelios was for the Hawks, but for me Cups matter.  Seabrook has been on three Stanley Cup winners and has had some huge overtime goals.  That’s why he gets the nod over some other Hawks who had better regular season stats and were probably better players.

9.  Steve Larmer:  Larmer scored 406 goals in his 11 years with the Hawks.  The results were outstanding, but I also appreciated the businesslike way played the game.  He definitely had more substance than flash.  That’s the type of player I appreciate.

8.  Doug Wilson:  I might have Doug listed a little too high here, but he was a tremendous offensive player for defenseman.  Doug maxed out at 39 goals during the 1981-82 season.  It seems like 38 of those were slap shots from the point.  I’m trying not to let his signing of Antti Niemi to an offer sheet as the GM of the San Jose Sharks influence my thinking..  That’s me, fair and balanced.

7.  Jeremy Roenick:  Roenick was an offensive force has well as a physical player.  Roenick scored 53 goals for the Hawks in the 1991-92 season and 50 the following year.  After having some gargantuan years for the Hawks, he had the audacity to want to get paid.  Thus Jeremy Roenick, Phoenix Coyote . But the Hawks got Alexi Zhamnov in return and who can forget him.  I said Alexi Zhamnov.  It’s not surprising the Hawks weren’t winning Cups back then.

6   Dennis Savard:  Savy was a fun player to watch, but above that, he was a productive player.  I remembered Savard as producing in the playoffs with the Hawks, and that was indeed the case.  He averaged well over a point a game during the playoffs and did it with style.  I’m glad Dennis won a Cup, it’s a shame he had to go to the Canadians to do it.

5.  Duncan Keith:  I’ve grown in my appreciation of Keith over the years.  His performance in the 2015 playoffs elevated his status in the eyes of many Hawks fans.  He’s another great two way defenseman and plays with quickness more than physicality.  He fits Hawks coach, Joel Quennville’s system perfectly.

4  Patrick Kane:  I made this list for the first time some months ago.  At that time I had Kane listed lower because of off ice issues.  Those haven’t resurfaced since then so Kane is slated closer to where he should be, based on his on ice production.   Kane is obviously a tremendous offensive player.  On top of that his performance in the clutch is about as good as any player I can think of.  In addition, he seems to be growing as a two way player.  He’s listed as one of the top 100 NHL players of all time.  Blackhawks fans, enjoy.  

 3.  Stan Mikita:  Stan was truly a great player, but with advent of some of the multi-cup winning Hawks, Stan might drop a bit in these rankings.  Still, Stan was the winner of three Art Ross and two Hart Memorial Trophies.  Stan was no doubt overshadowed by Bobby Hull in his time with the Hawks.

2.  Bobby Hull:  If you look at the remarks I made about Patrick Kane I suspect it’s a good thing for Bobby that he played before the day of social media.  Bobby was the most dynamic and prolific scorer in Hawks history.  There was an air of anticipation every time Bobby touched the puck.  His end to end rushes were the most exciting plays I remember in my 50 years of watching Blackhawks hockey.    I still wonder how the Hawks won only one Stanley Cup in the years they had both Hull and Mikita and some other good players in the days of a six team league.

1.  Jonathan Toews.  Jonathan Toews is a fantastic hockey player.  Above that he’s a winner and a leader.  If you need a big goal, Toews can do that.  Go to the front of the net to create traffic, he can do that.  Win a big faceoff?  Check.  Kill a penalty?  Check.  Win three Cups and counting?  Check.  Jonathan Toews is my pick for the best Hawk in the last 50 years.

Those are my top 10.  Who are yours?


You might also enjoy my baseball project.