Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Blackhawks Stories Ever Told

by Harvey Wittenberg, Bruce Wolf (Foreword)

As one of the NHL’s original six teams, the Chicago Blackhawks have given their fans millions of heart-stopping memories, thousands of unforgettable stories, and five Stanley Cup Championships. Now fans of this indomitable team get to relive it all in this newly updated edition of Tales from the Chicago Blackhawks Locker Room . With all the charm and wit of a sportscaster who has been covering the Blackhawks for over sixty years, Harvey Wittenberg shares the greatest Hawks stories, including their 2010 Stanley Cup title.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

One-and-a-half stars.

If it were intended as a bathroom book, it'd be okay--vaguely interesting with very short sections, usually two to a page; for reading straight through, it's lacking. The author showcases a lot of knowledge, but if there was an editor—and that’s a big if--they should be shot. It is very obvious how little care was put into this book. There are moments when it is clear that something snuck in from the previous edition that should have been altered or cut. It contradicts itself, sometimes on back-to-back pages. There are embarrassing reoccurring typos, including "Stanely Cup" and "Hakws." (According to another reviewer, the book on tape has some pretty crucial hockey names mispronounced!) Also, it repeats a lot of the same information over and over (and over) again.

The most disappointing part about this book is how the title implies an exclusive behind-the-scenes look, but in reality, most of the contents here are player stats and the author’s game memories. Reading team history is fine by me--and the author is perfectly qualified as the Hawks PA announcer for 41 seasons, starting December 1961 (156)--but this book is so chaotically put together that reading it straight through is frustrating. One minute it'll be discussing Eddie O, then it will jump back three decades with no transition, all on the same page. When this is added to the more obvious glaring errors already pointed out, forgiveness becomes less and less possible.

My impression is that the author sat down and spoke with certain players and simply typed up what he gleaned from those short interviews. If that is indeed correct, it would have been good to separate those into chapters, or at least separate different decades into their own chapter (something I did with my notes in the “spoiler”). On top of this, the story part of the "stories" are sometimes no more than a sentence (e.g. "Howie Young used to ride his motorcycle up and down the stairs to the locker room at the Chicago Stadium." (57)) and would have benefited from a better writer (or interviewer) to either (a) format them into story length or (b) arrange them sensibly so the book didn't feel like just a collection of mildly entertaining half-memories.

In short, there is a lot of information in this book, but it takes more patience than a book should require to piece it together in one’s mind…or piece it together as I have in my notes in the “spoiler.”



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Intro
The Hawks have had a busy run in the years between their 1961 and 2010 Cup wins. "Chicago had 10 straight years of making the playoffs, winning the Cup in 1961 and going to the finals again in 1965 plus getting their first, first first-place finish in 1967. After finishing out of the playoffs in 1969, the Hawks made the playoffs 28 straight seasons, going to the finals in '71, '73 and '92, plus the conference finals in '83, '85, '89, '90, and '95. The Hawks finished first 13 times in regular-season play since 1970." (139)


The 1950’s: Tommy Ivan and Glenn Hall acquisitions

"Billy Mosienko tallied the fastest three goals by a single player on the last day of the regular season on March 23, 1952 in New York against the Rangers in a 7-6 win.” (xiii)

"Jim Norris lured Tommy Ivan away from Detroit where he had coached the Red Wings to six straight first-place finishes and three Stanley Cups. Ivan was looking for a new challenge, and he certainly got one in 1954 when he took the GM post." (142) As GM, Tommy Ivan kept player salaries low and was difficult to negotiate with.

In 1957, Glenn Hall "was traded to the Hawks [from Detroit] because they felt Sawchuk had more potential." (164)

“Glenn Hall started 503 consecutive games in goal, all maskless from October 6, 1955 / to November 7, 1962." (xiii-xiv) During the last game, he had to leave the ice mid-game. "Glenn's consecutive streak of 502 regular season games plus another 50 games in the playoffs--all without a mask--is a mark that will probably never be broken!" (115)

"Glenn [Hall] is credited with developing the 'butterfly' style of goaltending. Before Glenn, most NHL goalies played a stand-up type of game." (114)

The 1960’s: Hall, Hull, Mikita, Esposito
In ’62, "Bobby Hull became the third NHL player to score 50 goals in one season, matching Montreal's Rocket Richard and Bernie Geoffrion." (157)

Bobby Hull had two different jersey numbers before he had #9, both changes made on his behalf by "assistant trainer and backup goalie, Walter "Gunzo" Humeniuk." The first change (from #16 to #7) "helped" break a slump. The second switch (to #9 was in '64-'64. "Gunzo said, 'You're better than those guys wearing 9.' Gunzo was referring to Detroit's Gordie Howe and Montreal's Rocket Richard." (65-66) Howe and Richard were the only ones in league history to achieve 500 goals in their career. (72) Hull later surpassed Rocket Richard.

first half of 1966 - "Hull broke the NHL record with his 51st goal." (160)

In '67, Hull had "his third 50-plus goal campaign and become the first player to have back-to-back 50-plus seasons." (67)

March 12, 1967 - first time the Hawks clinched first place.

Mikita "is the only player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy (scoring), Hart Trophy (most valuable player) and Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship) all in one season--and he did it twice (1966-67 and 1967-68)." (49) He did this in part for getting his penalty minutes (97-plus penalty minutes in four of his first six seasons) down to only 12 and 14. (50-51) Goalie Glenn Hall told Stan, 'I guess the other teams got tired of trying to kill you each night, and you didn't have to retaliate.'" (51)
During Mikita's time, "it was the trainer's job to do the stitches." (52) The trainer got paid by the stitch, so sometimes went over!

One of Mikita's teammate's "Howie Young used to ride his motorcycle up and down the stairs to the locker room at the Chicago Stadium." (57)

The reason Glenn Hall went to St. Louis was the expansion draft in 1967. "In going over Glenn's records, it's hard to say he is not the best ever: 13 straight All-Star Games, 84 shutouts (third in NHL history), 115 playoff appearances, three Vezina Trophies, Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP, Calder Trophy, 906 regular=season games and Hall of Fame honors." (115)

In ’67, Phil Esposito (and two players) was traded from the Hawks for Pit Martin (and two players). Esposito became a Hall of Famer.

According to Bill Wirtz, the deal that sent Phil Esposito to Boston was supposed to include Gerry Cheevers coming from Boston to Chicago, but the goalies were switched at the last minute and Ivan made the trade anyway. (147)

Cliff Koroll joined the team in 1968, spending 11 seasons with the Hawks and was eventually an assistant coach. "On his first road trip with Dallas into Omaha, one of his teammates told him, 'If you get cut here, make it early.' Cliff didn't know what he meant, but found out when there was about a minute left in the game. He got a bad cut and needed stitches...Cliff laid on the table for more than 20 minutes when he heard someone coming. He looked down the hall and saw this figure staggering down the hall--it was the doctor. Cliff said he was reeking from alcohol and told him to lie still as he started stitching. Cliff was in a little bit of shock as he got back to the team hotel and tried to go to sleep. He got into bed, but couldn't close his cut eye because the doctor had sewed his eyelid to his eyebrow." (58)

"Cliff's luck with doctors didn't get a lot better when he joined the Hawks in Chicago. He got cut inside his mouth and needed stitches. The Chicago doctor came down to the locker room to stitch Cliff up. He kept getting interrupted as / he was working on Cliff and then left in a hurry to answer a phone call. However, he forgot to sew up the stitches, and he still held the needle as he began to drag Cliff down the hall with the stitches in his mouth." (59-60)

Doug Jarrett, a Hawk from ’64-’75, had the nickname "chairman of the boards" for the way he would check opponents. (126)

In 1969, "Coach Reay decided to start his rookie goalie against his former team, that he won the Stanley Cup with the season before. Esposito was outstanding as he registered his first Hawk shutout in the 5-0 triumph. Tony went on the record 14 more shutouts to set a modern-day NHL record, which still stands as he won 38 games to set a team mark”

Billy Reay coached ’63-’77. "Hawks teams coached under Billy Reay never had a losing record and made the playoffs in all but one season (1968-69), and reached the Stanley Cup finals in '65, '71 and '73. Under Reay, the Hawks had six first-place finishes, three second-place finishes, three-third-place finishes and one fourth-place finish. / The lone coaching goal that eluded his career was the Stanley Cup championship. Billy and his players on that '71 team still think about that '71 team still thinks about the fateful seventh game when Montreal came from behind to take the cup." (83-84)

The 1969-1970 season “began a string of 28 straight playoff appearances." (105)

The 1970’s: Playoffs, Magnuson, Esposito
In the '70s, "Chicago finished first seven times, second once and third twice." (173)

On April 7, 1970, the Hawks needed a win to make the Playoffs, but all Montreal needed to make the Playoffs was enough goals to pass the Rangers. "The desperate Canadiens pulled their goalie for an extra attacker for more than 12 minutes in hopes of scoring three more goals to get into the playoffs...Chicago got five empty-net goals to make the final 10-2 and go from last to first, passing up Boston." (7)
"Chicago earned first place in the last game of the season April 5, 1970, in what was described as one of the strangest games ever at the Stadium. The Hawks needed a win to tie Boston, but would get the edge because of more wins. They were facing montreal which needed a win or tie to get into the playoffs or they would be out for the first time in 22 years. Montreal took an early lead and learned that the Rangers had already won their game which meant that unless they won, tied or scored at least five goals, they would be out. Chicago rallied and took a 5-2 lead. In desperation with about 12 minutes left in regulation, Montreal pulled its goalie to try to get three more goals. Chicago took advantage to score five empty goals and clinch first place n the 10-2 win." (171)

1971 Playoffs: In the semifinals against the Rangers, it went seven games with three overtime goals. The Hawks ultimately won and went on to face Montreal in another seven-game series. "The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in Game 7 in the second period. Cliff Koroll and Chico Maki had a two-man breakaway on goalie Ken Dryden but missed the net. Then Bobby Hull hit the crossbar." Montreal went on to tie it and then go ahead on a breakaway. Then, "Jim Pappin had almost tied it in the final seconds and raised his arms signaling a goal, but Dryden made the save!" (173)

In '72-'73, the Hawks lost numerous players to the WHL and the NHL expanding to include Atlanta and the Islanders. The Hawks still made it to the finals that year, but lost. (108)

"Esposito holds the Hawk record for most shutouts, games played, most 30-plus and 20-plus win seasons, minutes played in a season, and is tied for most consecutive wins...in the 1971-72 season...Tony had a record low goals-against average of 1.77 in 48 games with nine shutouts. That mark stood for 30 years and was just exceeded by Marc Turco of Dallas in 2002-2003 with a 1.73 average." (106)

Pat "Whitey" Stapleton was a Hawk from ’65-’73, not counting a dip into the minors his rookie year. He was also a prankster. He stole a reporters typewriter (now Hawks historian, Bob Verdi), a referee's skates and publicly bet a Bears player he'd race him (not that he'd "win" the race) (122-123)

Being superstitious, Keith Magnuson and teammate Cliff Koroll spent much of one season "driving non-stop from the western suburbs to the stadium without applying the brakes--even while going through red lights." (9)

The 1980’s – Denis Savard, Steve Larmer, Al Secord and Troy Murray
In the '80s, "Chicago went to the division and conference finals five times." (176)

"New conference lineups and mandatory wearing of helmets, number of players dressed, the merger of four WHA teams and a five-minute sudden death overtime all came about in the '80s." (175)

The Savard-era Hawks were defeated in the conference finals in '83, '85 and '90 by the Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers. (43)

Savard was famous for his spin-o-rama move. During Savard's first year (1980) he saw the Hawks retire their first jersey number (#21, Stan Mikita). (40-41) He played for the Hawks 1980-1990, then finished his career with them from ’94-’97.

Hall of Famer Phil Esposito wanted to finish his career back with the Hawks playing with his brother Tony, but it didn't happen.

In '81-'82, Doug Wilson had his jaw wired shut. "when they went out in Denver, they asked the waiter to put Doug's pizza and beer in a blender. Doug told me it didn't look pretty, and tasted even nastier! Then, Doug, started choking on an anchovy, and they had to break his jaw open." (134)

"The NHL resumed overtime games in 1983-84 after a 41 year lapse." (201)

Dec 1983 - "Hull's No. 9 jersey became the second in team history to be retired." (144)

"[Al] Secord was put on a line with [Denis] Savard and [Steve] Larmer and they produced the highest-scoring trio in team history--297 points [in a season]--breaking the M-P-H ([Pit Martin, Jim Pappin, Dennis Hull] mark of 272 set 10 years earlier." (80)

Steve Larmer played an extraordinary number of games straight: 886. "A team record and third highest in NHL history behind Doug Jarvis (964) and Gary Unger (914)." (44)

"Troy Murray...was the first Hawk to win the Selke Trophy in 1986 as the NHL's best defensive forward. Dirk Graham won it in 1991." (201)

January 7, 1987: "Al [Secord] scored [four] goals in eight minutes, 24 seconds, which is still a team record for fastest four by a Hawk." (81)

Nov. 20, 1988 - Glenn Hall (#1) and Tony Esposito (#35) have their numbers retired. (112)


The 1990’s – Suter on staff, Eddie Belfour in goal, Jeremy Roenick
"The Hawks started out the '90s strong, finishing first twice and second once, going to the conference finals in 1990 and the Stanley Cup finals in 1992. The old Chicago Stadium closed in April 1994 and the new United Center hosted its first game January 25, 1995, because of the late start of the season due to the labor dispute. The 1998 season saw the Hawks' 28 season playoff appearances end, the second-longest in NHL history." (176)

"In the nets, Eddie Belfour broke Tony Esposito's record for wins with 43 in 1990-91, took the Vezina Trophy for goalies plus Rookie of the Year honors. He won the Vezina again in '93 and All-Star honors with a 41 victory performance to become the fifth goalie to record more than one 40-win season. Jeremy Roenick because the third Hawk in history to get 50 goals in a season with 53 in 1991-92 and 50 the following season. Steve Larmer scored his 400th Hawks career goal in January 1993." (177)

"So far, there has only been one case in NHL history of six brothers playing in the league at the same time. The Suters--Brian, Duane, Brent, Rich, Ron and Darryl... [Darryl] scored 40 goals with the Hawks in his rookie season ('80-'81). He had five season of 20-plus goals and became team captain in '82-'83. / He returned to Chicago as associate coach to Mike Keenan before becoming head coach for three seasons in '92-'93 and guiding the Hawks to the conference finals in 1995. Darryl stepped down to devote more time to his family....he was assistant coach when Duane joined the Hawks. Then he was coach when brothers Brent and Rich played for Chicago." (97-98)

"Hawk defenseman Bryan Marchment took exception one night when Coach Darryl Sutter scratched him in 1992. Marchment picked up a dumbbell and threw it against the wall. After that, Sutter had the trainer put a dumbbell in front of the locker when a player was scratched." (202)

Chicago Stadium, the Hawks’ home since 1929, closed in 1994. Their tenure at the United Center began in January, due to an abbreviated NHL season. "In the United Center, sometimes in the old Stadium, when I would get ready to announce the final minute of each period, fans would yell out to me, 'How much time is there left, Harvey?'" (178)

"...Chicago area natives who have played for the Hawks. The most famous are Eddie Olczyk and Chris Chelios." (23)

Chris Chelios and teammate Steve Smith once stayed out past curfew and were spotted by Coach Keenan. Keenan didn't say anything, but the next game he wouldn't let them return to the bench, so they ended up "playing almost 40 exhausting minutes with little rest" (37)

"Craig MacTavish, who played for 17 season, was the last player to not wear a helmet when he retired in 1997." (175)

Savard's jersey was retired on March 19, 1998. (145-146)

Chris Chelios: "The Chicago native finally retired in 2010 after 26 seasons at the age of 48 after being the oldest active player in the NHL." (135) Started career in Montreal in '83 and came to Chicago in '90 after a controversial trade of Savard. He was with the Hawks for nine seasons. "Chris owns the Hawks record for most assists by a defenseman (58) in a season, which he accomplished twice. [He also won the Norris twice.] In addition he is their all-time leader in penalty minutes, and holds the Hawk playoff record for most goals by a defenseman (six)...the first and only Hawk defenseman to lead the team in [points] when he registered 72 points in 1995-96 on 14 goals and 58 assists." (136)

Modern era: Toews, Kane & Co.

Dale Tallon became the Hawks GM in June 2005, but before that he was a player. Tallon was a second overall draft-pick for the Canadiens and played All-Star games his first two season before being traded to the Hawks in 1973. (118) Later a color commentator alongside Pat Foley. "Dale remembers when Sean Hill of St. Louis took a shot below the belt off a Hawk stick. Pat asked Dale whether the puck his Hill in the left knee or right knee. Dale replied, "It hit him in the WEE-KNEE!" (120) Tallon would start in the Hawks front office in 1998, later becoming GM.

"Patrick Sharp...came via a trade with Philadelphia in December 2005." (186)

"Being overall third selection in the 2006 NHL Draft, Jonathan [Toews]...Jonathan scored his first NHL goal on his first show on goal against San Jose at the United Center on October 10, 2007. Also, he would up that season as the top rookie goal scorer (24) and finished behind teammate Patrick Kane in the Calder Trophy voting." (183)

"the Hawks returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2002 when they beat Nashville 3-1 on April 3, 2009 at United Center on their way to setting a franchise attendance record and an NHL mark with average of 21,783 fans per game." (207)

"Marian Hossa became the first NHL player to play in three straight Stanley Cup finals with three different teams, and fortunately the third time was the lucky charm as he was part of the 2010 Chicago cup winners. After being with Pittsburgh in 2008 and Detroit in 2009..." (186)

"Duncan Keith became the fourth Hawk to win the NHL's trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 2010...He along with Brent Seabrook have been with the Hawks longest on their 2011-12 roster...Both joined the Hawks in the 2005-06 campaign with Seabrook being a first round draft pick in 2003 and Keith a second rounder in 2002." (185)

October 22, 2011 - Mikita and Hull statues unveiled at the United Center. The statues were done by the same artists who did the Michael Jordan statue. (197)

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some great stories that would make this a 4 star book, but the format of the book is a bit sloppy.

Proofreading seems to be a bit of a problem. A handful of specific points in Blackhawks history are repeated 4 or 5 times throughout the book.

Stories a very short. It's as if, you would have sat at a bar and asked Harvey to retell stories of Blackhawks past, and he told them to you in two minute intervals.

It's still a good book for any Blackhawks fan to read. Stories of Chicago Stadium, which I miss dearly, stories of the antics of Dennis Hull, Stan Mikita, and others.

I just wish it could have been put together a little better.

[Vincent Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the vast majority of the other reviews have said, this is not a fantastic read. Just a collection of thoughts stapled together and printed. Some are interesting other are pointless. There doesn't seem to be a flow to this book. It's more of a bathroom reader than something you would bring on a long flight

[Nick Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this book 4 stars because I loved the funny and interesting stories that it had and also enjoyed reading the struggles they had scoring and playing defense and how they overcame the struggles. I also liked how it talks about the history of the team and then gets into the current team and how they became the team they are now. One of the stories I liked the most was Kane-more than able because it talked about how Patrick Kane grew up idolizing lots of hockey playing and then he got the chance to play for the Blackhawks and ended up winning the Stanley cup in 2010.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ stars for the book itself. The stats got a little overwhelming at times, but the stories were PRICELESS. I would read six more like this.

HOWEVER. Goodreads doesn't have the audio version as a possible edition, but I listened to it (from Audible). Names the narrator mispronounced:

Toews (REPEATEDLY, OMG, HE'S THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM, FOR THE LOVE OF PETE)
Hossa
Selke
Yzerman

And those are just the ones I happen to know! I can only imagine how I've mislearned the rest.

(Also, the Bill Wirtz apologia and the Rocky Wirtz "turning the team around" narrative didn't sit comfortably with each other. But whatever.)

[Brody · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a collection of funny and enjoyable stories from the Chicago Blackhawks organization that I read. I liked this book because most of these stories are funny and are interesting facts as well. I recommend this book to sports fans especially hockey fans (not many in the south) because it's tough to tell what the book is about if you don't know what hockey is.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been a far better book had it had some kind of editing or proofreading. There were so many redundant stories, many of the sentences were either run-on sentences or sentence fragments, and there were also too many typos and misspellings. All of these errors took away from my enjoyment of the book.

[Victoria Kator · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick read and funny at times, a bit too many repeats of the same story though...it would have been better if there was moreof a cohesive time frame/storytelling. i found it a bit odd,too,that randomly Harvey would tell us personal stories about his own life.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of stories from Blackhawks announcer Harvey Wittenberg. Any Hawks fan would revel in reading these personal anecdotes and stories.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like statistics, this is a great book for you! I wished it was in some type of order and there were fewer typos, but parts of it were entertaining.

[Ben Tuthill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice, comprehensive history of the Hawks. Lots of short stories and anecdotes from 50 plus years of team history.