As the Olympic Break approaches, many Blackhawks fans are excited about the potential of the current roster but also have some level of apprehension when looking towards the future. Considering the salary cap concerns coming next summer, the odds are that the Blackhawks could be active in the trade market and Hawks fans don’t want to see their favorite player leave… especially if you just spent a couple hundred dollars on a jersey. With that in mind, between now and the March 3 trade deadline, we’re going to look back at some major trades in the history of the Blackhawks, and how they shaped the history of the franchise.
In the 1989-90 season, the Blackhawks had a fantastic season. Under new head coach Mike Keenan, the team stormed to the top of the Norris Division with 88 points. Behind Steve Thomas (team-high 40 goals), Steve Larmer (team-high 90 points) and Denis Savard (80 points in only 60 games), the Hawks had one of the most dynamic offenses in the league. They ended the season second in the Campbell Conference, and had the veteran leadership in place to make a deep run throught he playoffs.
They would do precisely that, defeating the Minnesota North Stars 4-3 and then the St. Louis Blues 4-3 before an epic six-game series with the Edmonton Oilers. The Hawks lost the series to the Oilers, being outscored 25-20 in the six games. One of the surprises from that playoff run was a young netminder that was called up for the playoffs. Ed Belfour posted a 4-2 record with an impressive 2.49 goals against average in that postseason after not appearing in a regular season game for the Hawks.
There was a feeling that something special was coming in the future for the Blackhawks.
Then, on June 29, 1990, newly-named General Manager Keenan made his first bold move to shake up the roster.
Keenan dealt alternate captain Savard to the Montreal Canadiens for Chris Chelios and a second round pick in the 1991 draft (which was used to select LW Mike Pomichter). The player coming back to Chicago had a fantastic resume, but leaving was an icon.
Savard was the third overall player selected in the 1980 draft (behind Doug Wickenheiser and Dave Babych), which was the highest the Blackhawks had selected in team history until Patrick Kane was taken with the first overall pick 27 years later. He set the franchise record with 75 points in his rookie season, created the “Spin-O-Rama” and was in the middle of one of the best lines in the team’s history with Larmer and Al Secord.
In the decade Savard had spent in Chicago, he had established himself as the best scorer the franchise had seen since Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita. He scored over 100 points four times in the 1980s, with an incredible 131 in 1987-88 (still the franchise record). He set the team record for assists in a season with 87 in 1981-82, and tied the mark in the 1987-88 season.
Moving Savard, who was just 29-years old at the time, was hard for any Hawks fan to stomach.
Coming back in the deal was Chelios, who wasn’t a slouch. Chelios, then 28, had played six full seasons for the Habs and had served as their co-captain with legend Guy Carbonneau in the 1989-90 season. In his six seasons, Chelios had scored 307 points (72 G, 235 A) in 390 games. He was a member of the All Rookie Team in 1985, finishing second in the Calder Trophy voting to some guy named Mario Lemieux. After the 1985-87 season, Chelios won his first Stanley Cup with Montreal. After the 1988-89 season, Chelios won his first Norris Trophy.
How did the aftermath of the trade work out?
Savard would win the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993, and would then spend less than two seasons with Tampa Bay before being dealt back to the Blackhawks for a sixth round pick. In the four-plus seasons Savard spent away from the Windy City, he would score 242 points (96 G, 146 A) in 315 games. He was clearly not as productive as he was in Chicago, where he had scored 1,013 points (309 G, 704 A) in just 736 games.
Chelios, on the other hand, took his game to another level. He would win the Norris Trophy two more times, in 1993 and 1996, and would serve as the team’s captain from 1995-1999. With young players like Belfour and Jeremy Roenick, he helped transition the Hawks from the high-flying teams of the 1980s into the 1990s and kept them competitive. The Hawks would advance to the Stanley Cup Finals once while Chelios was in Chicago, losing to Lemieux’s Penguins in 1992. He would play in six All Star Games as a member of the Blackhawks before being traded to Detroit in March of 1999 for Anders Eriksson and two first-round draft picks.
When the trade went down, Hawks fans were stung by the loss of one of the most popular players in franchise history. But the return on the transaction was a player that is still held in the highest regard and who, if he ever retires, could see his jersey number hanging from the rafters at the United Center right next to Savard’s.
On Sunday in Detroit, the Blackhawks won a fantastic game 4-3 in a shootout. The action was back-and-forth, there was great goaltending for both teams, and even the casual fan had to get excited when Kris Versteeg threw down with Patrick Eaves.This was a win in the middle of January, though. Certainly a win 60 percent of the way into the regular season doesn’t get a monkey off the back of an entire franchise… right?
For years, the Red Wings have owned the Blackhawks. While “Dollar Bill” Wirtz was throwing the fans down the drain at the expense of squeezing every last penny out of the 4,000 people at each game, Detroit was stamping their name on the Stanley Cup. For 18 consecutive years, the Red Wings have been in the playoffs; indeed, they have finished in first or second place in the Central Division in every season since 1990-91.
Last year was special for Chicago hockey. After spending most of this decade getting ready for baseball during the final six weeks of the season, Blackhawks fans had something to cheer for into late April and May. The magical run came to an end just short of the Cup Finals though… and it was at the hands of, you guessed it, Detroit.
Let’s jump in the Flashback Machine and think about this storyline, though. A young Chicago team gets bullied for a decade by a team from Detroit, and can’t seem to get past them to achieve their ultimate goal of a championship. Ring any bells?
Yeah, I thought so.
From the 1987-88 season through the 1989-90 season, the Bulls had to settle for a notch on the Pistons’ championship belt. Each year, Michael Jordan continued to build his legend as one of the great individual players in the NBA, but he couldn’t seem to get past Chuck Daly and his “Jordan Rules.”
It wasn’t until 1990-91 that Jordan matured enough to realize that ball movement and a team game was what it would take to beat the hated rival from Michigan. That year, Jordan’s Bulls swept the Pistons out of the Eastern Conference Finals and started the last great dynasty in professional sports (sorry, Patriots’ fans; win six in eight years and we’ll talk).
Sunday had a very similar feeling to that day in 1991 when Isiah Thomas led his team to the showers before the final seconds had ticked off the clock. No, the Blackhawks didn’t send the Red Wings home for the summer, but they did make a bold statement.
The win was the third consecutive victory over the Wings for the Blackhawks, and the second straight in Detroit. In December, the Blackhawks shut out the Red Wings 3-0 twice in four days, with the first win coming in Chicago and the second on the road in Motor City.
But those two wins were against a Red Wings team that had every excuse in the book. Most of their best players were injured, and the games were right after Christmas. Certainly once the Red Wings had their roster back together they would be able to handle their business.
Which brings us back to Sunday.
After a hard-fought game in Columbus on Saturday afternoon, a game in which the Blackhawks exceptional defense allowed five goals to a last-place team, coach Joel Quenneville switched goaltenders and hoped to receive a better effort in front of the net.
The Red Wings had many of their stars back, including Henrik Zetterberg, and came out hitting and shooting. The fight between Versteeg and Eaves likely put a smile on Bill Laimbeer’s face somewhere, and the Wings put more shots on net than any Blackhawks opponent this year (38).
Just like Jordan’s Bulls, the Blackhawks looked better than the Red Wings early. The Hawks quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the veteran Red Wings never seemed to miss a beat. Slowly, Detroit skated back into the game and early in the second period they had tied the Blackhawks at two.
The broadcast crew for NBC, which did a miserable job of butchering names and providing inaccurate information throughout the game, even made a point to ask the little bald guy standing between the benches if the Blackhawks were rattled by the big, bad Red Wings storming back to tie the game.
The answer was no.
Then again, when Eaves tied the game in the third period, the question was raised again: were the young Blackhawks in shock that their lead was gone again?
The answer was, again, no.
In a dramatic overtime period that opened with an incredible Niemi save just seconds into the frame, the Hawks never looked frustrated or out of sorts. They just kept fighting like it was any other game, and certainly looked like the team dictating the pace for most of the game.
When Patrick Sharp ended the game in the fourth round of the shootout, the excitement from the Hawks bench went crazy. And they should have, considering this was the second game of an eight-game road trip on back-to-back days. Niemi was magnificent in the net, and the Blackhawks won a tough road game.
But to someone who watched the Bulls work for years to get over the hill, this victory felt like more. Sunday the Blackhawks took the best shot the Red Wings had, against most of their best players, and won in a playoff atmosphere.
Of course the full story on this year’s Blackhawks, and whether or not they can get past Detroit in April, won’t be written for four more months. But Sunday’s game could be a turning point for the organization.
While the goaltending situation for team Canada was fairly predictable, there were a few surprises when the rosters were announced on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks were expected to have Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews playing in Vancouver this February, but Keith’s partner on the blue line, Brent Seabrook, was supposedly on the bubble.
When Hockey Canada President Steve Yzerman announced the selected defensemen, there was some shock. Jay Bouwmeester and Dion Phaneuf did not make the roster, while Seabrook joined Keith. Perhaps the biggest surprise was 20-year old Drew Doughty of the LA Kings, but putting Seabrook on the roster with Keith is a strong indication that some of the most respected minds in the hockey world think a great deal of the Blackhawks defense.
Toews was expected to make the Canadian team, especially after a strong stretch of games in front of Yzerman. The Blackhawks 21-year old captain will indeed be a member of a loaded offensive group for Canada, which includes Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Joe Thornton at center. Patrick Sharp was considered a long shot for the team and did not end up making the final cut.
Toews, Keith and Seabrook join Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky as Olympians on the Blackhawks roster. The USA announces their roster before the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.
Other Team Canada members from the Central Division include defenseman Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators and Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Scott Neidermeyer of the Anaheim Ducks will be Canada’s captain, with Philadelphia’s Chris Pronger, Calgary’s Jerome Iginla and Crosby serving as the alternates.
Sunday night, the Blackhawks will celebrate the career of Jeremy Roenick by honoring him with a “Heritage Night.” The thought of celebrating Roenick’s career got the wheels turning… so many memories, so many great highlights, such an ugly divorce.
What do you remember most about the Jeremy Roenick Era of the Chicago Blackhawks?
Roenick was drafted eighth overall in 1988 and climbed to the NHL level late that season. He pitched in 18 points in 20 games and was effective in the playoffs his rookie season.
Roenick’s first full season in the NHL, 1989-90, saw him score 26 goals and 40 assists as the Blackhawks improved 22 points in the standings. He was starting to establish himself as a leader on an aging team that was going through some dramatic changes.
After the 1990 season, in part because of Roenick’s emergence as a scoring threat, the Blackhawks traded long-time fan favorite Denis Savard to Montreal for Chris Chelios and a second round draft pick. Roenick backed up the faith (or penny pinching) or management in 1990-91 by scoring 41 goals, 53 assists (94 points) and he was selected to play in the legendary All Star Game at the Chicago Stadium that season. The Hawks jumped another 18 points to win the Presidents’ Trophy.
During the ‘90-’91 season, Roenick led the team with 10 game-winning goals, and he teamed up with Steve Larmer (who had 101 points that year) to give the Hawks one of the most potent offenses in the league.
The next season, 1991-92, was magic for the Blackhawks, as they advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Roenick scored 103 points that year (53 goals, 50 assists). He played in his second All Star Game, and was firmly established as one of the elite scoring forwards in the NHL.
The two seasons that followed that campaign made Roenick a legend in Chicago and a league-wide household name. JR had back-to-back 107-point seasons. That total was the highest for a Blackhawks player not named Savard since Bobby Hull’s incredible 107-point season in 1968-69.
Despite the team’s successes of the early 1990s, this was a time filled with frustration from Hawks players and the fans. The trade of Savard for Chelios ended up bringing another eventual Chicago legend home, but unloading one of the best players in franchise history wasn’t the easiest trade to stomach.
Again in large part due to Roenick having established himself as the team’s top scorer, the team moved another fan favorite, Steve Larmer, with Bryan March to Hartford for Eric Weinrich and Patrick Poulin, on November 2, 1993. Larmer hadn’t missed a game, or the playoffs, in a Chicago uniform in over a decade, but Dollar Bill Wirtz was beginning to show an unwillingness to keep a great core together. Larmer wanted to win the Cup, and Wirtz wasn’t showing any signs of keeping the Hawks competitive.
The reasons for Larmer’s departure seemed to effect many of the young Hawks as they entered the mid-1990s. So did Wirtz being one of the most recklessly cheap owners in the history of professional sports.
That 1993-94 season was Roenick’s fourth All Star Game, and he set career highs in power play goals (24) and short handed goals (five). He was +21, and ranked by a number of major publications as one of the top players in the league. But the Hawks fell back further in the standings, something Larmer wanted nothing to do with, and it was appearing that an implosion of the roster was coming.
It was in 1994 that Roenick took another step in his evolution as a legend: NHL ‘94 made Roenick a god.
In the movie “Swingers,” Vince Vaughn absolutely wrecks another guy on the game, referring to Roenick by name a couple times (including a supposed fight between Roenick and Wayne Gretzky on the great video game). It will be interesting to see if Vaughn, who was in attendance on Wednesday night at the United Center, makes another appearance for Roenick’s Heritage Night on Sunday.
Another development that began the erosion of Roenick’s roster status in Chicago in 1993-94 was the arrival of Tony Amonte. Just as Roenick did with Savard and Larmer, over the next couple seasons it would be Amonte’s talent, coupled with Roenick’s expiring contract, started to make the superstar expendable.
Roenick didn’t help himself, though. During the strike, Roenick infamously told the media that fans believing pro athletes were spoiled could “kiss my ass.” Unfortunately, pairing Roenick’s fan-directed comments with Wirtz was poison to a great fan base.
The final issue that would haunt the Blackhawks franchise was Wirtz’s disrespect for his players and the fans after the strike that shortened the 1994-95 season. Roenick scored 34 points in 33 games that season season (despite missing 15 games with leg issues), and the Hawks advanced all the way to the Conference Finals again. But 1995-96 was the final year of Roenick’s contract, and would be the end of his Chicago career.
Despite missing the final 11 games in 1996, Roenick led the team with 32 goals. When that season ended, Roenick ranked eighth all time with 596 points for the Blackhawks organization. His 267 goals were sixth all time (eventually eclipsed by one by Amonte), and he ranked in the organization’s top ten in assists as well.
That wasn’t good enough for Wirtz, though. Roenick wanted to get paid like a Top Ten hockey player, and Wirtz was running (and paying for) a Bottom Ten organization.
Roenick was traded to Phoenix on August 16, 1996 for Alexei Zhamnov and Craig Mills.
While the the organization tried to spin this as a move forward, it was clear that Bob Pulford and Wirtz were destroying what was one of the best young teams in the NHL piece by piece. Over the next three seasons, the Hawks would unload Ed Belfour, Chris Chelios and most of their paying fans in an effort to become an anonymous, losing franchise.
Roenick was sold as “washed up” and having lost a step on the ice, but Phoenix knew better. Roenick played in five All Star Games in the 12 seasons he played after leaving Chicago, and would prove to be a clutch playoff performer time after time.
Roenick would also continue stirring the pot after leaving Chicago. Even in his final season, one that saw him as an irrelevant player on the ice, Roenick made headlines when he claimed that Detroit head coach Mike Babcock hated American players, and refused to play Chelios because he was born in the US.
Do you remember Roenick for being a great scorer?
Do you remember Roenick for being one of those Chicago players that “got away”?
Do you remember Roenick for being a controversy waiting to happen?
Or…
Do you remember Roenick for being a god on NHL ‘94?
The point isn’t whether or not you remember Roenick, it’s how he’s placed in your memory. There is no questioning Roenick’s place among the great Blackhawks of all time, and Sunday night the team will celebrate his achievements.
