This Week in Chicago Blackhawks History: Bobby Hull sets new highs, Patrick Kane's first card & more

This has been a fun week in Chicago Blackhawks history. The “Golden Jet” etched his name into the league’s mythology more than once. There was a memorable brawl between the Blackhawks and a bitter rival. Plus, one of the team’s greatest players landed on a hockey card years before being drafted. The CHGO time machine has its engines revved and ready to go, so let’s hop on the ride and enjoy all the memories.

March 16

1960 – Duane Sutter was born in Viking, AB. The right wing was one of six brothers to play in the NHL and one of four to play with the Blackhawks. After winning four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders, Sutter was traded to Chicago for a second-round pick on Sept. 9, 1987. He played 184 games over three seasons and scored 18 goals and 50 points.

1971 – Greg Johnson was born in Thunder Bay, ON. The veteran center was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Tuomas Gronman on Oct. 27, 1997. He had 11 goals and 33 points in 69 games before the Nashville Predators selected him in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft.

1971 – Defenseman Keith Magnuson set a new NHL single-season record for penalty minutes (PIM) during a 6-4 win at the Vancouver Canucks. He earned two minors to give 274 PIM on the season, breaking Howie Young’s old record set in 1961-62.

25 IN 25: Remembering the day the No. 3 sweater was raised to the rafters in honor of both Pierre Pilote and the late Keith Magnuson.#Blackhawks https://t.co/b2guHobRXW

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 17, 2020

1976 – Kim Johnsson was born in Malmo, Sweden. He was acquired from the Minnesota Wild with Nick Leddy for Cam Barker on Feb. 12, 2010. He appeared in only eight games for the Blackhawks and scored one goal and three points. He missed the postseason due to a concussion, ultimately leading to his retirement.

1979 – Tyler Arnason was born in Oklahoma City, OK. The Blackhawks selected him in the seventh round (183^rd) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He eventually formed the “ABC Line” along with Mark Bell and Kyle Calder. Brian Sutter’s favorite player had 57 goals and 139 points in 245 games over four seasons with the Blackhawks. On March 9, 2006, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a second-round pick and Brandon Bochenski. The draft pick was used to take Simon Danis-Papin.

1993 – Ed Belfour recorded his sixth shutout of the season and the 15th of his career to lead the Blackhawks to a 1-0 win at the Calgary Flames.

March 17

1923 – Tony Leswick was born in Humboldt, SK. The three-time Stanley Cup winner was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings as part of an eight-player trade on May 27, 1955. The winger played in all 70 games of the 1955-56 season and scored 11 goals and 22 points. He was traded back to the Red Wings for cash on Aug. 1, 1956.

1926 – Gord Buttrey was born in Regina, SK. His only 10 NHL games came during the 1943-44 season as a 17-year-old, and he did not register a point. Buttrey played professionally until 1956 but never returned to the NHL.

1962 – Glenn Hall became the first goaltender in Blackhawks’ history to have a 30-win season by beating the Maple Leafs 3-1 in Toronto.

1991 – The most infamous chapter of the rivalry between the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues was written in what was dubbed the “St. Patrick’s Day Massacre.” The Blackhawks won 6-4 on their way to the Presidents’ Trophy, but this game is remembered for the enormous amount of penalty minutes dished out. The feisty contest saw 12 players ejected, 278 penalty minutes were served (24 minor, 12 major, and 17 misconduct penalties, to be exact), and three players were eventually suspended for their actions.

March 18

1940 – The Blackhawks became the first NHL team to take a chartered flight as they traveled to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

1956 – The Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 to give Hall of Fame head coach Dick Irvin his 690th and final career victory. He retired as the NHL’s all-time wins leader until Scotty Bowman passed him up in 1984. 

1960 – Bill Gardner was born in Toronto, ON. The Blackhawks drafted the centerman in the third round (49^th overall) of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He had 70 goals and 175 points in 346 games before he was traded to the Hartford Whalers for a third-round draft pick. Gardner returned as a free agent in 1987 but was limited to eight games over his final two seasons, scoring two goals and three points. After retirement in 1989, Gardner joined the Blackhawks’ broadcast team as a studio analyst. He moved to the Whalers broadcast team in 1996 and was the color commentator for the franchise’s first season as the Carolina Hurricanes. He returned to Chicago and became Pat Foley’s partner on television and radio until 2002. Gardner has spent the last 21 years as the analyst on Chicago Wolves broadcasts.

1967 – Bobby Hull became the first NHL player to have back-to-back 50-goal seasons when he scored in a 9-5 loss at the Maple Leafs. This was his third season with at least 50 goals.

1975 – Kimmo Timonen was born in Kuopio, Finland. The Blackhawks acquired the 15-year veteran defender from the Philadelphia Flyers for a pair of draft picks on Feb. 27, 2015. He played in 16 regular-season games and 18 playoff games and failed to register a point. His last act in the NHL before he retired on June 15, 2015 was accepting the Stanley Cup from Jonathan Toews.

2019 – Patrick Kane picked up two assists to reach 100 points on the season during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Canucks. He became only the third player in team history with multiple 100-point seasons. He also joined Hull as the only two Blackhawks to have a 100-point season after their 30th birthday.

March 19

1915 – Eddie Wares was born in Calgary, AB. He arrived in Chicago on Oct. 11, 1945, as part of a three-team trade with the Red Wings and St. Louis Flyers of the AHL. He had eight goals and 26 points in 106 games over two seasons before he was traded to the Cleveland Barons of the AHL for cash.

1931 – Glen Smith was born in Lucky Lake, SK. The right wing played two scoreless games during the 1950-51 season.

1933 – The Blackhawks hosted the Red Wings in the first afternoon game in league history. A crowd of 5,500, including NHL President Frank Calder, watched Detroit earn a 4-2 road win despite a two-goal effort by Mush Marsh.

1971 – Louie DeBrusk was born in Cambridge, ON. He signed with the Blackhawks in 2002 for his 11^th and final NHL season. He had no points and seven penalty minutes in his four games before retiring. He currently serves as the Edmonton Oilers’ color analyst, and his son Jake plays for the Bruins.

2014 – The Blackhawks beat the Blues 4-0 to make Joel Quenneville the third head coach in NHL history to win 700 games. He joined Scotty Bowman and Al Arbour in the exclusive 700-win club. Quenneville won the first 307 games of his career with the Blues, the most victories by a head coach in team history.

March 20

1948 – Bobby Orr was born in Parry Sound, ON. The legendary defenseman built his Hall of Fame career in 10 seasons with the Bruins. He was the first defenseman to score over 100 points, which he did in six straight seasons and led the NHL scoring. After winning the Norris Trophy in eight consecutive seasons, he signed with the Blackhawks on Aug. 24, 1976. Severe knee injuries limited the legendary blueliner to 29 games over two seasons, where he scored four goals and six points before retiring.

1960 – Hull entered the final game of the regular season trailing Bronco Horvath of the Bruins by one point for the scoring title as the two teams met at Boston Garden. Horvath was injured in the first period, while Hull had a goal and an assist during a 5-5 tie to win his first Art Ross Trophy.

1969 – The Blackhawks and Bruins skated to another 5-5 tie. Hull scored two goals to give him an NHL-record 55 on the season. The second goal broke his own record of 54 he set during the 1965-66 season. He also became the NHL’s second 100-point scorer just 19 days after Phil Esposito of the Bruins was the first player to hit triple digits in a season.

1973 – Robbie Tallas was born in Edmonton, AB. The goaltender signed as a free agent in 2000. He went 2-7-0 with a .868 save percentage (SV%) and 3.55 goals-against average (GAA) before signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins the following offseason.

1991 – Nick Leddy was born in Eden Prairie, MN. The defenseman was originally drafted 16th overall by the Wild. He was acquired in the 2010 trade with Johnsson.  Leddy played the first 258 games of his career with the Blackhawks, scoring 20 goals and 93 points, and was part of the 2013 Stanley Cup championship. He was traded to the Islanders with Kent Simpson for T.J. Brennan, Anders Nilsson, and Ville Pokka on Oct. 4, 2014.

1994 – The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2, with Dale Hawerchuk scoring twice. Why is this part of Blackhawks history? Because a six-year-old Buffalo native was sitting in the front row with his dad Patrick Kane Sr. They were captured in the photo used for Sylvain Turgeon’s 1994-95 Pinnacle Hockey set, making it Kane’s unofficial rookie card.

March 21

1895 – Duke Keats was born in Montreal, QC. The Hall of Fame center was acquired from the Red Wings for Gord Fraser on Dec. 16, 1927. He played the final 36 games of his NHL career and scored 14 goals and 23 points. In November of 1928, he was traded to the Tulsa Oilers of the AHA for cash.

1972 – Boris Mironov was born in Moscow, USSR. The defenseman was traded to Chicago by the Oilers with Jonas Elofsson and Dean McAmmond for Dan Cleary, Chad Kilger, Christian Laflamme, and Ethan Moreau on March 20, 1999. Mironov had 21 goals and 90 points in 220 games over five seasons with the Blackhawks.

1994 – The Blackhawks acquired Tony Amonte from the Rangers for Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan.

1995 – Bernie Nicholls scored his third hat trick of the season to lead the Blackhawks to a 7-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Each of his three goals came in a different variety: one shorthanded, one on a power play, and one at full strength. Chris Chelios picked up a career-high five assists.

March 22

1901 – Eddie Rodden was born in Mattawa, ON. The centerman was acquired via trade with the AHA’s Minneapolis Miners for cash in January of 1927. He had three goals and seven points in 27 games before being part of a three-team trade with the Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Pirates.

1948 – John Marks was born in Hamiota, MB. The Blackhawks selected the left wing with the ninth overall pick of the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft. He spent his entire 10-year career in Chicago, scoring 112 goals and 275 points in 657 games. Marks was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2012 for his work behind the bench.

1960 – Warren Skorodenski was born in Winnipeg, MB. The netminder appeared in 32 games for the Blackhawks between 1982 and 1987. He went 12-11-4 with a .901 SV% and 3.35 GAA with two shutouts. He signed with the Oilers before the start of the 1987-88 season.

1974 – Tuomas Gronman was born in Viitasaari, Finland. The Quebec Nordiques dealt the blueliner to Chicago for a second-round pick on July 10, 1996. He had one assist in 16 games before he was traded to the Penguins for Johnson, as mentioned above.