Throwback Thursday- Murray Bannerman

Murray Bannerman isn’t the greatest goalie to ever play for the Blackhawks but he ranks in the top 10 of every major goalie record in Blackhawks history.  Bannerman didn’t ever win a Stanley Cup or reach a Stanley Cup final during his tenure with the Blackhawks that lasted from 1980-1987.  Bannerman went 116-125-33 in 288 games. The thing that makes Bannerman special wasn’t the saves but the era that he made them in. Two things makes Bannerman special from back in the day.

First you have all the old equipment with the great hockey masks.  When Friday the 13th movies were extremely popular who couldn’t think of Bannerman’s mask.

Secondly, home games were not televised locally.  If you wanted to know what was going on at Chicago Stadium and you didn’t have a ticket to the game, the only way to keep up with the game was the radio and Pat Foley and Dale Tallon.  As a kid listening to the radio and hearing Foley yell out BANNER-MAN with the save will never leave the memory bank.  It’s a whole new world now with every game on TV, but back in the day Blackhawks hockey had a certain mystery about it, and when you did get a chance to watch a game at the Chicago Stadium you knew you were at the Madhouse on Madison with all the electricity you could ever imagine without being able to hear Foley yell out Bannerman.

The Pat Foley Montage had some great calls which included a Bannerman one!  Bannerman wasn’t the greatest, but  if you utter the phrase BIG SAVE the words Bannerman should have been spoken with it or it just doesn’t seem correct.  Here is the montage with a Bannerman save very early in it.

What is your favorite Bannerman moment?

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