Chris Chelios Leads Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2013
On Tuesday afternoon, the 2013 Class of Hockey Hall of Fame inductees was announced.
Former Chicago Blackhawks captain Chris Chelios, who was voted in on his first ballot, will be joined by Brendan Shanahan, Scott Niedermayer, Geraldine Heaney and Fred Shero.
Chelios was acquired from Montreal in the trade that sent Denis Savard to the Habs in 1990. He won two Norris Trophies with the Hawks and was a member of the Stanley Cup Final team in 1992. But how he is remembered by Blackhawks fans will forever be tarnished by his accepting a trade to the Detroit Red Wings.
He was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
Way to go Chelios…
As hard as it was to see him leave for DET… I grew up watching this guy and I can’t help but be happy that he will forever be enshrined.
In the late 80s/Early 90’s in Chicago it was Michael Jordan, Mike Singletary, Frank Thomas and Chris Chelios… those where the guys I “wanted to be when i grew up”…
People need to get over it already.
He was a GREAT Hawk and he should get the love and respect a former Hawk Great deserves. It wasn’t his fault the people running the organIzation were idiots and screwed up the team.
For those to young, it was a crime what they did to that team. When you’re voted the worse team in ALL of sports, and the Cubs are voted higher then you, you have hit rock bottom.
Congratulations Cheli
There was a time when Chelios was one of my favorite Hawks. I grew up with that late 80’s early 90’s team. Eddie the Eagle was my favorite Hawk and JR and Chelios were both a close 2nd. But NOW I say with a heavy heart Fuck Chris Chelios, he turned his back on this organization by ASKING for a trade to Detroit and then even worse by taking an office job w the Wings after his playing career ended. I hope he goes in the hall w the Winged Wheel and not the Warrior Headed sweater! I know im in the minority with my feelngs about him but I was glad he was booed on Chelios night cause he fucking deserves it! Time will not heel this wound. Its a shame this POS is a HOF and Lamer isnt!
SSHM, Chelios did not ask to be traded to Detroit. The Hawks knew they where not going to resign him so they rewarded him by trading him to a SC contender. In essence the Hawks were sellers………It is actually JR who turned down the Hawks offer and opted for Free Agency. I don’t hear a lot of bitchin about that.
Fans should be mad the Blackhawks did nothing w/ the two 1st round picks they got for a 37-year-old defenseman, not that he played a decade longer than anyone expected.
SSHM, your a great fan and great blogger, but I think you have this one wrong…Chelios was an amazing player, and one of THE BEST Hawk players ever…with apologies to lots of great DMen in a Hawks uni, none were better than Chelly…he was the best, and maybe the very best epitome of a Blackhawk player…until Toews arrived, no one has touched the hallowed ground that Chelios walked on for me…
This is WELL deserved, and Chelly should be remembered as one of the greatest athletes of all time let alone hockey players…and if I were drafting an ALL TIME team, ahead of Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey, I would select Chelios first on Defence.
In fact, watch the first highlight box that Tab presented…that should tell anyone everything they need to know about Chelly as a Blackhawk…he was not only our best player night in and night out, he was the hardest to play against…Chelios had such respect from the refs, and knew exactly how hard to go before a penalty would be called…the fact that he never won a championship ring here, speaks volumes about who was running this franchise and not Chelios himself…maybe the greatest all around DMan in the history of the game.
I was anxiously awaiting comments from the blog as I know my opinion is very unpopular among most Hawks fans. First let me clarify as a player and as a man Chelios was a legend. I actually had the chance to meet him several times and skated on the same ice as as him and his brother Steve Chelios @ Center Ice of Dupage. The day he was traded was horrible, honestly the 1st time I considered turning in my Blackhawks fan “card”,… Stupid Andres Erickson, Pully and Dollar Bill! I understand the team was being run into the ground during those late 90’s years. However, for me personally, the fact that Chelly was traded to Detroit is really the lesser of the 2 evils. The fact he took a job with them afterwards, thats it! That right there is the day he “became” a Red Wing. He won cups w the Wings, played longer as a Wing then a Hawk and currently works with them, so for that Fuck him and the Winged Wheel he will wear as a HOF player. As I said before I know I am in the minority but ever after all these years I still feel the same dislike towards him now as I did I did then and I’m not sure if that will ever change.
But SSHM, if Rocky and the Hawks organization reached out their arms to Chelly in a significant way, Chelly would accept it immediately…it KILLED him to be driven out of his city…but those were the days of “dollar bill”…brutal memories, but they are over now and Chelly is a legend for this franchise.
When did the hawks offer him a job? So he should work only for the team’s you give him the ok to work for. You need to get over it. I guess Doug Wilson is scum for working for San Jose. geez.
Sorry last comment I just now brought myself to watching both clips. He knows deep down he messed up! He knows he should have NEVER accepted that trade dispite being close to his family, and to a “great orginzation” (Wings) as he said.
He helped them build/cemment a dynasty and win cups at the Hawks expense. You can’t do that and be a Hawks fan as he said he is. The reason I said he knows deep down he messed up is he is ALWAYS having to speak about wearing the winged wheel he always has to bring it up, imagine making a decisions and being asked about it ALWAYS, thats because it was the wrong decision. He might never admit it but it was the wrong decision to accept that trade. You were the fucking captain of your boyhood team and you accepted a trade to your rival? Cmon Chelly really? And your “one of us” no you are not one of us you are one of “them” and it shows! Who pays your salary now? I just hope he goes in wearing the Winged Wheel and not the Indian Head because he doesnt deserve to put on the best jersey in sports despite 9 LEGENDARY yrs and thats a shame!
Chelios was the greatest defenseman I have seen next to Nick Lidstrom in following this sport for nearly 40 years. Very happy for Chelios. Blame Dollar Bill for why Cheli landed in Detroit. And honestly given his accomplishments in Detroit it’s a no brainer that he dons the Redwings jersey upon his induction ceremony.
Chelios was a great Blackhawk – one of the best ever. The fact that he flew in for the Stanley Cup parade in 2010 says a lot about his love for the Indian head.
Rufus,
How great was Lidstrom? I’m amazed at the level he played at for so long. It was incredible. I think the greatest compliment people pay him is when they always start the debate at who is the 2nd best defenseman of all time (i.e. Orr, Bourque, Coffey, Chelios…) because Lidstrom was so awesome.
To Tab’s point, no one in the Blackhawks organization thought Chelios would play at a high level for 7 more years and be in the league for a total of 10. Chelios was a beast…
Finally, comparing the Blackhawks of the late 90s through mid 2000s or really until Rocky took over with any other NHL team is doing that NHL team a disservice.
Cheli managed to get another dig in at Bettman ,when the Comish’s name was brought up
in connection with the voting results, he replied…
“Let’s not mention that name on this call. This is a good day.”
haha, reason enough to like him right there in my book!
Tab,
This is complete speculation on my part, but any chance Kruger hasn’t been signed yet because the Hawks are trying to free a little more cap room to make a larger signing. Maybe get rid of Brookbank and Carcillo (that 2 year contract!) and try to get to 4 mil a year for Grabovski. 2nd Line Center with a 50% f-o win rate last year.
Just me being crazy.
If Kruger wants a dollar amount that would require the Hawks to clear more than $2.5M in cap space, he needs to go away.
re: Grabovsky – I would be shocked if he was an option after they re-signed Handzus.
Chelios had the chance to jump off a sinking ship & was smart enough to take it. I understand SSHM’s sentiment but I don’t fault Cheli for looking out for #1. Would anyone fault Ernie Banks if he had the chance to flee the Cubs to a WC contender? Dick Butkus…..?? Gale Sayers….? Bobby Hull…..? oh wait he did……
Now if Chelios left & bad mouthed the Hawks organization &/or players it would be a different story, be he has been respectful & classy.
Just saw a story on puck daddy about Beiber & the cup….. the troubled child was allowed to stand on the Hawk’s logo……… Now that is something to pissed about instead of Chelios……..
JZ I agree 100%. I bet Cheli would have stayed but the goofs that were running the place probably told him he was washed up and done. Actually he helped the Hawks by going to a team that gave them 2 1st Rd picks. The problem was those idiots screwed that up as well.
And way they let that no talent punk stand on the logo is beyond me. McDonough needs to find out who at the UC let that happen.
He stood on a piece of freaking carpet guys, calm down.
I still can’t believe how long #7 played. What conditioning to be playing 25+ minutes into your 40’s.
I thought Bieber was a Kings fan? Blunk was right there watching it all happen.
Should McDonough fire the guy that let Bieber stand on the carpet?
I’m actually stupidly annoyed at people being upset about this. If you’re a player, that’s one thing. They sell that Indian pretty hard. For fans to be upset about the biggest pop star in the world standing on a piece of carpet? Silly.
These same fans that are upset about Bieber standing on a piece of carpet are probably the same ones that go crazy cheering for the wife beating, Nazi-loving, Bobby Hull.
These same fans that are upset about Bieber standing on a piece of carpet probably don’t even care about the Chelios DUI from 2010.
Care about things that matter.
/end rant
SSHM: Hey brother, you gotta step back and reconsider your view on Chelly. Seriously. I understand the sentiment, and like you grew up in Chicago, watched the great teams of the 60’s at the barn as a kid, played/play the game and have bled for the Indian for how many brutal years until the past 4-5 years? I have also met Chris and he’s a top notch guy, a true Chicagoan, and a Blackhawk thru and thru. In fact, I’d argue there has never been a player that reflects positively on Chicago as a sports town in ANY sport than Chelios. Tough, skilled, full of heart and grit, laid it on the line every nite.. I mean, c’mon, for me he’s in the class of Butkus, Ditka, Jordan, DHampton, etc..
Further, the booing he got on his night at the UC was totally uncalled for and he handled it perfectly. Yes, it also broke my heart to see him leave and go to the hated Wings, but distain and bitterness for those days is more appropriately directed at Bill Wirtz than the great players of the era. Wirtz chased him out of town due to his refusal to air games on TV and pay players what the market called for… In the process he fleeced the city and fans of the chance to watch one of the NHL’s greatest players continue his career. The fact we saw great talent leave on after the other and that the Hawks never won a cup under that regime in the “modern era” is clearly on the old man. (In that context, I am extraordinarily grateful to Rocky for the complete and immediate reversal in the franchise since Sr’s passing.)
Congrats to Chelly on his induction to the HOF. Regardless of which jersey he wears he will always be one of the greatest Blackhawks to play the game and we were lucky to have watched him while he was here.
I think chelios was a true hawk, one of our greatest. SrBrad alluded to dollar bill Wirtz ….my recollection is that cheli was the last of Belfour, Roenick and Keenan to want more out of his contract than Wirtz Sr/ Pulford would give so they buried him by sending him to the Last Place On Earth he wanted to be. Like the line from Moneyball says “adapt or die”. Cheli was a hockey player so he adapted. What was he supposed to do, quit? I hope he eventually assumes his rightful place with hull, mikita and Esposito in the hawk press box.
As stated by many Cheli was a true Hawk and solid hockey player in all facets of the game.
He did what he had to do based on the management at the time. Thanks to Rocky for turning this around.
He belongs in the HOF.
All of this talk did spark my memory of a classic hit on Brian Propp when Cheli was with the Habs. They have hated him in Philly to this day.
Also you can thank the Golden Jet and Curt Flood for free agency. The difference was Bobby kept playing and the Cardinals told Flood to take a hike. Heckuva center fielder with Lou Brock in left.
I just thought of this after reading the comments. Maybe Rocky Wirtz should be put in the HHOF for reviving the Hawks franchise.