Sheldon Brookbank Days Until The Blackhawks Season Opener

Jan 19, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman

(17) moves the puck past Boston Bruins right wing

(22) during the first period at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

We had so much fun doing our Countdown to Faceoff series last season that we decided to do it again. The calendar has turned into September ,we look at jersey numbers from past and present as we count down the days until October 9th and opening night against the Dallas Stars.

We are down to #17 and a number worn by a player many disliked for only doing what the coached asked him to do last season. If you ever thought that Joel Quenneville had lost his mind it was last year when to prove a point to Jeremy Morin he decided to play Sheldon Brookbank at forward and the #ProjectBrookbank hashtag on Twitter was created.

Brookbank is a solid third pairing defenseman and that is all.  He is serviceable and waited all summer long for the Hawks to make a roster move to free up salary cap space and re-sign him, but that wasn’t to be and Brookbank decided to take a tryout with the Calgary Flames.

Let’s not forget that Brookbank was 4-0 all-time when filling in for

and

when they were suspended in the playoffs over the last two years, and he also provided the physical enforcement when

tried to be a hockey player last year.

There have been plenty of Blackhawks to wear #17 here is a quick look at some of those former #17’s

1. George Gee-Gee 1945-49 1951-1954 Gee played twice for the Blackhawks with a detour with the Detroit Red Wings.  Gee’s career totals were 551 games with 135 goals and 183 assists.

2. Hec Lalande-1954-1958 Lelande played in 151 NHL games scoring 21 goals and 39 assists.

3. Kenny Wharram-1958-1968 Wharram appeared in 766 games for the Blackhawks scoring 252 goals and 281 assists during his 15 year Blackhawks career.

4. Darryl Maggs-1971-1973 Maggs showed up in 71 games during his career with 7 goals and 4 assists.

5. Alain Daigle-1975-1980 Daigle played his entire 389 NHL game career with the Blackhawks scoring 56 goals and 50 assists.

6. Peter Marsh-1981-1984  Marsh played his last 197 games of his NHL career with the Hawks picking up 24 goals and 42 assists in Chicago.

7. Wayne Presley-1985-1991 Presley was a 2nd round pick by the Hawks in the 1983 draft. Presley played the first 355 games of his NHL career with Chicago scoring 93 goals and 93 assists.

8. Joe Murphy 1993-1996 Murphy appeared in 210 games with 83 goals and 96 assists before heading to the St. Louis Blues

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9. J.P. Dumont-1999-2000 Dumont played in 72 games with the Hawks scoring 19 goals and 14 assists.

10. Wendel Clark-2000 Clark made a brief 13 games stop in Chicago scoring twice in his brief stay.

11. Chris Simon-2002-2003 Simon played in over 700 NHL games with a 61 game stay in the middle with Chicago. Simon picked up 12 goals and 6 assists with the Hawks.

12. Michael Holmqvist-2006-2007 Holmqvist played 2 seasons with Chicago playing in 145 games picking up 16 goals and 17 assists.

13. Kevyn Adams-2008 Adams played his final 27 games of his 540 NHL game career with the Hawks.  He finished off his career with 2 assists with the Hawks.

14. Ryan Johnson-2011 Johnson completed his 701 NHL game career by playing 34 games with Chicago.  During his stop he scored 1 goal and 5 assists.

15. Brendan Morrison-2012 Morrison also finished his career wearing #17 with the Hawks. Morrison played in 934 NHL games scoring 200 goals and 401 assists.

Who’s your favorite #17? Only 17 days left is it October yet?

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