All-Time Teams: Blackhawks

The Collector's NHL All-Time Teams series finishes week one with another flagship franchise. Here's the All-Time roster for the Chicago Blackhawks:

The Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cups, half of them in the past decade. Chicago defeated the Flyers in the 2010 final, the Bruins in 2013, and the Lightning in 2015.

1st Line

Left Wing - Bobby Hull The "Golden Jet" is Chicago's all-time leading goal scorer with 604 and second in team history with 1,153 points. The Hall of Famer won back-to-back MVP awards in 1965 and 1966, and led the NHL in goal scoring seven times before famously leaving the Hawks for the WHA's Winnipeg Jets in 1972.

Center - Stan Mikita Slovak-born and Canadian-trained, Stan Mikita sits atop the Blackhawks' leader board in games played, assists, plus/minus, and total points. The Hall of Famer ranks 15th on the NHL's all-time list with 1,467 points - and fourth all-time among players who spent their entire career with one franchise.

Right Wing - Patrick Kane The #1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, Patrick Kane has won the Calder trophy as rookie of the year, a Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP, a Hart trophy as league MVP, and three Stanley Cups. He scored his 1,000th NHL point during the 2019-20 season.

2nd Line

Left Wing - Doug Bentley Like Mikita and Kane, Doug Bentley was an undersized forward who won a scoring title for Chicago. The Hall of Famer led the NHL in goals and points in 1942-43, then scored a league-leading 38 goals (in 50 games) a year later. He led the league in assists in 1948 and 1949.

Center - Denis Savard An underrated superstar during the era of Gretzky and Lemieux, Denis Savard posted five seasons of 100+ points for the Blackhawks from 1982-1988. A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Savard's 719 assists for the Blackhawks are second in team history, and his 1,096 points for Chicago are third in team annals.

Right Wing - Steve Larmer Five-time 40-goal scorer ended his ironman streak of eleven seasons without missing a game in 1993 over a contract dispute with Hawks owner "Dollar" Bill Wirtz. Larmer's holdout resulted in a trade to the Rangers - and a Stanley Cup victory in 1994.

3rd Line

Left Wing - Dennis Hull Younger brother of Bobby(and uncle of Brett) was a top-notch player in his own right. Dennis is seventh in Blackhawks history with 298 goals, eighth with 640 points, and tenth in games played with 904.

Center - Jeremy Roenick An all-time great in video game lore, "J.R." posted back-to-back 50-goal seasons and three straight 100-point seasons in the high-scoring early 1990s. Though his 596 points for Chicago are eleventh in team history, no Hawk has scored more in fewer games. Like baseball's Curt Schilling, he's a borderline Hall of Famer whose crude comments have clouded his case for enshrinement.

Right Wing - Tony Amonte Among the great American snipers of all time, Amonte scored over 40 goals in a season three times from 1997 to 2000. His 268 goals as a Blackhawk are one ahead of Roenick for eighth in team history, and only two Hawks have more short-handed goals.

4th Line

Left Wing -  Patrick Sharp Versatile forward helped the Hawks win three Stanley Cups in the 2010s. Scored over 30 goals four times for Chicago, leading all playoff scorers with ten goals in 2013. Sharp's scoring output for the franchise is nearly identical to Kenny Wharram, who played the majority of his career in a six-team league.

Center - Jonathan Toews Named one of the NHL's 100 Greatest Players in 2017, Jonathan Toews fits in nicely on the fourth line of this All-Time team based on his defensive excellence. The Blackhawks' current captain and leader of the three-time champions, Toews won the Conn Smythe trophy in 2010 and the Selke trophy in 2013.

Right Wing - Bill Mosienko Hall of Fame winger is tenth in Hawks history with 258 goals; only Roenick and Amonte scored over 250 in fewer games for the franchise. Won the Lady Byng trophy for sportsmanship in 1945 after playing an entire 50-game season without committing a single penalty.

 

Spares - Pit Martin, Kenny Wharram

Martin is ninth in Blackhawks annals with 627 points, including a career-high 90 in 1972-73. Wharram is a player I knew nothing about before researching this roster. Compare his Chicago stats to Patrick Sharp's: in 766 games Wharram totalled 252 goals and 281 assists for 533 points. Sharp scored one fewer point in 17 fewer contests. Jim Pappin, Eric Nesterenko, and Dirk Graham were among a handful of Hawks who just missed the cut.

Defense Pair 1

 

Chris Chelios - Pierre Pilote

The Blackhawks boast four Norris trophy-winning defencemen, and it was a tough task deciding where to place each player. Chelios, a three-time winner, is the franchise leader in penalty minutes with 1,495. He's in the team's top ten in assists and Defensive Point Shares. Pilote, also a three-time Norris winner, is fifth among Blackhawks in plus/minus and DPS, and ninth in assists. Both are in the Hall of of Fame.

Defense Pair 2

 

Doug Wilson - Duncan Keith

A 2020 Hall of Fame inductee, Wilson is the finest offensive defenseman in the storied history of the Blackhawks. The 1981 Norris trophy winner is fourth in team history with 554 assists and seventh with 779 points. Keith will likely join him in the Hall one day. The two-time Norris trophy winner and MVP of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs is tenth in team history with 610 points and only Stan Mikita has played more games for Chicago.

Defense Pair 3

Bob Murray - Brent Seabrook

Only five players have worn the Blackhawk uniform more than Murray, who dished out 21 more assists than Seabrook in 106 fewer games. Seabrook is third in Hawks history in games played and second in Defensive Point Shares. The three-time Stanley Cup champion can still add to his totals in 2021.

Spare - Pat Stapleton

Perhaps the best seventh defenseman we've seen on these rosters, Pat Stapleton scored over 30 points and posted a positive plus/minus rating in each of his eight seasons in Chicago. His career +201 rating is the highest among blueliners in Blackhawk history. Stapleton briefly coached teenage prospects Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers before the franchise folded in 1978. This All-Time roster could use more toughness, but Keith Magnuson missed too many games and didn't score enough to make the cut.

Goalies

Starter - Tony Esposito

Backup - Glenn Hall

This goaltending tandem is as talented as any you'll find on an All-Time team. Nicknamed "Tony O" for his penchant for pitching shutouts, Esposito won three Vezina trophies, led the league in shutouts three times, and retired with the third-most wins in NHL history. Hall is ahead of him on the NHL's leaderboard for games played and shutouts - and won three Vezinas himself. Known as "Mr. Goalie" for his remarkable durability, Hall led the expansion St. Louis Blues to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals late in his career.

 

Head Coach: Joel Quenneville**  Captain: Jonathan Toews

Only Scotty Bowman has coached and won more NHL games than Quenneville, the bench boss behind the Blackhawks' return to glory a decade ago. The current head coach of the Florida Panthers, "Coach Q" is second to Billy Reay among Chicago coaches in games and wins, but Reay never won a Stanley Cup.

 

**also head coach of another All-Time Team

I hope you'll join us tomorrow for our next All-Time Team, the Colorado Avalanche.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

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