List of Chicago Blackhawks players

Jonathan Toews was captain of the Blackhawks from 2008 to 2023.

The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). The club was founded in 1926 as one of the league's first American franchises, joining in the same year as the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings (then known as the Detroit Cougars). Owing to the Blackhawks' long history, they are considered one of the NHL's "Original Six" teams—a term reserved for the six teams that comprised the NHL from the 1942–43 season until the league expanded in 1967.[1] As of October 9, 2020, 955 players have played at least one game for the franchise, either in the NHL regular season or in the playoffs.

The Blackhawks, known as the Black Hawks from their inception until 1986, have won the Stanley Cup six times in their 83-year history. Charlie Gardiner, the team's goaltender for its first Stanley Cup win in 1934, became the first European-born captain—and still the only goaltender captain—to win the Stanley Cup. Johnny Gottselig became the second European-born captain to do so when the team won its second championship in 1938. Stan Mikita is the franchise leader in assists (926) and points (1467), and Bobby Hull is the leader in goals (604). Chris Chelios is the franchise leader in penalty minutes (1495).[2] Goaltender Tony Esposito is the club's all-time leader in wins (418) and shutouts (74).[3]

The franchise has had 34 players selected as captains. Each NHL team may select a captain, who has the "sole privilege of discussing with the referee any questions relating to interpretation of rules which may arise during the progress of a game".[4][5] Captains are required to wear the letter "C" on their uniform for identification, which is 3 inches (7.6 cm) in height.[4] Dick Irvin was named the first captain in 1926. The current captain, Jonathan Toews, was the third-youngest captain in NHL history at the time of his selection.[6]

  1. ^ "Do Original Six teams still matter in the NHL?". ESPN.com. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
  2. ^ "HockeyDB Chicago Blackhawks all-time statistics". HockeyDB. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2009.
  3. ^ "Statistics — Career and Single-Season Leaders". Chicago Blackhawks. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Rule 6 - Captain and Alternate Captains". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  5. ^ Rossi, Rob (October 2, 2008). "The A-B-Cs of the 'C' and 'A'". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 30, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Blackhawks name Toews captain for upcoming season". The Sports Network. July 18, 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved March 30, 2009.