Chelios to have 'dream come true' when hometown Blackhawks retire his No. 7

CHICAGO -- Chris Chelios has been working hard on the speech he’ll give when the Chicago Blackhawks retire his No. 7 prior to their game against the Detroit Red Wings at United Center on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; BSDET, NHLN, NBCSCH, SN).

The Hall of Fame defenseman’s daughter, Caley Chelios, can attest to that.

“He’s probably procrastinated a little bit to really put the pressure on himself and I do know he is working on it as we speak,” said Caley, a television analyst for the Blackhawks. “He thrives under pressure, always has. Doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. We’ll see if that remains true on one of the biggest nights of his career.”

It will be a big moment for Chelios, whose number retirement was announced by Eddie Vedder at a Pearl Jam concert at United Center on Sept. 8. The 62-year-old grew up in Chicago and spent nine seasons of his 26-season career (1990-99) with the Blackhawks.

“I don’t know if it’s a dream come true because it wasn’t my dream growing up as a kid, even to play in the NHL,” Chelios said Feb. 9, when the Blackhawks unveiled a Cheli’s Chili pop-up, a nod to the sports bar and restaurant he once owned, at United Center.

“But looking back now, I guess the thing that’s most impressive to me is it’s in my hometown and that’s the dream come true, to have my jersey retired in my hometown.”

Chelios will be the ninth Chicago player to have his number retired, joining Glenn Hall (No. 1), Pierre Pilote (No. 3), Keith Magnuson (No. 3), Bobby Hull (No. 9), Denis Savard (No. 18), Stan Mikita (No. 21), Tony Esposito (No. 35) and Marian Hossa (No. 81).

A second-round pick (No. 40) by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1981 NHL Draft, Chelios had 948 points (185 goals, 763 assists) in 1,651 games for the Canadiens, Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers. His games played are second most by a defenseman in NHL history behind Zdeno Chara, who played in 1,680 for the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals.

Chelios was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013.

“It’s going to be emotional for a lot of reasons,” Caley Chelios said. “I know for him, being a hometown kid and idolizing Stan Mikita and the Blackhawks and just the way he grew up with his parents in the bars and having players come in, it’s just all full circle.

“For me, watching him cement his legacy with the team he grew up loving and idolizing in front of his mom, his kids and grandkids and my mom, it’s probably going to be one of the highest moments of his career.”

Among United States-born defensemen in NHL history, Chelios is first in games played, third in assists and points, eighth in goals, seventh in game-winning goals (31), seventh in power-play goals (69) and fourth in power-play points (407). In the postseason, he ranks first in goals (31), assists (113), points (144), games played (266) and power-play points (60) among U.S.-born players at his position. Chelios is tied for first in game-winning goals during the Stanley Cup Playoffs (six) and his 14 power-play goals are second.

He was also named among the 100 Greatest NHL Players as part of the League's centennial celebration in 2017.

“A Chicago guy making it like that, it gave me inspiration,” said former Blackhawks forward and television analyst Eddie Olczyk, who also grew up in Chicago, played with Chelios on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and with the Blackhawks in 1986-87.

“He was as competitive a guy you ever wanted to play against. When you played with him, you knew losing was not acceptable and no is not acceptable. I’m just super happy for him. You love to see Chicago guys have unbelievable success and get to the highest level. Well-deserved and just really proud to know him, proud to have been his teammate and proud be his friend.”

Chelios won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1985-86 and with the Red Wings in 2001-02 and 2007-08. He also won the Norris Trophy, voted as the NHL’s best defenseman, in 1988-89, 1992-93 and 1995-96.

Chelios had finished his seventh season with the Canadiens when a trade brought him back home. The Blackhawks acquired him for center Denis Savard on June 29, 1990.

“Let’s face it, at this time of our careers and longevity of his, the Blackhawks got the better end on that," Savard said. "But I would have probably never won a Cup (with Montreal in 1992-93). Who knows? It worked out great for both of us.”

Sure, but it was nevertheless a surprise trade. Olczyk said it was a necessary move for Chicago.

“They needed someone like him on the back end,” Olczyk said. “He got the toughest matchups and their identity changed because of 'Cheli.' They came up a little short but had some unbelievable teams, had the unbelievable run against Pittsburgh (in the 1992 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in four games), but unfortunately at that time they run up against what a lot of people think is a top-five team ever.”

Like Olczyk, Savard remembers Chelios’ commitment to winning and his competitiveness.

“I remember coaching the first game that ‘Kaner’ (former Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane) played against Detroit. The first thing Cheli does is gives him a whack just to remind him that the old man, he’s still around, so just be careful,” said Savard, a Hall of Famer who played with Chicago from 1980-90.

“He’s still competitive. When we’ve had the fantasy camp the last couple of years, he still wanted to win. I said, ‘Cheli, we’re here for the guys to have fun. Relax.' ‘I don’t care,’ he’d say. So he’s still got that in him.”

Chelios is also known for his longevity in the game, and a big reason for that was his dedication to fitness. He would usually go through a 12-week program every summer with T.R. Goodman, founder of Pro Camp Sports.

“He was one of the first guys you heard about doing the off-ice training in the summer with guys like Laird Hamilton, T.R. Goodman, who became well known in California,” said Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson, who played against Chelios at various times throughout his NHL career from 1987-2009.

“So he was able to play lots of minutes and lots of minutes under stress and in the playoffs and World Cups and Olympics and all of that, and doesn’t make mistakes because he’s used to being tired or playing through tiredness because he’s not tired compared to everybody else.

Chelios said he invited as many people as he could to his Hockey Hall of Fame induction because “I thought that was the last hurrah.” The list will grow for Sunday.

“Now I’m inviting triple the amount, because nothing can top this,” Chelios said. “There’s nothing after this as far as I’m concerned, no higher accolade to be honored like this, getting my jersey retired in my hometown. I’m not a name dropper, but I’m going to be dropping a lot of names during the course of those two days.”