Back on May 15, the Chicago Blackhawks shared some of the organization’s plans for celebrating the centennial of the Original Six franchise. Among the many events on the calendar is the founding of a Blackhawks Hall of Fame, which will live in the expanded Fifth Third Arena.
Players whose numbers have been retired by the organization will receive automatic induction into the new Blackhawks Hall of Fame.
The inaugural inductees into the Blackhawks Hall of Fame will be determined by
votes from fans as well as votes from Blackhawks alumni and a select group of media invited to formally vote in that capacity. The ballot is split into two categories: a Heritage Era ballot (pre-2000) and Modern Era ballot (2000-present).
I am honored and privileged to share that I was invited to be one of the individuals who voted in the media group.
And I wanted to share how I voted in that capacity — and why.
Heritage Era Ballot — Steve Larmer
Unless you’re new to me writing about the Blackhawks (if that’s the case, welcome!), this should come as absolutely no surprise. Steve Larmer’s number 28 should have been retired by the Blackhawks more than two decades ago (
it still should be), and this is the first opportunity I have had to formally do something about him being recognized for his stellar play as a member of the Blackhawks.
As of the end of the 2024-25 regular season, in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks Larmer ranks:
- 5th in points (923) — behind Stan Mikita, Patrick Kane, Bobby Hull and Denis Savard
- 4th in goals (406) — behind B. Hull, Mikita and Kane
- 7th in assists (517) — behind Mikita, Kane, Savard, Doug Wilson, B. Hull and Duncan Keith
- 1st in short-handed points (48)
- 5th in power play points (339) — behind Mikita, Savard, Kane and D. Wilson
- 5th in game-winning goals (49) — behind B. Hull, Mikita, Kane and Jonathan Toews
- 1 of 6 players in Blackhawks history to avg. 1.00 points/game in at least 500 games played with the franchise — with Savard, Jeremy Roenick, B. Hull, Kane and Mikita.
At the time he was traded to the Rangers, Larmer was one of the five best offensive players in the history of the franchise. I would argue that he’s still in the top 5-6 offensive players in the history of the franchise.
There will be future ballots for the Blackhawks Hall of Fame. Players who made a significant impact on the franchise — Doug Wilson, Jeremy Roenick, Ed Belfour, Troy Murray — will hopefully join this first class of inductees. Wilson’s number should be retired by the Blackhawks as well. But at this time, I’m voting for Larmer to be the first member of the Blackhawks Hall of Fame from the Heritage Era Ballot.
Hopefully Larmer getting inducted into the Blackhawks Hall of Fame will get some attention from the individuals who vote for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Modern Era Ballot — Brent Seabrook
This was a tougher choice for me because of the other members of the Dynasty teams whose names were on the ballot. But my rationale for voting for Seabrook is clear.
There’s no question
Duncan Keith should be in the Blackhawks Hall of Fame. There’s also no question that his No. 2 will, at some point in the near future, hang in the rafters with the other all-time greats in the history of the Blackhawks franchise. Keith will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this coming fall, which checks one of the boxes for his number to be retired.
Seabrook always resonated with me because, in many ways, he played a similar role on the dynasty teams to what Larmer did on his Blackhawks teams in the 1980s. He was a tremendous leader who did all of the things you need to win hockey games. But he was often overshadowed by his prolific teammates; Larmer was on a line with Savard, and Seabrook was Keith’s partner for years.
Only three players have appeared in more regular season games than Seabrook’s 1,114: Mikita, Keith and Kane. Seabrook averaged 21:56 of ice time in those 1,114 games. And among defensemen, only Doug Wilson (22) has more regular-season game-winning goals than Seabrook’s 19.
Seabrook is the Blackhawks’ all-time defenseman leader with 20 playoff goals. He is tied with Doug Wilson for the all-time defenseman lead with six power play goals. And he has the Blackhawks’ all-time lead among defensemen with three overtime goals.
The Blackhawks have already retired No. 7 for Chris Chelios. There should be another banner for Seabrook next to Chelios’ in the near future. But it’s a harder case to make for Seabrook to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (though I can make one and have). Because of that, Seabrook received my vote off the Modern Era Ballot for the Blackhawks Hall of Fame.
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