Blackhawks History 101: #2

As the initial frenzy of free agency winds down I needed to think of some ideas to help pass the slow summer days of the NHL offseason.  Today is the first look into some of the sweater numbers in Blackhawks history.  I will look at some of the best and worst players to wear the sweater number of that particular day.  Today we will look at some of the most notable players to wear number 2 in Blackhawks history.

One of the first players to wear #2 was the great Jack Stewart who played for the Hawks from 1950 to 1952, after 12 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.  He was part of the 1943 and 1950 Stanley Cup winning teams in Detroit.  Stewart was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964.

Al Arbour wore #2 for 3 seasons starting in 1958 and ending with winning a Stanley Cup for Chicago in 1961.  Arbour played 14 seasons in the NHL with Detroit, Chicago, Toronto and St. Louis.  He went on to coach the St. Louis Blues for 3 years from 1970-1973.  He then moved on and took over the New York Islanders in 1973-74.  Arbour is best know for leading the Isles to four straight Stanley Cups between 1980-84.  He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986.

Bill White was one of the players to wear #2 for longest as he played for the Hawks for six seasons in the 70s.  White had a career high 38 points (9 G, 29 A) in 1972-73.  He suffered a career ending neck injury during the 1975-76 season.  The following season White was the Blackhawks head coach for 46 games leading them to a 16-24-6 record.

Former Blackhawks assistant GM and current Montreal Candians general manager Marc Bergevin wore #2 during his playing days in Chicago. Beregvin played the first 4 1/2 seasons of his 20 year career for the Blackhawks.  He scored a career high 7 goals during the 1985-86 season.  In November of 1988 he was traded, along with Gary Nylund, to the New York Islanders for “Sleepy” Steve Konroyd and Bob Bassen.

Bryan Marchment wore #2 for 2 1/2 seasons in the early 90’s.  Marchment is better known for the two trades he was involved in more than he was for anything he did on the ice while in Chicago.  He was acquired from the Jets in July of 1991 as part of the deal that sent Troy Murray to Winnipeg.  Fast forward to 1993 where Marchment was traded along with all time great Steve Larmer to the Hartford Whalers.

One of the players the Hawks received in that Larmer deal was Eric Weinrich, who wore #2 from 1994 until 1999.  Weinrich was a solid defenseman for the Hawks as he played on the 2nd defensive pairing behind Chris Chelios and Gary Suter.  In 1996-97 he posted a career high 7 goals, 25 assists and 32 points.  He was a +11 in 32 career playoff games in Chicago.

From 2000 to 2003, Blackhawks fans had to deal with Boris Mironov wearing the #2, or as we called him in the 300 level, Boris Smirnoff.  For some of you younger fans, if you think Drunken Keith is bad when he shows his ugly face, you had to see Smirnoff.  Mironov was involved in a pretty big trade with the Edmonton Oilers in March of 1999.  He came to the Hawks along with Dean McCammond and Jonas Eloffson for Chad Kilger, Daniel Cleary, Ethan Moreau and Christian LaFlamme.  Boy, what a bunch of garbage being exchanged there!

Currently #2 is being worn by 2010 Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith.  Keith has taken a bit of step back since his dream season of 2009-2010 when he won an Olympic gold medal, the Stanley Cup and the Norris in the same season.  Even though he played has declined a bit from that season he is still a highly skilled defenseman.  Keith could go down as the greatest #2 in Blackhawks history if he can recapture a little bit of that 2010 magic.