Blackhawks Number History, 21-25

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, numbers 6-10, numbers 11-15, and numbers 16-20.

No. 21 – Stan Mikita

Number of players to wear No. 21: 10
First to wear No. 21: Cully Dahlstrom
Last to wear No. 21: Stan Mikita
The rest of the No. 21s: James Bedard, Kenny Wharram, Fred Sasakamoose, Red Sullivan, Pierre Pilote, John McKenzie, Wayne Hicks, Ron Ingram
Fun Fact: Defenseman James Bedard, who wore No. 21 during the 1950-51 season, is Connor Bedard’s uncle.

Stan Mikita isn’t just a Blackhawks franchise icon; he’s a Chicago sports icon. He’s the Blackhawks’ all-time leader in games played, assists, and points. The Hall of Famer won a Stanley Cup, four Art Ross Trophies, two Hart Trophies, and two Lady Byngs.

Mikita was an innovator and always looked for ways to evolve his game. He changed the way he played after racking up 300 penalty minutes in the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. He learned he’s more valuable on the ice than in the penalty box. He accidentally revolutionized the game when he discovered that a curved blade led to a deadly shot. While Mikita was a legendary player, he was an even better human being. He always had time for the fans and was a true gentleman. That is why Blackhawks fans revere him.

No. 22 – Grant Mulvey

Number of players to wear No. 22: 30
First to wear No. 22: Al Dewsbury
Last to wear No. 22: Cole Smith will wear it this season
The rest of the No. 22s: Pierre Pilote, Moose Vasko, John Miszuk, J.P. LeBlanc, Jim Wiste, Jerry Korab, Grant Mulvey, Forent Robidoux, Tom McMurch, Gary Nylund, Adam Creighton, Rob Brown, Christian Ruuttu, Steve Dubinsky, Ulf Dahlen, Greg Johnson, Dave Manson, Craig Mills, Kyle Calder, Igor Korolev, Martin Lapointe, Troy Brouwer, Jamal Myers, Marcus Kruger, Jordin Tootoo, Brandon Davidson, Ryan Carpenter, Nikita Zaitsev, Joey Anderson
Fun Fact: No player wore a number higher than 21 before 1950.

Grant Mulvey played all but 12 of his 586 NHL games with the Blackhawks. He became a staple in the lineup during the late 1970s after being taken in the first round of the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. When he scored his first NHL goal the following fall, he was the youngest player since the 1967 expansion to score in the NHL. He held that record until Aleksander Barkov broke it in 2013. He is still the only player in team history to score five goals in a game, doing so against the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 3, 1982. His best season came in 1979-80 when he scored 39 goals and 65 points. Mulvey remained in Chicago after his playing days ended and became active in the Blackhawks Alumni Association. He still shows up for big nights at the United Center like the home opener.

No. 23 – J.P. Bordeleau

Number of players to wear No. 23: 22
First to wear No. 23: Paul Shmyr
Last to wear No. 23: Philipp Kurashev
The rest of the No. 23s: Christian Bordeleau, J.P. Bordeleau, Doug Crossman, Behn Wilson, Warren Rychel, Wayne Van Dorp, Stu Grimson, Neil Wilkinson, Daniel Gauthier, Rich Sutter, Mike Prokopec, Ethan Moreau, Jean-Yves Leroux, Joe Reekie, Ryan VandenBussche, Jim Vandermeer, Aaron Johnson, Jeff Taffe, Kris Versteeg, Brandon Manning
Fun Fact: Behn Wilson, who wore No. 23 from 1984-1988, was the highest draft pick to wear it for the Blackhawks. The Philadelphia Flyers drafted him sixth overall in 1978. He was acquired in 1983 for Doug Crossman, who also wore No. 23, and a second-round draft pick that became Scott Mellanby.

J.P. Bordeleau is one of three brothers to play in the NHL. He was drafted in the first round of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft and made his NHL debut during the 1970 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He became a full-time player during the 1972-73 season.  He spent his entire career with the Blackhawks, scoring 97 goals and 223 points. While those offensive numbers don’t blow you out of the water, his 200-foot game made him a valuable part of the lineup. He famously sold cars during the offseason to make extra money off the ice. He later bought two Tim Hortons franchises after his playing days ended, so he’s got hockey, coffee, and donuts covered!

No. 24 – Doug Wilson

Number of players to wear No. 24: 17
First to wear No. 24: Rick Foley
Last to wear No. 24: Bowen Byram will wear it this season
The rest of the No. 24s: Walt Ledingham, Rob Palmer, Duane Wylie, Ian McKegney, Greg Vaydik, Doug Wilson, Bob Probert, Martin Havlat, Nick Boyton, Phillip Danault, Spencer Abbott, Dominik Kahun, Pius Suter, Sam Lafferty, Anders Bjork, Jaycob Megna, Sam Lafferty
Fun Fact: Nobody wore No. 24 between 1926 and 1971.

When Bowen Byram puts No. 24 on his back this season, he will have some big skates to fill. Doug Wilson is one of the best defensemen in Blackhawks history. He was ahead of his time, bringing speed and offense to the blue line. He was the type of defenseman every NHL team wants to build around today, playing in the 1970s and 1980s. He went right to the NHL after being the sixth overall pick in 1977. He won the Norris Trophy in 1982 after scoring 39 goals and 85 points, which is still the best offensive season by a defenseman in team history.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, Wilson still leads all Blackhawks defensemen in goals (225), assists (554), points (779), and power-play goals (80). He led Chicago defensemen in scoring for 10 straight seasons from 1980-81 through 1990-91. He was overshadowed a bit by the likes of Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque during his career, but he’s one of the best offensive defensemen to ever play the game.

No. 25 – Viktor Stalberg

Number of players to wear No. 25: 22
First to wear No. 25: J.P. Bordeleau
Last to wear No. 25: Dominic Toninato
The rest of the No. 25s: Dan Hinton, Bob Kelly, Keith Brown, Florent Robidoux, Brian Young, Jerry Dupont, James Camazzola, Bob McGill, Rod Buskas, Dave Christian, Sergei Krivokrasov, Daniel Cleary, Kyle Calder, Alexander Karpotsev, Cam Barker, Viktor Stalberg, Matt Carey, Dale Weise, Jarred Tinordi, Alex Martinez
Fun Fact: Viktor Stalberg is the only Swedish-born player to wear No. 25 in Blackhawks history.

This was one of the toughest choices I’ve had to make through the first 25 numbers. It wasn’t because there were too many good players to choose from, but rather because nobody really stood out from this group. I thought about Sergei Krivokrasov because of his postseason heroics, but Viktor Stalberg had better overall numbers in a shorter period of time.

Stalberg was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs shortly after the 2010 Stanley Cup win for Kris Versteeg. He was an exciting prospect with size and speed, but his feet and hands never got on the same page. He scored 43 goals and 90 points in 203 games during his three seasons with the Blackhawks and was part of the 2013 championship run. He scored 22 goals in his second season, but never came close to replicating that and had trouble staying out of Joel Quenneville’s doghouse.

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