Blackhawks Number History, 11-15

As we’ve hit the slow part of the National Hockey League’s offseason, with most rosters being set and very little business left to take care of, it’s a good time for history lessons. The Chicago Blackhawks have a century’s worth of history lessons to teach, so we’re only going to scratch the surface over the next few weeks.

Our Blackhawks Number History series will look at every number ever worn over the 100 seasons of hockey. We’ll feature the best player to wear each number, as well as give you some fun history nuggets and tidbits. If you missed the first two posts, be sure to check numbers 1-5 and numbers 6-10.

I wanted to give a special shoutout to Sean Sullivan (@sulli26), who supplied me with all the numbers from 1926-50. If you’re a lover of Blackhawks history, be sure to check out his Chicago Game Worn Jersey Expo on Saturday, Nov. 21 in Skokie.

No. 11 – John Marks

Number of players to wear No. 11: 55
First to wear No. 11: Corb Denneny
Last to wear No. 11: Oliver Moore
The rest of the No. 11s: Eddie McCalmon, Bobby Burns, Tom Cook, Milton Brink, Louis Trundell, Baldy Northcott, Des Smith, John Mariucci, Jack Portland, Art Weibe, Joe Matte, John Harms, Joe Pipike, Wilf Field, Don Grosso, Henry Blade, Adam Brown, Jim Conacher, Gordie Fashoway, Fred Hucul, Pete Horeck, Jack McIntyre, Kenny Wharram, Lorne Ferguson, Bill Hay, Doug Mohns, Danny O’Shea, J.P. Bordeleay, John Marks, Tony Tanti, Dennis Cyr, Bob MacMillan, Bill Watson, Rich Preston, Dan Vincelette, Mike Eagles, Tony McKegney, Tony Hrkac, Brad Lauer, Jeff Shantz, Nelson Emerson, Josef Martha, Peter White, Andrei Nikolishin, Matt Keith, Bryan Smolinski, Jack Skille, John Madden, Jeremy Morin, Andrew Desjardins, Brendan Perlini, Adam Gaudette, Taylor Raddysh
Fun Fact: 2013 was the only Stanley Cup-winning team in Blackhawks history without a No. 11.

With as many guys wearing No. 11, there were a lot to choose from. However, with 55 different players having an 11 on their back, that means longevity was not common for a player with this number. John Marks spent his entire 657-game NHL career with the Blackhawks. He had 112 goals and 275 points, while racking up 330 penalty minutes. He made his NHL debut in 1972 after he was selected ninth overall at the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft. He played his rookie season as a defenseman before switching to left wing the following season. He moved back to the blueline for the 1976-77 season before returning to the left wing for his final five seasons.

After his playing career, Marks became the first and only head coach for the ECHL’s Greenville Grrowl of the ECHL. He won the 2002 Kelly Cup by sweeping the Dayton Bombers. The Grrowl are still the only team to sweep the ECHL championship series.

No. 12 – Pat Stapleton

Number of players to wear No. 12: 35
First to wear No. 12: Jim Riley
Last to wear No. 12: Jordan Greenway will wear 12 this season
The rest of the No. 12s: Ralph Taylor, Amby Moran, Ted Graham, Doc Romnes, Art Wiebe, Bill Thomas, Red Hamill, Gus Bodnar, Bob Hassard, Ed Litzenberger, Gerry Melnyk, Aut Erickson, John Brenneman, Pat Stapleton, Lynn Powis, Ivan Boldriev, Tom Lysiak, Mike Stapleton, Duane Sutter, Paul Gillis, Brent Sutter, J.P. Dumont, Derek Plante, Kris King, Tom Fitzgerald, Scott Nichol, Mikhail Yakubov, Peter Bondra, Matt Keith, Rene Bourque, Peter Regin, Tomas Fleischmann, Alex DeBrincat, Sacha Boisvert.
Fun Fact: Ed Litzenberger was the first No. 12 to have a 30-goal season for the Blackhawks when he scored 32 times in 1956-57. He followed that up with another 32 goals the next season, and 33 in 1958-59.

Pat “Whitey” Stapleton was claimed from the Blackhawks by the Boston Bruins at the 1961 NHL Intra-League Draft. The Blackhawks claimed him back from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1965, and he became a fixture on the Blackhawks’ blue line. He was a two-way defenseman who had no trouble racking up assists. In fact, in 1968-69, he became the first blueliner in NHL history to have a 50-assist season. His record lasted only one year when Bobby Orr put up 87 in 1969-70. When Stapleton joined the World Hockey Association in 1973, his 286 assists were the most in team history by a defenseman. He has since been pushed down to seventh on that list.

Stapleton was part of Team Canada in the infamous Summit Series against the Soviet Union in 1972. He played in seven of the eight games and posted a plus-6 rating despite not finding the scoresheet. His son, Mike, played 125 games for the Blackhawks in the 80s and 90s. His grandson, Mark Kastelic, currently plays for the Bruins.

No. 13 – Alex Zhamnov

Number of players to wear No. 13: 8
First to wear No. 13: Nick Wasinie
Last to wear No. 13: Zach Sanford
The rest of the No. 13s: Alexei Zhamnov, Daniel Carcillo, Tomas Jurco, Mattias Janmark, Henrik Borgstrom, Max Domi
Fun Fact: The Blackhawks went 72 years without a No. 13 from when Nick Waisnie wore it in 1928 until Alexei Zhamnov brought it back in 2000.

Alex Zhamnov was no stranger to changing numbers. He wore 26 and 36 before switching to 13 in 1999. He wore No. 13 for 308 games, scoring 79 goals and 246 points. He was an All-Star in 2001-02 when he scored 22 goals. His 45 assists and 67 points that season were his highest outputs in a Blackhawks uniform. Zhamnov was acquired in 1996 for Jeremy Roenick, but was never really appreciated during his time in Chicago. While Roenick was a brash, dynamic goalscorer, Zhamnov was more of a quiet playmaker. Unfortunately, he was never surrounded by many goalscorers who could help him produce more points.

No. 14 – Johnny Gottseilg

Number of Players to wear No. 14: 58
First to wear No. 14: Ken Doraty
Last to wear No. 14: Kevin Korchinski
The rest of the No. 14s: Bobby Burns, Leo LaFrance, Johnny LaFrance, Wilber Larochelle, Milton Brink, Al Suomi, Oscar Hanson, Roger Jenkins, Carl Voss, Phil Besler, Doug Bentley, Leo Carbol, Reg Bentley, Alex Kaleta, Bert Olmstead, Jim Conacher, Jack Miller, Sid Finney, Fred Glover, Enio Sclisizzi, Ike Hildebrand, Lorne Davis, Glen Skov, Ab McDonald, Ken Hodge, Doug Robinson, Wayne Maki, Terry Caffery, Bryan Campbell, Ralph Backstrom, Germain Gagnon, Rob Palmer, Dave Logan, Mike O’Connell, Al Secord, Bill Gardner, Greg Gilbert, Kevin Todd, Paul Ysebaert, Kip Miller, Steve Dubinsky, Sylvain Cloutier, Mike Maneluk, Roman Vopat, Ryan VandenBussche, Theo Fleury, Rene Bourque, Sergei Samsonov, Chris Campoli, Drew LeBlanc, Richard Panik, Viktor Tikhonov, Victor Ejdsell, Chris Kunitz, Boris Katchouk.
Fun Fact: Carl Voss, who wore No. 14 for the Blackhawks in 1937-38, was the first winner of the Calder Trophy in 1933 while playing for the Detroit Red Wings.

If we were picking the best overall player to wear each number, No. 14 would likely go to Theo Fleury. However, this list features the best Blackhawks player to wear each number, so this one goes to Johnny Gottselig. He was an early pioneer of the game. He was only the second player born in the Russian Empire to play in the NHL. In 1938, he became only the second European-born captain of a Stanley Cup championship team. Charlie Gardiner, who was born in Scotland, was the first in 1934. He spent his entire NHL career with the Blackhawks, scoring 176 goals and 372 points in 591 games.

Gottselig became the second European-born head coach in franchise history when he moved behind the bench in 1944. After winning the Stanley Cup as a player in 1934 and 1938, he was part of the 1961 championship team as Director of Public Relations. Since we love fun facts, Gottselig was also a manager in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the same one featured in the hit movie A League of Their Own. He led the Racine Belles to the first AAGPBL championship in 1943.

No. 15 – Eric Nesterenko

Number of players to wear No. 15: 47
First to wear No. 15: Ted Graham
Last to wear No. 15: Anton Frondell
The rest of the No. 15s: Earl Miller, Frank Ingram, Georges Boucher, Donnie McFadyen, Andy Blair, Butch Schaefer, Cully Dahlstrom, Les Ramsay, Edward Wares, Cyril, Thomas, Gaye Stewart, Red Hamill, Harry Taylor, Gerry Couture, John Sleaver, Metro Prystai, Eric Nesterenko, Zellio Toppazzini, Dick Redmond, Pierre Plante, Tim Higgins, James Camazzola, Ken Yaremchuk, Mark LaVarre, Bob Bassen, Brad Lauer, Mike Stapleton, Rich Sutter, Jim Cummings, Chad Kilger, Chris Murray, Blair Atcheynum, Jim Campbell, Pascal Rheaume, Garry Valk, Tuomo Ruutu, Andrew Ebbett, Fernando Pisani, Andrew Brunette, Artem Anisimov, Zack Smith, Joey Anderson, Craig Smith.
Fun Fact: Cully Dahlstrom was the first American-born player to win the Calder Trophy in 1938.

While some fans, like myself, were first introduced to Eric Nesterenko as Rob Lowe’s father in the classic hockey movie Youngblood, he had a long NHL career before hitting the silver screen. He spent his first five seasons with the Maple Leafs before he was traded to the Blackhawks in 1956, along with Harry Lumley, for cash. He spent the next 16 seasons in Chicago, scoring 222 goals and 534 points in 1,013 games. He is one of only eight skaters to play in 1,000 games for the Blackhawks.

Nesterenko earned the nickname “Elbows” for his rough playing style, although his speed was his best attribute. He was one of the best penalty killers around and led the NHL in shorthanded goals in 1965 and 1967. His 22 shorthanded goals were a team record until Dirk Graham surpassed it. The two-time All-Star was a key contributor to the 1961 Stanley Cup.

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