Chris Chelios on surprise news of number retirement by Blackhawks: ‘It's so surreal'
Chris Chelios on surprise news of number retirement by Blackhawks: ‘It's so surreal' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Thursday night that Chris Chelios will become the ninth player in franchise history to have his number retired. And I don't think it's sunk in yet for the former Chicago captain.
"It's so surreal," Chelios said on Friday in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Chicago on the Blackhawks Talk Podcast. "I never dreamed I was going to be in the NHL and then I look back at my career and I go, 'Wow, that was pretty amazing.' And then this.
"Not to downplay the Hall of Fame, but to have this happen in my hometown, to have my jersey retired up there with [Stan] Mikita, [Bobby] Hull, [Tony] Esposito, [Denis Savard] and [Marian] Hossa, I still can't believe that was announced last night and in that fashion. It really did blow me away. I had no idea this was coming."
The news was delivered to Chelios during the Pearl Jam concert at the United Center — fittingly, on Sept. 7 — by his close friend and lead singer Eddie Vedder. Chelios originally thought he was getting ready to watch a tribute video for Rocky Wirtz, who passed away in August at the age of 70.
"He played so dumb when I mentioned to him two days ago about Rocky and maybe mentioning his name and doing a song for him and the family," Chelios said. "He acted like he didn't even know Rocky. It was amazing. And then I find out him and Jaime [Faulkner] and Danny [Wirtz] have been working on this for a couple months ... it's amazing.
"I don't know how you can top that, have one of your best friends bring you on stage in front of your hometown crowd and break that news to you. There's no way I was going to cry cause there's too many cameras and I didn't want to ruin the moment, but it was close."
Chelios admitted he didn't think a number retirement was ever going to happen for him in his NHL career, in part because he spent most of his 26 seasons with three different teams. But to have his dream come true, with the Blackhawks, of all teams, was "the icing on the cake."
"I don't think there's any higher reward for a player," Chelios said. "The Hall of Fame, not to downplay it, it just wasn't the same because it was in Canada and you had a hundred friends there but now I'm going to have thousands of my friends and families and coaches and everybody that's basically responsible for me getting to where I did and achieved what I did, including my coaches and teammates.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I thought about this. I just really did think I didn't play anywhere long enough to get it to that. And unfortunately I never won a Cup with the Blackhawks, it's probably the only hiccup in my career. You can't have everything, but now I'm an ambassador and I've got a shot at winning a Cup as an ambassador and I'll enjoy it just as much as I did if I was a player."
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