CHICAGO – Chris Chelios has an appreciation for outdoor games.
For the former NHL defenseman and Chicago-area native, they evoke memories of his upbringing, when skating on outdoor rinks and ponds was the norm.
“There’s just something special about it and lot of players will tell you, maybe not this generation, but mine, that’s how you got started was at outdoor rinks,” said Chelios, a Chicago Blackhawks ambassador since 2018.
Couple that with this year’s Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues being held at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, on Dec. 31 (5 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS) and it just adds that much more enjoyment.
“There’s no other as iconic as Wrigley Field. Fenway Park, that’s probably the only one I can compare it to,” Chelios said. “I mean, the St. Louis players, I’m guessing they’re champing at the bit. They probably feel really fortunate that they got selected to play against the ‘Hawks at Wrigley Field.”
A second-round pick (No. 40) by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1981 NHL Draft, Chelios enjoyed a 26-year career in the League. He had 948 points (185 goals, 763 assists) in 1,651 games with the Canadiens, Blackhawks, Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers. He won the Norris Trophy, awarded to the League’s top defenseman, in 1989, 1993 and 1996 and won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1986 and with the Red Wings in 2002 and 2008.
Chelios was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017. The Blackhawks retired his No. 7 at United Center in an entertaining ceremony prior to the Red Wings defeating the Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 25.
Before all that, Chelios was another kid honing his game outdoors.
“There’s nothing more fun than skating outside,” he said. “There’s something about it, the natural ice, there’s a different sound and feel to the natural ice.”
Growing up in Evergreen Park, Illinois, a suburb about 17 miles south of Chicago, Chelios didn’t have far to look for some ice.
“Where I started, it was just a basketball court that the firemen would freeze over in the wintertime. It was four blocks from my house,” Chelios said. “I’d put my skates on at home and walk to the rink with no skate guards, so that wasn’t really good. I remember that. I had no edges.”
Chelios began playing organized hockey at an outdoor rink in Lake Meadows, about five miles south of Chicago. It was just off Lake Michigan, and kids would feel the effects.
“Probably the coldest I’ve ever been in my life as a 9-year-old,” he said. “Quite honestly, I think there were at least six kids that quit halfway through the tryouts that we were at because it was just too cold. We had hats on under our helmets. It was unreal, just piercing off the lake. But again, I enjoyed it.”
A year later, as a member of the Chicago Saints in Willow Springs, 10 miles west of Evergreen Park, Chelios would practice in a more serene outdoor setting.
“We had a player on our team, his father, the Johnson family, they owned Sportsman Park and they had a pond on their property. So as a team we would practice there at their house, which was unbelievable, when you’re 10, 11 years old,” Chelios said. “Small pond basically but there was nothing like it. It was beautiful.”
Chelios played in the 2009 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, the second Winter Classic and first played at Wrigley, when he was a defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings. He logged 1:57 of ice time, benched the rest of the game by then-coach Mike Babcock.
“I was lucky that Ken Holland and Jim Nill were general manager (and assistant GM, respectively) at the time and they forced Mike Babcock to put me in the lineup. Otherwise, I would’ve been at Murphy’s Bleachers the whole game watching,” he said, referencing a watering hole across the street from Wrigley Field.
Chelios retired on Aug. 31, 2010, but participated in several alumni games that occurred before various NHL outdoor contests. He had a memorable celebration after scoring a goal for Detroit against the Toronto Maple Leafs’ alums in the 2013 Hockeytown Winter Festival Alumni Showdown, sliding backward, first on his back and then balancing on his skates and back of his head, toward the opposing net.
Outdoor hockey has provided a lot of great memories for Chelios. He’s looking forward to seeing the Blackhawks create some of their own on Dec. 31.
“It’s an event, you know? People look forward to it, it doesn’t matter how cold it is,” Chelios said. “It’s going to be a great event and yeah, I can’t wait for the game.”
