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December is a busy month in the National Hockey League as teams turn up the heat to secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Chicago Blackhawks have had many significant moments during the final month of the year. So, let’s gas up the CHGO time machine and take our weekly trip through the decades to relive them all.
1940- The game between the Blackhawks and the New York Rangers had a family flare to it never seen before in NHL history. When the rivals took to the Chicago Stadium ice, the game featured four sets of brothers, two on each side, squaring off. New York had Lynn, Muzz Patrick, Neil, and Mac Colville, while Chicago dressed Max, Doug Bentley, Bob, and Bill Carse. Rookie Max Bentley scored his first NHL goal in the Blackhawks’ 4-1 victory.
1971 – Chris McAlpine was born in Roseville, MN. The veteran defenseman signed with the Blackhawks on July 27, 2000. In his two seasons with the team, he had nine assists with a plus-13 rating in 90 games. McAlpine signed with the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 2002. He became a player agent after he retired from pro hockey in 2005.
1974 – Tony Esposito became the 14th goaltender in NHL history to record 50 career shutouts in the Blackhawks’ 3-0 win over the visiting Minnesota North Stars. The offense was sparked by goals from Stan Mikita, Dennis Hull, and Grant Mulvey.
2009 – The Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in an 11-round shootout. Chicago got goals from Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp, and Jonathan Toews during regulation before defenseman Brent Seabrook ended the game with the 22nd shot attempt in the shootout. It was also the 500th career win for head coach Joel Quenneville.
1963 – Rich Sutter was born in Viking, AB. He was one of six Sutter brothers to play in the NHL. Ron was the only Sutter to never play or coach for the Blackhawks. Rich was claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 3, 1993. He had 12 goals and 26 points in 98 games for the Blackhawks. On Feb 22, 1995, he was traded with Paul Ysebaert to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jeff Buchanan, Jim Cummins, and Tom Tilley.
1963 – Tom McMurchy was born in New Westminster, BC. The Blackhawks selected the right wing in the third round (49th overall) of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He played 46 games over three seasons and scored four goals and seven points. On March 11, 1986, McMurchy was traded to the Calgary Flames for Rik Wilson.
1986 – Kyle Cumiskey was born in Abbotsford, BC. The defenseman signed with the Blackhawks on July 2, 2014. He played in seven regular season games for the Blackhawks and nine more during the postseason, which ended with a Stanley Cup championship. Cumiskey spent the following season with the Rockford IceHogs. He has played professionally in Europe and the AHL through the 2021-22 season.
1987 – Hall of Famer Denis Savard recorded his 500th NHL assist in the Blackhawks’ 5-1 loss at the Blues.
1952 – Bob MacMillan was born in Charlottetown, PE. The 1979 Lady Bing Trophy winner played the final 36 NHL games of his 13-season professional career with the Blackhawks. He was acquired from the New Jersey Devils with a fifth-round draft pick for Don Dietrich, Rich Preston, and a second-round pick that became future Blackhawk Eric Weinrich. MacMillan, a right wing, had five goals and 12 points during the 1984-84 season.
1986 – Radek Smolenak was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Blackhawks claimed the former third-round pick off waivers from the Lightning on Sept. 25, 2009. He played one scoreless game in Chicago before Tampa Bay reclaimed him on Oct. 10, 2009.
1986 – Evan Brophey was born in Kitchener, ON. He was a third-round pick (68th overall) of the Blackhawks in 2005. He appeared in one game during the 2010-11 season and did not register a point. He signed with the Colorado Avalanche the following offseason.
2015 – Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists in the Blackhawks’ 4-3 overtime loss at the Ottawa Senators. This was the 21st straight game with at least one point for Kane, tying Bobby Hull for the longest point streak in team history.
1926 – The Blackhawks picked up their first-ever road victory, a 5-3 win over the Canadiens in Montreal. The win came after a loss and a tie in their first two road games.
1931 – Fred Hucul was born in Tubrose, SK. The defenseman played 119 games for the Blackhawks between 1951 and 1954 and scored nine goals and 26 points.
1946 – Goaltenders Harry Lumley and Paul Bibeault dueled to a 0-0 scoreless tie in a game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings. This was Lumley’s fourth career shutout.
1972 – Jassen Cullimore was born was born in Simcoe, ON. The Blackhawks signed the blueliner on July 22, 2004. He played in 119 games in his two seasons with the team and scored two goals and 14 points. On June 16, 2007, he was traded with Tony Salmelainen to the Canadiens for Sergei Samsonov. Cullimore returned via free agency during the summer of 2010 and had eight assists in 36 games during the 2010-11 season.
1962 – Glenn Hall became the first goaltender in team history to record 150 wins with a 5-4 victory against the visiting Boston Bruins. Ab McDonald led the offensive attack with two goals and an assist.
1965 – Mikita scored three goals and added an assist to lead the Blackhawks to a 6-2 win at the Rangers. This was the seventh hat trick of his career and his second within 24 hours, as he scored three times the previous night in a 10-1 win over the Bruins.
1972 – Hull started his team-record 21-game point streak in the Blackhawks’ 7-0 win over the visiting Kings. This record stayed intact for almost 44 years until Kane tied it on Dec. 3, 2015.
1991 – Brian Noonan scored his first NHL hat trick to lead the Blackhawks to a 6-2 win over the Kings.
2005 – The Blackhawks made one of the most significant trades in franchise history when they sent Matt Ellison, and a third-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for a relatively unknown forward named Patrick Sharp. In his 10 seasons in Chicago, Sharp became a star and a significant contributor on three Stanley Cup championship teams. He scored 239 goals and 512 points in 679 games during his first stint with the Blackhawks. The Flyers got one assist in seven total games from Ellison. They traded the draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens, who used it to draft Ryan White, who, ironically, eventually played for the Flyers.
2019 – Jonathan Toews became the first modern-era member of the Blackhawks to score a regular-season overtime goal in Boston. The captain scored 54 seconds into the extra session to give the Blackhawks a 4-3 victory at TD Garden. He ended Boston’s eight-game winning streak with the 14th overtime goal of his career, the most in team history and the first in Boston since Red Hamill on Feb. 3, 1942.
1927 – Marcel Pelletier was born in Drummondville, QC. The goaltender appeared in six games for the Blackhawks during the 1950-51 season and went 1-5-0 with a 4.73 goals-against average (GAA). He didn’t play again in the NHL until the 1962-63 season with the Rangers.
1932 – Hank Bassen was born in Calgary, AB. The goalie played 33 games in Chicago and went 6-18-9 with a 3.12 GAA, and .885 save percentage (SV%). On July 23, 1957, he was traded with Bill Preston, Forbes Kennedy, and Johnny Wilson to the Red Wings for Glenn Hall and Ted Lindsay. Bassen’s son Bob, a center, played 55 games for the Blackhawks in the late 80s.
1967 – Mikita scored four goals and an added assist to lead the Blackhawks to a 7-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first meeting between the two clubs. It was Mikita’s first four-goal game of his career and 10th hat trick.
1970 – Hull opened the scoring nine seconds into the game versus the Maple Leafs. Pit Martin scored his fifth career hat trick as the Blackhawks extended their team-record home unbeaten streak to 14 games (12-0-2) with a 6-2 win.
1990 – Steve Larmer scored twice and added three assists, while Jeremy Roenick picked up four assists in a 5-2 win against the New York Islanders.
1992 – Jimmy Waite recorded a shutout in a 2-0 win over the Canadiens. This was the Blackhawks’ first shutout of Montreal since Dec. 1, 1973.
1911 – Earl Seibert was born in Berlin, ON. The Hall of Fame defenseman and Stanley Cup champion was acquired from the Rangers for Art Coulter on Jan. 15, 1936. He spent 10 seasons with the Blackhawks, scoring 57 goals and 191 points in 410 games, and won his second Cup in 1938. Seibert was known as a tough guy during his playing days and was the only player Bruins great Eddie Shore was unwilling to fight. His career took an ugly turn on Jan. 28, 1937, when he became tangled up with Canadiens legend Howie Morenz, who fell awkwardly into the boards and broke his leg in several places. Morenz died in the hospital due to complications from this injury a month later. On Jan. 2, 1945, Seibert was traded with Fido Purpur to the Red Wings for Don Grosso, Butch McDonald, and Cully Simon.
1991 – Roenick scored four goals in a 5-2 win at the Islanders. The victory extended the Blackhawks’ undefeated streak in Long Island to 10 straight games (7-0-3).
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