There’s been some buzz on the social medias this week about a Penguins-related tweet claiming to have the greatest Mount Rushmore in hockey history. It’s hard to argue with the individual accolades collected by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Mario Lemieux and JaromÃr Jágr.
If you’re a Blackhawks fan, it’s hard to not be triggered by Super Mario and Jágr after the way they made quick work of the Hawks in the Stanley Cup Final… and I think many of us wish the Toews-Blackhawks and Crosby-Penguins met at least once for a championship.
But it got me to thinking… who would be on a Mount Rushmore for the Blackhawks?
The Chicago Blackhawks have had their fair share of great players in almost 100 years of existence. We’re reminded of that with Jeremy Roenick finally going into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year. But who would make a Mount Rushmore for the Blackhawks franchise?
I made an attempt at putting together three sets. I did that because the Blackhawks have had some marvelous forwards, but have also had some of the greatest defensemen in NHL history and some of the best goaltenders as well. So I made a Mount Rushmore for each.
Blackhawks Forwards Mount Rushmore
Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Patrick Kane & Jonathan Toews
- 4,660 games (in Chicago)
- 1,963 goals
- 4,728 points
- 8 Stanley Cup rings
- 1 Calder Trophy
- 5 Hart Trophies
- 8 Art Ross
- 2 Conn Smythe Trophies
- 3 Lady Byngs
- 1 Selke Trophy
- 1 Mark Messier Leadership Award
These were the four that I feel best represent the history of the franchise, and collected the most individual accolades. It was really hard to not include Denis Savard. And we could easily make a case for including guys like Roenick, Steve Larmer, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Tony Amonte, and Dennis Hull.
Blackhawks Defensemen Mount Rushmore
Pierre Pilote, Doug Wilson, Chris Chelios & Duncan Keith
- 3,615 games (in Chicago)
- 499 goals
- 2,368 points
- 4 Stanley Cup rings
- 1 Conn Smythe
- 8 Norris Trophies
- 22 All-Star Games
Of course there are going to be folks to want me to put in Brent Seabrook instead of Chelios. And there are others, like Bob Murray and Niklas Hjalmarsson, who played long and terrific careers in Chicago. But these four collected a lot of hardware while representing the Blackhawks.
Blackhawks Goalies Mount Rushmore
Glenn Hall, Tony Esposito, Ed Belfour & Corey Crawford
- 2,394 games (in Chicago)
- 1,115-831-364 combined record
- .910 combined save pct
- 3 Stanley Cup rings
- 7 Vezinas
- 5 Jennings Trophies
- 2 Calder Trophies
- 19 All-Star Games
This one feels pretty easy to lock in. They rank in the top 4-5 the all-time leaders in almost every statistical category in franchise history. I might include Charlie Gardiner from the early early days of the Blackhawks as another option.
What do you think? Who would you put on your Mount Rushmore(s) in Blackhawks history?