In 1981-82, he had a ridiculous 39 goals and 85 points, winning the Norris Trophy in the process. The 2020 inductee racked up 779 points in 938 games over 14 seasons in Chicago. If being a Hall of Famer is the new criteria for Blackhawks jersey retirements, then the team has no more reasons for Wilson’s exclusion. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images) 5. Steve Larmer is honored with “One More Shift” before a Blackhawks game on Dec. His “One More Shift” a few years ago was a start. 28’s absence from the rafters is unacceptable, and inexplicable. He’s been wrongly forgotten by the Hockey Hall of Fame committee, which is inundated with qualified candidates and limited to four choices in the men’s player category every year. After bursting onto the scene with a 43-goal rookie campaign, Larmer scored at least 28 goals in all 11 of his seasons in Chicago, scoring at least 30 in nine of those seasons and at least 40 in five of them. But he had historic talent to go with his historic durability. From the fall of 1982 through the spring of 1993, Larmer played in every game the Blackhawks played, a remarkable iron-man streak that was snapped by a contract dispute, not an injury. The fact that we’re still arguing about Larmer is a testament to just how stingy the Blackhawks have been with jersey retirements. To this day, his Conn Smythe-winning playoff run in 2015 - when the Blackhawks were fundamentally down to four defensemen for the Western Conference final and Stanley Cup Final, remains the most impressive individual performance I’ve ever seen. He never put up the kind of numbers that Cale Makar and Roman Josi are posting this season, but he was a two-time 60-point scorer and an absolute workhorse who drove the Blackhawks offense with his brilliant skating and quick passing. Defensemen can be harder to quantify, but Keith was the engine that made everything go. I could make a convincing argument that Keith, not Kane, is the best player in Blackhawks history. Throw in all the face-of-the-franchise stuff, and Toews is a no-brainer. During the 2013 season, the Blackhawks outscored opponents 44-16 at 5-on-5 with Toews on the ice. ![]() But he was an all-world player - a point-a-game guy as recently as three years ago, and an indefatigable two-way force. Was he ever at Sidney Crosby’s or Connor McDavid’s level? No. Somewhere, lost amid all the eye-rolling that goes on when you talk about Toews’ intangibles and the gnashing of teeth that goes on when you talk about his decline in recent seasons, we all seem to have lost sight of just how freaking good Toews was at the height of his powers. Regardless of what happens a year from now (the guess here is he sticks around and sets all the franchise scoring records), Kane’s 88 is iconic. Mikita and Hull each had two Hart trophies to Kane’s one, but Kane can throw in a Conn Smythe and two more Stanley Cups than his predecessors. Setting aside the theory (one I very much subscribe to) that the worst players in the league in 2022 would absolutely dominate the league to a frightening degree if they were instantly transported to the 1960s, nobody in franchise history can match Kane’s skills, his showmanship or his resume. That’s not a slight on Stan Mikita or Bobby Hull - or even his contemporaries during the Stanley Cup years. Kane is the greatest player in Blackhawks history. With that in mind, let’s break down the power rankings for future jersey retirements, from the locks to the long shots. ![]() Eyeballing it, there’s room for 10 more without bumping into the team banners for the Blackhawks and Bulls. On the north side of the United Center, there are just seven numbers hanging from the rafters - Glenn Hall (1), Pierre Pilote (3), Keith Magnuson (3), Bobby Hull (9), Denis Savard (18), Stan Mikita (21) and Tony Esposito (35) - awkwardly spaced because there’s so much room. ![]() But now, a crowded United Center ceiling is looking a lot more plausible. For years, I assumed Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith would have their jerseys retired, and there’d be an additional banner commemorating “The Core,” the seven three-time champions. Regardless, it’s hard to look at Hossa’s honor and not think the door suddenly has been opened for future jersey retirements - both to honor the modern-era stars and to right some wrongs from the past. The Blackhawks are going to be bad for a while, and jersey-retirement ceremonies sell tickets.The new regime, led by team CEO Danny Wirtz and president of business operations Jaime Faulkner, simply has a different mindset about retiring jerseys than John McDonough did.Perhaps a Stanley Cup (or three) in Chicago and a plaque in Toronto is simply the bar to clear. Hossa was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year.
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