It would be hard to find another Chicago Blackhawks' season filled with as many memories and milestones as 2016-2017. Of the top 10, it seemed like almost every player had a moment unto themselves that electrified fans or created history. It shouldn't be a surprise that the Blackhawks had only their second 50 win season in franchise history and led the Western Conference with 109 points.
It was hard to narrow this down to only 10 and impossible to rank. This is merely a list, in somewhat chronological order, of what the Sports Mockery Blackhawks reporters felt were the highlights of the season.
Enjoy!
Marian Hossa's 500th Goal
Marian Hossa was stuck on 499 goals after the 2015-2016 season. Can you imagine how long that six months felt for a competitor like him? On October 18th against the Philadelphia Flyers he finally joined the 500 goal club. Hossa was just the fifth player to reach the milestone in the Blackhawks sweater and only the 44th in NHL history. https://youtu.be/4FrY93MEhMIOne More Shift
On November 13, 2016 the Blackhawks started what should be a great tradition going forward for the organization. "One More Shift" honors Blackhawks legends with the chance to suit up, pull on that Blackhawks sweater one more time and stand on the ice for the National Anthem. This season the organization chose to honor Denis Savard, Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick and Ed Belfour. All had great careers with the Blackhawks but never won a Stanley Cup with the team. It's unclear if the Hawks will continue this tradition going forward but it seemed to be a great success and fans enjoyed it immensely. https://youtu.be/-mqU84RjWF0Blackhawks Find Backup Goaltender At Local Rink
On December 3, 2016 Blackhawks' goaltender Corey Crawford needed to undergo an emergency appendectomy while in Philadelphia. Crawford was slated to start that afternoon and the team was too far away from Rockford to get a backup goalie there in time. Enter Eric Semborski. The former Temple club goalie was working at the local Philadelphia rink and the Blackhawks found his name on a list of NHL approved emergency goalies. Lucky for him, he was close. Semborski got to take pre-game warmups with the team and was eventually given a trip to Chicago, Topps card and even a mask from Scott Darling's artist David Gunnarsson.Blackhawks Extend Artemi Panarin's Contract
On December 28, 2016 the Blackhawks extended Artemi Panarin's contract. This was big. Even if it was only a bridge deal for Panarin, it guarantees the organization will have another proven scorer to go along with their core. Panarin followed up his 77 point rookie season with 74 points in his sophomore campaign. He is the first player in Blackhawks history to score 30 or more goals in each of his first two seasons. The present and future remain bright for the organization with the Breadman in the lineup. https://youtu.be/P8rurzV0JNsEveryone Gets A Hat Trick!
Well not everyone, but four different players recorded hat tricks for the Blackhawks this season and all against rivals. Richard Panik started it off with one against the Predators on October 15, 2016. Then things got crazy. On January 8, 2017 Ryan Hartman recorded one of the oddest hat tricks in NHL history. Two of his goals were empty netters versus the Predators. People were doubting Captain Serious all season and then the month of February came along. He earned NHL First Star of February which was highlighted by a hat-trick on February 21, 2017 against division rival Minnesota Wild. He had five points in the game to lead the Blackhawks to their seventh straight road win. Patrick Kane tallied hat tricks on February 23 and March 1, 2017 for two in three games. His two hatties in three games was the first time a Blackhawks player accomplished the feat since Brian Noonan in 1991. https://youtu.be/sEmGP78NiFcCampbell and Keith Reach 500 Points
500 points doesn't seem like a ton when you think about Marian Hossa having 500 goals, but these are defensemen. Out of over 2,200 D-men in NHL history, only 61 have produced over 500 points. Duncan Keith and Brian Campbell are two of them on the same team. The pair are two of the best offensive defensemen of this era and each collected their 500th point within almost a month of each other. Campbell on January 22, 2017 and Keith on February 26, 2017.
Crawford Notches 200th Career Win
On January 22, 2017 Corey Crawford won his 200th career game. He joined Hall of Famers Glenn Hall, Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour as the only Blackhawks goalies to reach the mark. This is impressive company for a goalie that many fans call for to be traded. Crawford's ability to win the big games is undeniable and has been a huge piece of the Blackhawks dynasty.
Blackhawks Have 9 Players Named To NHL100
In the centennial celebration for the NHL a list of the top 100 players in history was compiled. On January 27, 2017 the full list was unveiled. The Blackhawks had nine players named to the NHL100 that the organization recognized. The Blackhawks are an organization rich in history and players so it wasn't a huge surprise. Max Bentley, Glenn Hall, Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito, Denis Savard, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane made the list.
