TOP 10 Greatest Chicago Blackhawks

Hey everyone,  I know it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog, the thing was I just could not think of what to write.  Since hockey is getting into the swing of things and the season is a couple of weeks old already, I thought why not a post about the TOP 10 Chicago Blackhawks of All-Time.  With the Hawks being an Original 6 franchise the list of greats and Hall of Famers is pretty long.  So in order to make this list your numbers and legacy better be good.  Over the past 80+ years the Hawks have been playing hockey they have had some great times and decades, at one time having the longest consecutive playoff run out of the 4 major sports at 24 consecutive years. They also had some pretty lean times especially recently (1998-2008 -only making the playoffs 1 time).  Throughout the Blackhawks history they still remain the only team to win the Stanley Cup with a losing record in 1938.  Looking back over their history in order to make this list, you had to be considered one of the best at your position at the time you played and be loved by the fans and sustained longevity.  So of the greats you will not see are: the Bentley brothers, Bill Mosienko (who still holds the NHL for the fastest Hat Trick ever recorded: 21 seconds), no Ed Belfour or Al Secord.  Even though I know when they retire Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook may all be on this list - there careers are just to short at the moment to compare to legends on The Top 10 Blackhawks of All Time

10. Steve Larmer: scored over 400 goals with the Blackhawks, never missed a game, made several all star games, Calder Trophy winner and had the nickname of "Gramps"
9. Doug Wilson: Won the Norris Trophy in 1982, feared slapshot from the Blueline ( I actually saw a wilson Slapshot knock off the cage of a goalie mask in a game) for over a decade considered one of the Elite defenseman in the game
8. Jeremy Roenick: good ol' JR, played with emotion and passion: multiple time All-Star, 2x 50 goal Scorer, one of the Top 5 centerman when he played
7. Chris Chelios; Chicago native, won 3 Norris Trophies (2 w/ Chicago), played with a nasty edge
6. Pierre Pilot: Won 3 straight Norris trophies with the Hawks in the 60's, is considered the greatest blueliner in Chicago Blackhawk history had his number retired to the rafters
5. Tony Esposito: Tony 'O #35, Hall of Famer,  Was part of the Trioka in the 70's as best goalie in the world (Ken Dryden of Montreal, and Vlad Tretiak of Russia) Still holds modern day single season shut out record with 15, won over 400 games in his career and has his number retired by the Hawks
4. Denis Savard: "Savior Fair": Hockey Hall of Famer, multiple All-Star, Stanley cup winner ('93 in Montreal), over 1,300 career points, including 5 100 point seasons, during the 80's was considered the 3rd best centerman behind Gretzky and Lemieux
3. Glenn Hall: Mr Goalie, Still holds the NHL record for most consecutive games played by a goalie with  501 a record that will never be broken: Hall of Famer, helped Chicago win the 1961 Cup (the last one before 2010). Is considered the greatest blackhawk goalie ever
2. Stan Mikita: #21: played his entire career in a Hawks uniform, Hall of Famer, one of the Top 25 players in NHL History according to the Hockey News, Multiple All -Star: winner of the Hart and Art Ross Trophies on multiple occassions. Holds the Blackhawks record for most career points

And the Greatest Chicago Blackhawk of All-Time is:

Bobby Hull!!!!! "The Golden Jet" is one of the most Iconic athletes of the last 50 years.  The greatest athlete of the 60's, his powerful slapshot and speed put fear in all players especially goalies.  Hall of Famer with 610 NHL goals multiple winner of the Hart and Art Ross Trophies.  The #6 greatest Hockey player of All-Time according to the Hockey News.

Well there you have it, the Greatest Chicago Blackhawks of All-Time.  If you can think of a better list let me know.  As I had so much fun making this list for the Hawks, I will continue this format for all of the Original 6 teams in the upcoming weeks.

Till next time.

The Polish Guy

2011 NHL Predictions

It is the first week of October, my favorite time of year.  College and Pro Football are in full swing, the weather is getting cooler this can mean only one thing.  The NHL Season is about to begin.  I can smell the fresh sheet of ice, hear the Zamboni running, the boards cracking with hits, the horn sounding for each goal. It really does not get any better then this.

This was a pretty crazy summer. Richards goes to the Rangers, the Flyers overhaul most of their scoring depth, McPhee of the Capitals gets the steal of the summer with Tomas Vokoun for a million.  The Hawks go for depth and character to rebuild what they lost from last seasons salary dump.  There is so much excitement for this upcoming season: Will the Canucks recover after losing the Stanley Cup at home in game 7, will another Original 6 team win the cup following Chicago and Boston.  Will a Canadian team win the cup for the first time since the '93 Canadians. Can Toronto break the current longest Cup drought as they have not won since 1967.  I can go on and on as there is so much to talk about.  With the games about to start on Thursday, I will give my division winners, playoff teams, conference winners, Stanley Cup winners and major award winners.  So let the fun begin!!!!

Division Winners:
Atlantic: Pittsburgh
Northeast: Buffalo
Southeast: Washington
Central: Detroit
Northwest: Vancouver
Pacific: San Jose

Playoff Teams: No Order
East: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Washington, Boston, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, NY Rangers, NY Islanders
West: Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim, Nashville, Los Angeles, St. Louis

Conference Champs:
East: Buffalo
West: Chicago

Stanley Cup Champ: Chicago in Seven Games.

The east will be much tougher then the west this year as they are a much more balanced conference then the west which is very top heavy.  Vancouver is tough, but Louongo can not win the playoffs, Detroit will miss Rafalski and goaltending can be iffy, Boston is good, but the loss of Recchi's veteran leadership and Tim Thomas will come back to earth a little bit.  Philly will be tough, but in the end the lack of leadership losing Richards and Carter this year will be too much to overcome.  Tampa has the scoring and a rising Norris winner in Victor Hedman, but the aging Dwayne Roloson will not be able to sustain his greatness from last season.  Buffalo has the goods in Ryan Miller, they added a lot of defensive help and their offense will be stronger than people think.  The Hawks loaded up with character and depth, their core is among the best in Hockey, they have been through the Stanley Cup grind and are hungry to win it again.

End of Season Award Winners:
Hart: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit
Art Ross: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
Rocket Richard: Steven Stamkos, Tampa
Selke: Jonathan Toews, Chicago
Norris: Shea Webber, Nashville
Vezina: Ryan Miller, Buffalo
Jack Adams: Barry Trotz, Nashville
Ted Lidsey (MVP Voted by NHLPA): Alexander Ovechkin
Lady Byng: Martin St. Louis, Tampa
Calder: Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado

There you have it. My predictions for the year.  Let the season begin

Till next time.

the Polish Guy

The 10 Greatest Chicago Bears

After watching the bears this weekend and dropping another game to the hated Packers, it got me thinking.  Looking at today's Bears team would any of them be considered to be the best at their position compared to other Bear greats.  Of course we know there will never be a Bear better then "Sweetness", is Julius Peppers better than Richard Dent, McMichael or Hampton.  Linebacker is rich in Bears tradition with some of the best in NFL history coming from the Monsters of the Midway.  Will Urlacher or Briggs make the list - read on to find out.

My list will not include the greats from before 1960 (except for 1) because we have already heard how great they were, but compared to the athletes after 1960 where a new era of Football began with the forward pass being more of a weapon and more technical defenses, those players just do not compare.  So my friends you will not see the likes of Bronko Nagurski, Sid Luckman, Johnny Lujack and many others.  With that my picks for the 10 Greatest Bears of All-Time

10. Wilbur Marshal: #58 hardest hitting LB I have ever seen, 3x Super bowl Winner his speed helped Singletary clean up the rest
9. Brian Urlacher - defensive player of the year winner, multiple time All Pro and another great MLB for the Bears
8.  Richard Dent - HOF, feared pass rusher and Super Bowl MVP
7.  "Danimal" Dan Hampton - HOF, anchor to the 46 defense, 6 time 1st or 2nd team All-Pro 1982 defensive player of the year
6. "Kansas Comet" Gale Sayers - HOF still holds the record for most TD's by a rookie and most TD's in a single game
5. "Iron" Mike Ditka - need I same more: who would win God or Ditka - Ditka
4. "Samurai Mike" Mike Singletary- HOF and took over the middle for the bears for over a decade
3. Dick Butkus - greatest Linebacker to ever play the game, so good his name is on the trophy for the best college linebacker
2. "Sweetness" Walter Payton - Simply the greatest all-around football player I have ever seen play. Because of his heart and the type of player he was off the field, the NFL names a player each year who displays the same characteristics to receive the Walter Payton Award
1. "Papa Bear" George Halas - without the great George Halas there would be no Chicago Bears, the NFC Champion every year wins the George Halas Trophy.

There you have it, my list of the 10 greatest bears of all time.  Think you got a better list post it up and let me know.

Till next time.

The Polish guy

Top 10 Guy Movies: We have to watch on T.V. non-comedy

Sorry for the delay to all my friends, it was my anniversary this weekend so I hope you can cut me some slack.  After a weekend of great football and movie watching it got me thinking:: What are the best guy movies of all-time.  These are movies that come on T.V. and we always have to stop and watch.  As there are so many I limited my list to non-comedy and only 1 mafia related movie.  These are the movies we always talk about with our friends and our wives do not understand why we watch them all the time when we have seen them each a hundred times and can quote the movie in our sleep.  I know the suspense is killing you right.  Some of these are no-brainers, while some may make you think, others may be why did I not think of that one.  I may forget some as well, but that is why these lists are so much fun.

The List:
10. Dr. No -Simply the best James Bond movie ever
9. The Road Warrior - Mel Gibson, before he went postal
8. Dirty Harry: Simply Clint Eastwood at his best (can not have a guy list with out Clint)
7. Reservoir Dogs: Hello Mr. Blue, Hello Mr. Pink
6. Apocalypse Now: I love the smell of Napalm in the morning
5. BraveHeart: Just an ass kicker of a movie
4. 300: This Is Sparta!!!! In case you haven't noticed we have been sharing our culture with you all morning
3. Enter The Dragon: Bruce Lee simply the best - changed the martial art movie world with this film
2. Fight Club: What is the #1 rule of Fight Club - you do not talk about Fight Club
1. The GodFather (Part 1&2): this should be #1 on every guys list without question

Honorable mention: Roadhouse, Goodfellas, Casino, Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, The Good, the bad and the Ugly, Scarface, The Usual Suspects, Rocky, Platoon, Predator


Well that is my list. I am sure you do not agree with some of my choices, but that is why lists are so much fun.  Let the debate begin.  Let me know your choices and see how they stack up.

Till next time,

The Polish Guy

Reflection

There are certain periods in our life where events happen and we remember exactly where we were when they occurred.  I remember sitting at my kitchen table in 1980 watching the "Miracle On Ice" happen as I was screaming we beat the Russians to my dad. Another instance was in 1986 sitting in Mrs. Watson's science class and on the PA there was an announcement that the Space Shuttle exploded.  Some events are just embedded in our minds.

Today we remember those who perished in the 9/11 attacks and all those brave soles who did everything to protect this country and to save those people.  I bet all of us can remember where we were when we heard the news that a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers.  I was walking into work that morning for a meeting when I heard the news.  Me and a a co-worker Jeff Dillman drove to my condo and watched everything unfold on TV.  We could not believe what we were seeing.  The expression on our faces when the first tower collapsed and then the second was one of shock.  Then you hear about Flight 93 and the heroic efforts of those people, then the plane crashing into the Pentagon.  While all of this was happening you feel a sense vulnerability and what was going to happen next. 

While this is a sad day in our country's history let's not forget all those brave people in the military who are doing everything they can to protect us and our country every day. This is a tough day for all of us but lets keep our heads high and reflect on how our lives have changed over the past 10 years.  Remember to thank all those in the military, police and fire department for what they sacrifice to make us have the lives we have.

So for today all I ask is to reflect on what you remember from ten years ago and to thank all those who help protect this great nation of ours.

Till next week.

The Polish Guy

Homage to college Football

As football season is now upon us, I thought I would pay respect to some of the best who ever played the game. Since College football started us off with a great day last night, I thought what better why to pay respect then with my Top 10 College Football Players from 1980-current.  As I was not old enough to remember anything prior to this date, I am only going on who I saw.  Look I saw the highlight clips of the greats like: O.J. Simpson at USC (yes OJ did play football and was great), Archie Griffen the only 2-time Heisman Winner, Dick Butkus @ Illinois, Red Grange, and many others-but this list is who I saw play and who blew my mind away.

Now, before you go and blow-up my list, this is how they performed in College and not the NFL. Many greats in the NFL were not great in college take for instance Tom Brady (back-up to Brian Griese @ Michigan).  There is some criteria to my list: you had to start for more than 1 season, which takes out Barry Sanders from OK. State who may have had the single greatest rushing season in College Football history (1988, 2,850 yards rushing and 42 TD), but he sat on the bench behind another HOF in Thurman Thomas for three years.  You also had to play for a winning team and make a bowl game so that knocks out John Elway (who never had a winning season when he played for Stanford and never went to a bowl) and many others.

So here is my list.
10. Charles Woodson - Michigan: Only defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy and lead Michigan to a share of the National Championship with Nebraska
9. Chris Spielman - Ohio State: 2-time all-american and Lombardi award winner. Tough SOB who watched the middle for OSU in the mid-80s
8. Derrick Brooks - Florida State: Help lead FSU to their first National title in 1993 and was a 2 time all-american
7. Brian Bosworth - Oklahoma: Only lb to win the Butkus award twice, 2-time all-american 
6. Warren Sapp - Miami: Dominating presence for Miami in the middle.  Could not be stopped. In 1994 won the Bronko Nagurski, Lombardi, and Bill Willis Awards
5. Larry Fitzgerald - Pittsburgh: Biletnikoff winner in 2003, 2 time all-american. Unstoppable at Pitt
4. Deion Sanders- Florida State: Prime-Time, 2-time All-American, changed the way cornerback was played
3. Bo Jackson - Auburn: 1985 Heisman Winner, fastest man I have ever saw play
2. Tim Tebow - Florida: 1st sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy, 2-Time National Champion finished career at Florida going 26-2 his final two years
1. Herschel Walker - Georgia: Heisman winner, 3-time All-American and lead Georgia to a National Title.  Most dominating player I have ever seen play football

Well there you have it.  My list for the Top College Football Players I have seen play.

Till next week.

The Polish Guy

Top 5 Bass Players

To all the people who know me pretty well can agree I have a strong passion for music, especially hard rock and heavy metal.  Went to see Mr. Big @ House of Blues Orlando last night and was amazed at watching the musicianship, creativity and the talent of Billy Sheehan.  I always knew he was a great bass player, but until I saw him play live it changed my appreciation for him even more.  So it got me thinking: Who are the Top Bass Players in Hard Rock, Alternative, and Heavy Metal.

After a long debate with a close friend last night over a couple of beers we started this debate as he is a bass player.  At first I was just going to limit it to Hard Rock and Metal and not Alternative, but as both of us agreed that Flea is one of the Top bass players of all time I expanded my criteria to add Alternative.  This is my list of Top players and there are some I am going to leave out even though I think they are amazing.  Some of the people who did not make the cut are: Geezer Butler, Jason Newsted, Les Claypool, Stu Hamm (who is one of the best), Frank Bello (which pains me), Michael Anthony, Nikki Sixx and Dave Ellefson.

Do not get me wrong all of these players are great at what they do, but they just did not crack my Top 5.  So without further a do here is my Top 5 Bass Players of all-time:

5. Geddy Lee - Rush: 1/3 of the greatest power trio ever
4. Cliff Burton - Metallica: Redefined bass playing in his short life: just listen to the opening of For Whom The Bell Tolls or Anesthesia
3. Flea -Red Hot Chili Peppers: Complete musician in all facets of the game, even humbled himself and went back to school to get even better
2. Billy Sheehan - Mr. Big: Just a wizard in his bass playing, from the DLR days to Mr. Big.  Owns the stage and plays with a style all his own
1. Steve Harris - Iron Maiden: What else can you say, plays with speed and tempo.  Another person who revolutionized bass playing with is 4 finger gallop style.  Not many people can keep up with his speed and is the driving force behind the Iron Maiden machine.

Well there you have it, my Top 5 Bass Players of all time.  Who is on your list.  I can not wait to see.  Let the debating begin.  Till Next Time.

The Polish Guy