FOX 32's Chicago Blackhawks Quarter Century Team, from Kane to Crawford

It's great fun to relive some of the best days for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Among the best of the best from a dynasty in the 2010s, there are some obvious picks when you're putting together a quarter century team. But, it's also a great time to look at some of the players who flew under the radar.

FOX 32 Chicago continues its collection of quarter century teams, moving on to the Chicago Blackhawks, from Kane to Crawford.

Top Line:

Patrick Kane – Jonathan Toews – Marian Hossa

Two-thirds of this top line are very easy to slot in.

Kane and Toews are two of the best players in Blackhawks’ history. There was a time when Toews was arguably the best player in the entire world, too. Kane is arguably the best American-born player ever to lace up skates. It’s a no-brainer. The third member of the line is where the discussion begins.

It came down to Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa. Saad was crucial in winning two Stanley Cup titles. Sharp was there well before Hossa and Saad. But, Hossa was there for all three Cup wins, was the best free agent signing in franchise history and entered the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Hossa was seen as a Hall of Good player, which cements a good-not-great status. But, in his eight years in Chicago, Hossa scored 186 goals, logged over 9,859 minutes on the ice and was a +133. The plus/minus stat isn’t always a solid measure of how impactful a player is, but consider this: In Hossa’s seven years in Ottawa, he was +64; in eight years in Chicago, he was +133.

Hossa aged like a fine wine as a player. After missing Stanley Cups on his resume in 2008 and 2009, he made up for lost time with three in Chicago. It’s hard to argue the Blackhawks would’ve had three without him. 

Second Line:

Patrick Sharp – Brandon Saad – Alex DeBrincat

If Sharp and Saad just missed out on being top-line players, they’ll land here.

Sharp wasn’t an all-world player like Kane and Toews, but they were so good that it’s easy to overshadow how good Sharp was. Sharp had 532 career points in 11 seasons with Chicago. Saad was a crucial figure for the Blackhawks when they won Cups No. 2 and No. 3, and even returned to Chicago after spending two years in Columbus when the Blackhawks front office traded him after the 2015 Cup win.

There’s an argument for Artemi Panarin here, especially when he established himself as a star alongside Kane, but Panarin played just two seasons as a full-time Blackhawk. DeBrincat scored 307 points in 368 games across five seasons. That’s nearly a point per game in a Hawks sweater, which is the kind of player the present-day Blackhawks want to pair with Connor Bedard.

Blue Lines:

Duncan Keith & Brent Seabrook

If there was a Big Three with the Blackhawks, it would be Kane, Toews and Keith. Keith is the first of that trio to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame. The former Norris Trophy winner doesn’t need much of an explanation at all, especially after 1,192 career games with the Blackhawks.

Seabrook was always right next to him, and he was an ironman of a defenseman. Seabrook played in 1,114 games for Chicago. He recorded 464 points on 103 goals and 361 assists. His best moment was the series-clinching, game-winning goal in overtime of Game 7 against the Red Wings.

Brian Campbell & Niklas Hjalmarsson

This came down between Johnny Oduya and Campbell. Knowing Oduya’s best moments came off the stat sheets is taken into consideration, but it’s hard to argue against Campbell’s 117 points in his first three seasons in Chicago.

Campbell was one of the players who kick-started the Blackhawks’ dynasty.

Hjalmarsson was extremely underrated as a defenseman. The offensive numbers weren’t gaudy, but his Hockey Reference lists one of his nicknames as the "Swedish Missile Defense System." Which Hjalmarsson was. He was basically a wall in front of the net, blocking 1,186 shots during his 10 years as a Blackhawk. Not much got past him.

Goalie:

Corey Crawford

There was a time when Antti Niemi was expected to be the guy when the Blackhawks were putting together their dynasty. Chicago couldn’t keep him, and Niemi went to San Jose.

All that did was clear the way for Crawford, who was as beloved as he was talented. In his Chicago tenure, Crawford was 260-162-53, allowed an average of 2.45 goals per game, had a .918 save percentage and recorded 26 shutouts in 488 games. Crawford won the Jennings Award twice, which is given to a goalie who played for the team that allows the fewest goals scored against them in a season. That’s a team award, but it doesn’t happen twice without Crawford.

I mean, you can’t have a list without the guy who had the iconic moment during the Blackhawks’ championship parade:

"F***ing right, Chicago!"

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