Blackhawks Hall of Fame Ceremony Commemorates Tournament – Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

On April 10, the Chicago Blackhawks held their first Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Before the season started, the Blackhawks announced that they would have a ‘Blackhawks Hall of Fame’ as part of the Centennial season. Each season, fans vote two alumni into the Hall of Fame: one modern and one legendary. Players whose jerseys have been retired are brought in.

The event honored the first three bearers: Duncan Keith (Modern Era) and Steve Larmer (Heritage Era), and the late beloved Troy Murray (Builder Inductee).

The hour-long event celebrated the unwavering “level” of Blackhawks hockey, and the one he’s fighting to get back to.

Keith, Larmer, and Murray’s son, Blake, gave speeches. While Marian Hossa introduced Keith, Denis Savard introduced Larmer. Pat Foley, emcee, introduced Blake Murray.

“Everything You Want To Be A Blackhawk”

“He was everything you want a Blackhawk to be,” were Foley’s beautiful words describing Murray, and that set the tone for the event. Because, as Foley explains, Murray carried himself with the three Cs: Class, Character, and Commitment.

Descriptive inheritance and example.

When it comes to Keith, Hossa echoes similar words about him being everything you want in a Blackhawk.

And those words apply easily to Larmer, too, as Keith describes him as a consistent Blackhawk who works hard to put on the jersey. Although all three were different players, they were special in their own ways as leaders on and off the ice, and then the championships.

The current Blackhawks were at the event, and it was a cool moment when Larmer gave the players some advice: have fun and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself. In addition, they got to experience the pride that all three players had in wearing a Blackhawks jersey.

It was something that stuck with them.

Head coach Jeff Blashill said before the St. Louis game. Louis Blues on April 11 about the event,

“I thought it was great. Very, very well done. I think those are great opportunities. It’s a reminder of what a storied franchise we coach and play and work for, and I think it’s a reminder to our players and to us as coaches to taste every day in the NHL. And I’ve said this a lot, you know, I think that perspective is important good times in the NHL, bad times in the NHL’ days, you know, and when you get a chance to do what we do for a living, every they are very good days.

The game against the Blues gave the fans a chance to celebrate Keith, Larmer, and Murray. Keith got a big ovation from the crowd during the first half of the match. The Murray family got big in the second half. Keith, Larmer, and Blake Murray hit the horn before the game, too.

The Blackhawks are on the rise

When it comes to the current Blackhawks, the inductees see makeup and strength and understand the process of getting to the top.

Larmer said in a post-event press conference about the Blackhawks, “Yeah, I think they have a really good young core, and you need to keep building on that and keep playing and keep getting better. I mean, every team goes through it. We went through that too in the early 80’s. So, you just know, you come to the rink every day, and you know better, and you work hard, and you work hard. Get up the next day, put your boots on, go to work.”

Keith also said in his press conference, in part, “They have a small group of defensemen. You look at the size of some of those guys, and how they can skate, and how small they are. What is (Aryom) Levshunov? 20 years old. He got (Sam) Rinzel and Wyatt Kaiser- the way he goes to get back there. And you get back there a few. I know that internal competition pushing each other ice time makes each other better and I see a lot of similarities with our little group that we had when I started and with this group, you know, especially on defense…”

It goes to show that it doesn’t matter what era of hockey you’re from; all groups must go through it and learn. The Blackhawks now face them in their final tough games of the season.

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However, as the Blackhawks have been pushing throughout the season, the team has focused on improving each day with the future in mind – a sentiment shared by Larmer. The level of bravery they heard, especially in Keith’s speech, resonated and will continue to do so going forward.

Blashill says,

“There’s no doubt. But I think our players already knew that. You know… they know the history here. They know the kind of level we’re trying to get to. We talked about the level. That’s probably one of the two things I wanted to do this year, more than anything else, is build a level and create a culture within that. And I think our guys are reaching that.

“That doesn’t always lead to wins. Wins and losses come based on a lot of things, including, you know, where your talent level is, and where the maturity of that team is, where it’s high versus low. But as we go up to the guys that are coming in, I think our guys understand the level. We’ve talked about the championship level from day one, and I think a great job from day one, and I think they did a great job from day one, Memorial good to hear from someone like Duncan.” …