Chicago native says when the Blackhawks retire his No. 7 on Feb. 25, it will be the ultimate honor for the Hall-of-Fame defenseman. The often ornery Chelios was traded to the Blackhawks in June 1990, a day after he and fellow former Chicago D-Man Gary Suter had a watery run-in with police. See story from The Hockey News Archive.
When the Blackhawks brought Chris Chelios home to Chicago via a June 29, 1990 trade with the Montréal Canadiens, it brought tears of joy to the eyes of the normally gruff, feisty and often ornery defenseman.
Chelios was 28 when Mike Keenan acquired him in a deal for Denis Savard. A native of the city's South Side, the D-man played with an edge, and was known for being something of an SOB on the ice. He also had skills that allowed him to win the Norris Trophy three times in an NHL career that spanned 26 seasons.
Chelios is still the Blackhawks' all-time penalty minute leader with 1,495, to go along with 92 goals and 487 points in 664 games.
The Blackhawks will retire Chelios' No. 7 jersey in what should be an elaborate ceremony this Sunday, Feb. 25 before they host Detroit. Inducted into the Hockey Hall-of-Fame in 2013, Chelios played 10 seasons with the Red Wings after leaving Chicago via trade in March 1999— and won two of his three Stanley Cups with them.
Patrick Kane Returns Too
The game against Detroit will have the added hoopla of Patrick Kane's first visit to the United Center since the Blackhawks dealt the future Hall-of-Fame forward to the New York Rangers at the 2023 trade deadline. Kane, who signed a free-agent deal with the Red Wings in November, is second only to Stan Mikita on the Blackhawks all-time points list with 1,225.
Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard is up to speed on Kane and Chelios and looks forward to the matchup with the Red Wings. See video and the story below.
From THN Archive: Chelios Returns
Chelios came to to Chicago in a blockbuster deal with Montréal that shipped the beloved Savard back to his hometown as well. Also a Hall-of-Famer, Savard's No. 18 was retired by the Blackhawks in 1998.
The trade with the Canadiens turned out to be emotional for Chelios, as documented in this story from The Hockey News Archive. It also came a day after Chelios and fellow former Blackhawks and University of Wisconsin defenseman Gary Suter had a watery run-in with police in Madison, Wisconsin.
The late Tim Sassone documented it all.
THN Archive is an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 stories for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit THN.com/archiveand subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com
WINDY CITY BRINGS TEARS TO CHELIOS' EYES
By Tim Sassone
Chris Chelios feels like crying again. But this time, it’s tears of joy.
Chelios remembers crying as a 15-year-old when his family moved from Chicago’s south side to San Diego. Those were tears of sorrow. Now, 13 years later, Chelios is coming home to the Windy City and is so happy about it he could cry.
Chelios could hardly believe it when he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks June 29 along with a second-round 1991 draft choice in the blockbuster deal that sent center Denis Savard to the Montreal Canadiens.
“At first, I was upset just because of the fact I was traded, but now I can’t tell you how happy I am to be coming back home to Chicago,” said the 28-year-old defenseman. “I feel very fortunate to be able to come back and play in my home town. I’ve been telling everybody I can’t wait to get on the ice and start playing. I’m nervous again like when I was a rookie.”
Just as happy as Chelios about the deal is his father, Gus, who took his family to California 13 years ago to open a restaurant.
“My dad loves the Blackhawks,” ‘helios said. “I’d be lying to you if I odd you my dad didn’t think it was great that I got traded. He still lives in Jan Diego, but we’re talking about him moving back to Chicago. All my elatives are really happy. They’ve been waiting years for this to happen and it’s unbelievable that it did.
“I was a die-hard Hawks’ fan ever since I started playing hockey when I was seven,” Chelios said. “I never stopped being a fan until I put on a Canadiens’ uniform. Then the Hawks were my second-favorite team, they’re my first favorite now.”
He had 9-22-31 totals in 53 games last season with Montreal. Savard was 27-53-80 in 60 games for the Hawks.
But Chelios’ homecoming was not without its downside. The night before the trade, Chelios was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after an altercation with two plainclothes police officers outside a Madison, Wisc., tavern. Chelios allegedly was caught urinating outside the bar by an officer, who asked for identification. Chelios allegedly continued to urinate and when the officer informed him he was under arrest, a struggle ensued. Calgary Flames’ defenseman Gary Suter, who was with Chelios, allegedly struck one of the officers.
Chelios was scheduled for a pretrial conference Aug. 1 and faced up to 11 months in jail and a $1,100 fine if convicted. Suter was charged with battery.
Chelios became a Blackhawk when Mike Keenan pulled the trigger on his first deal since taking over as the club’s general manager. And what a deal it was. When Keenan traded Savard, he parted with the Hawks’ third all-time leading scorer (1,013 points) and one of the most exciting players in NHL history.
But Savard also was a player who didn’t get along with Keenan. The two had several blow-ups since Keenan came to Chicago two years ago, but Keenan insisted the trade had nothing to do with how he felt about Savard personally.
“I don’t have any personal vendetta or dislike for Denis Savard,” Keenan said.
“It just didn’t work out between Mike and me,” Savard said. “Maybe it was a personal thing, but I’ll never know now. Mike’s a good coach, but I felt some things were pushed too hard at times. That’s the way Mike is and he’s not going to change, and I’m not saying he should. All I know is I wasn’t the only one who had a problem with Mike.”
CHICAGO
TRANSACTIONS
June 29: Denis Savard, C, traded to Montreal for Chris Chelios, D, and second-round draft pick in 1991.
July 6: Duane Sutter, RW, retired named scout for Western Canada. ■