Chicago Blackhawks: 76 Days Until Banner Raising

We had so much fun doing our Countdown to Faceoff series last season that we decided to do it again.  In case you’re new to the series, we’ll do a roster preview as we count down the days until the Chicago Blackhawks raise their 6th Stanley Cup Banner on October 7th season opener against the New York Rangers.

After getting some new numbers the past two seasons in the 80’s and 90’s, we are again in the lull of numbers after you hit Paul Coffey‘s 77 until you get to the 50’s.  There will be a few jersey numbers we hit but there won’t be a whole lot in our countdown the next week or so.

After doing this countdown for the past few years we have tried to throw in all-time lists of Chicago Blackhawks records when we haven’t had a present or past jersey to discuss. So today we will take a look at the Chicago Blackhawks regular season and post season All-time penalty minute lists

Regular Season Penalty Minutes

1. Chris Chelios-1,495
2. Keith Magnuson-1,442
3. Al Secord-1,426
4. Dave Manson-1,332
5. Phil Russell-1,288
6. Stan Mikita-1,270
7. Bob Probert-1,210
8. Pierre Pilote-1,205
9. Eric Nesterenko-1,012
10. Denis Savard– 1,005

Playoff Penalty Minutes

1. Al Secord-266
2. Denis Savard-209
3. Dave Manson– 203
4. Keith Brown-184
5. Stan Mikita-169
6. Keith Magnuson-164
7. Chris Chelios-133
8. Phil Russell-132
9. Adam Creighton-113
10. Troy Murray-112

It sure doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that this is a totally different era of hockey with no present Chicago Blackhawks even getting close to these lists. In fact with all the playoff games the Chicago Blackhawks have played since 2009 you would think someone would be approaching the playoff list, but the closest active player to any list is Andrew Shaw‘s 98 playoff penalty minutes.

The current Blackhawks don’t play the style that their ancestors did which was fun to watch most nights, but in the end the three Stanley Cups going above Jonathan Toews head is far more superior than a few fights!

More from All Time Blackhawks

• Blackhawks’ Legend Niklas Hjalmarsson Retires After 14 Seasons
• Blackhawks: The five longest tenured captains in team history
• Blackhawks News: Andrew Shaw Retires At Age 29
• Best Blackhawks Goalie of All-Time: Esposito, Hall, or Crawford?
• The Jersey Numbers Never Worn in Blackhawks History

Last year in our countdown of the Greatest Chicago Blackhawks of All-time at #76 we had Gary Suter and this is what we said about the Blackhawks great defenseman.

"Gary Suter’s Blackhawks Career StatisticsGames- 315Goals-53Assists-126+6Penalty Minutes-284Game Winning Goals-4PlayoffsGames-34Goals-9Assists-14Penalty Minutes-32Game Winning Goals-1Gary Suter had a Calder trophy and Stanley Cup on his resume from his days with the Calgary Flames when he arrived in Chicago in the early 90’s. Suter was paired up with Chris Chelios and the Blackhawks instantly had one of the best defensive pairings in the NHL.Suter and Chelios were both stellar defensive defenseman, tough as nails, and were very good on the offensive end as well. If you think Duncan Keith can long some ice time, the tandem of Gary Suter and Chris Chelios seemed to never leave the ice during their era in Chicago which made the Hawks a strong team which included a trip to the Conference Finals in 1995. The Hawks couldn’t get pass the Red Wings and sadly it would be the last time the Hawks would reach the Conference Finals until 2009.Suter ended with the 4th most points ever by an American Defenseman with 844 and he was part of the last great Blackhawk team before the Dark Ages."

We are at 76 days until that 6th banner heads to the rafters!! Can’t wait!

Next: 5 More Questions

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