1988-89 Montreal Canadiens Chris Chelios Jersey

Chris Chelios began his NHL career during President Ronald Regan's first term in office back in 1984 with the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him 40th overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, with 12 regular season and 15 playoff games following his participation in the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

In his first full season in the NHL, he scored 64 points in 74 games and came in second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Mario Lemieux and participated in his first NHL All-Star Game. The next season, Chelios contributed 19 points in 21 games as the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.

After two more solid seasons, which included point totals of 44 and 61, plus another 28 playoff games combined, Chelios would capture the Norris Trophy for the 1988-89 season in which he would set a career high with 73 points as Montreal returned to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The following season saw Chelios limited to 53 games and Montreal ousted in the first round of the playoffs. During the offseason, Chelios was traded, along with a second round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for future Hall of Famer Denis Savard. ending his time in Montreal after seven seasons.

The return to his native Chicago agreed with Chelios, as he earned a place in his third NHL All-Star Game and began a long streak of durability that would last eight seasons. Aside from the strike shortened season of 1994-95 in which he played all 48 games, Chelios would play no less than 72 games a season, topping 80 four times.

The 1991-92 season saw the Blackhawks return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1973, as Chelios scored 21 points and earn a +19 rating in 18 games. The following season Chelios equalled his career high of 73 points while playing in all 84 games.

1995-96 saw Chelios named captain of the Blackhawks and play in his sixth consecutive NHL All-Star Game as well as topping 70 points for the third time in his NHL career. Following that season Chelios' offensive production would decline, as he would never score as many as 50 points in a season again, but he would continue his rugged, minutes eating playing style.

The 1997-98 season saw Chelios play in his 1,000th NHL game on this date, now during the second term of Bill Clinton's Presidency, having already played through Reagan's second term, George H. W. Bush's time in office and Clinton's first term.

Chelios would spend one more season in Chicago before, at age 37, he would be traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Anders Eriksson and a pair of first round draft picks, ending a nine year run in Chicago.

Today's featured jersey is a 1988-89 Montreal Canadiens Chris Chelios jersey, as worn by Chelios during the first season in which he would play 80 games in a season on his way to 1,651 games, currently 5th all time.

Montreal would go on to play in the Stanley Cup Finals that season, the second finals appearance of Chelios' career.

Our first video today is not the usual hockey highlights, but a look instead at Cheli's Chili Bar, Chelios' restaurant in Detroit, Michigan.

Here, Chelios accepts his 1993 Norris Trophy, the second of three in his career, with unexpected results and candor.

Of course, any mention of Chelios, allows us the opportunity to once more share our favorite hockey video ever - the Inglewood Jack.

1991-92 Chicago Blackhawks Chris Chelios Jersey

Chris Chelios began his NHL career during President Ronald Regan's first term in office back in 1984 with the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him 40th overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, with 12 regular season and 15 playoff games following his participation in the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

In his first full season in the NHL, he scored 64 points in 74 games and came in second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Mario Lemieux and participated in his first NHL All-Star Game. The next season, Chelios contributed 19 points in 21 games as the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.

After two more solid seasons, which included point totals of 44 and 61, plus another 28 playoff games combined, Chelios would capture the Norris Trophy for the 1988-89 season in which he would set a career high with 73 points as Montreal returned to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The following season saw Chelios limited to 53 games and Montreal ousted in the first round of the playoffs. During the offseason, Chelios was traded, along with a second round draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for future Hall of Famer Denis Savard. ending his time in Montreal after seven seasons.

The return to his native Chicago agreed with Chelios, as he earned a place in his third NHL All-Star Game and began a long streak of durability that would last eight seasons. Aside from the strike shortened season of 1994-95 in which he played all 48 games, Chelios would play no less than 72 games a season, topping 80 four times.

The 1991-92 season saw the Blackhawks return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1973, as Chelios scored 21 points and earn a +19 rating in 18 games. The following season Chelios equalled his career high of 73 points while playing in all 84 games.

1995-96 saw Chelios named captain of the Blackhawks and play in his sixth consecutive NHL All-Star Game as well as topping 70 points for the third time in his NHL career. Following that season Chelios' offensive production would decline, as he would never score as many as 50 points in a season again, but he would continue his rugged, minutes eating playing style.

The 1997-98 season saw Chelios play in his 1,000th NHL game on this date, now during the second term of Bill Clinton's Presidency.

Chelios would spend one more season in Chicago before, at age 37, he would be traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Anders Eriksson and a pair of first round draft picks, ending a nine year run in Chicago.

Today's featured jersey is a 1991-92 Chicago Blackhawks Chris Chelios jersey, as worn by Chelios during their appearance in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Stanley Cup Finals patch was introduced in 1989 and has continued to be worn by both finalists each season since. It has undergone several style changes over that time and this patch is from the first era.

Our first video today is not the usual hockey highlights, but a look instead at Cheli's Chili Bar, Chelios' restaurant in Detroit, Michigan.

Here, Chelios accepts his 1993 Norris Trophy, the second of three in his career, with unexpected results and candor.

Of course, any mention of Chelios, allows us the opportunity to once more share our favorite hockey video ever - the Inglewood Jack.

1991-92 Chicago Blackhawks Chris Chelios Jersey

On this date in 2006, Chris Chelios passed Phil Housley as the all-time leader in games played by an American born player when he skated in his 1,496th game as his Detroit Red Wings hosted the St. Louis Blues at the Joe Louis Arena.

Chelios' career began in 1983 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, prior to the debut of MTV and six years before Sidney Crosby was born!

Other players drafted by the pick-rich Canadiens prior to selecting Chelios were Mark Hunter (628 NHL games played) 7th overall in the first round, Gilbert Delorme (541 GP) 18th in the first round, Jan Ingman (zero GP) 19th in the first round, and Lars Eriksson (zero GP) 32nd in the second round before picking Chelios 40th, the 16th defenseman chosen in the draft!

Chelios assault on the record was aided by his obvious durability, with 19 of Chelios 25 NHL seasons seeing him play in 65 games or more. In addition, he was on a number of successful teams, with deep playoff runs being a regular part of Chelios career. Nine times he would play an additional 14-24 postseason games for a total of 268 career playoff games plus 11 appearances for the United States in international competitions, often as team captain.

Chelios current career NHL total stands at 1,644 games played, 475 more than the four players Montreal drafted before him combined. While he is still actively playing, it is with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and his days in the NHL could be at an end, but his experience could still prove to be valuable and earn him the opportunity to add to his NHL total later in the schedule.

Chelios would play seven seasons in Montreal, including winning the Stanley Cup in 1986, before moving to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Denis Savard. Nine seasons in Chicago would be highlighted by another return to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992 before being traded to the rival Detroit Red Wings near the end of the 1998-99 season. Ten seasons in Detroit would earn Chelios another pair of Stanley Cups, in 2002 and again in 2008, with 2008 being a bit of a special case. Chelios would play in 14 playoff games that year, although none of them were in the final series versus Pittsburgh, but under league rules, he rightly earned having his named engraved on the cup for the third time.

During his career, Chelios was named the winner of the James Norris Trophy as the NHL's Best Defenseman in 1989, 1993 and 1996.

Other durable American players in the NHL after Housley (1,495 games played) have included;

#3 Mike Modano* (1,408), #4 Jeremy Roenick (1,363), #5 Mathieu Schneider* (1,272), #6 Craig Ludwig (1,256), #7 Bill Guerin* (1,207), #8 Brian Leetch (1,205), #9 Doug Weight* (1,195) and #10 Scott Young (1,181). Other still active players with a chance to move up include #15 Keith Tkachuk (1,152), #23 Brian Rolston (1,060) and #24 Todd Marchant (1,058).

* - active players

Today's featured jersey is a 1991-92 Chicago Blackhawks Chris Chelios jersey. This jersey is from the NHL's 75th Anniversary Season and was worn during the regular season with the NHL 75th Anniversary patch, but with the Blackhawks reaching the Stanley Cup Finals versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 75th Anniversary patch was covered up with the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals patch.

Here is an interview Chelios where he recaps his career and includes footage from the different teams he suited up for.

In this clip, the mentally insane Ron Hextall charges out of his net to attack Chelios for an earlier incident. Any enemy of Hextall is a friend of ours.

Finally, a clip we've been dying to run since the day we started this blog. In honor of our first follower in Twitter, Inglewood Jack, we proudly present Chris Chelios reminiscing about his favorite hockey coach, Jules Winnfield. Watch as Jules teaches his players the "Gourmet Shot" and of course, the "Inglewood Jack."

2004 Team USA Throwback Chris Chelios Jersey

On this date in 2004, the United States faced off against Russia in St. Paul, Minnesota as part of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, with the US wearing throwback jerseys in honor of the silver medal winning 1932 United States Olympic Team.

The 1932 United States Olympic Team

The 1932 US Olympic Team would open the double-round robin tournament on February 4th, 1932 in Lake Placid, New York with a 2-1 overtime loss to Canada and then defeated Poland 4-1 the next day before going on a roll that would see them post consecutive shutouts against Germany (7-0) on the 7th, Poland (5-0) on the 8th and Germany again (8-0) on the 10th before skating to a tie with Canada 2-2 to close out the tournament on February 13th.

Here is a photo of an actual game worn United States sweater from the 1932 Olympics.

Russia would win the 2004 matchup against the United States by a 3-1 score on goals by Dainius Zubrus, Alexei Kovalev and Viktor Kozlov, while Keith Tkachuk would score the lone goal for the US.

This would be the one and only game that Team USA would wear the 1932 throwbacks, although the US World Junior team would also wear these throwback jerseys during the 2005 World Juniors three months later in Grand Forks, North Dakota, only this time with the individual player names on the back.

Today's featured jersey is a 2004 Team USA 1932 Throwback Chris Chelios jersey as worn during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey on September 2, 2004 in St. Paul, Minnesota versus Russia.

This jersey features the 2004 World Cup of Hockey patch on the upper left chest, along with Chelios' captain's "C". The jerseys were customized with a distinctive, oversized number font with a pronounced white outline and were worn without names on the back.

Also absent was the IIHF logo patch, normally worn on the back bottom right hem of all the jerseys during the 2004 World Cup, with the only other exception being the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons throwback jerseys worn by Team Canada during the tournament. 

Here is some video footage of the 1932 USA throwback jerseys in action during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Don't miss one of the all time great goals by the sublime Alexei Kovalev.