hisgirlfriday
Moderator
- Jun 9, 2013
- 16,742
- 184
Came across the article and thought I'd post for anyone interested. Whether you like the guy or not at this point, I think there are some interesting insights about that time and also what it was like to play for Scotty Bowman.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2014/10/11/chris-chelios-book-excerpt/17127053/
There's also a second book excerpt that has very little to do with Chicago except some more Michael Jordan namedropping at the beginning of it: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/n...ngs-chris-chelios-book-excerpt-team/17175845/
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2014/10/11/chris-chelios-book-excerpt/17127053/
I had famously said once in a television interview that I would never play for the Detroit Red Wings.
I meant it when I said it. That's how deep the rivalry was between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Red Wings.
When I settled into my hotel room after being traded to Detroit — on March 23, 1999 — that interview was being played on the local news. I'm sure it was played over and over in Chicago. Blackhawks fans remember that interview and never forgave me for agreeing to play for the Wings.
I'm not sure I can really blame them.
[...]
Although it was definitely strange to see myself on television highlights wearing a Wings jersey, I knew that eventually the feeling would pass and I could get back to just being a hockey player.
The worst night came on the last night of the regular season when I played my first game for the Wings in Chicago's United Center.
The fans booed me every time I touched the puck. I know I should have expected that reaction, but to be honest it was unnerving. That was when I realized the depth of anger the Chicago fans had worked up for me. They saw me as a traitor.
Bowman didn't put me on the ice much after the first period. Finally, he told me to leave the bench and go hang out with Michael Jordan, who had come to the game to see me.
"All you are doing is getting the crowd into the game," Scotty said.
Per Scotty's instructions, I dressed and watched the third period with Jordan in a suite. My old team wound up beating my new team, 3-2.
Jordan had my back, telling everyone, "I'm not here for the Blackhawks. I'm here for Chris Chelios. I don't like how they treated him."
That was nice of MJ to say, but as I mentioned, I didn't have any ill will toward the Hawks.
[...]
If there was one misconception I wish I could have cleared up at that time, it was that moving from the Hawks to the Wings was easy for me. I think some people thought I didn't care which jersey I pulled on, that I just packed up my gear and went about my life like I had just changed a pair of socks. That couldn't have been further from the truth.
That summer was the worst summer of training I ever had during my NHL career. I didn't start to feel normal again until just before camp, after I had gotten my family settled in the Detroit area. Even then, I looked at Detroit as a temporary stop, just a place to pass through until I could return to Chicago. It seemed inevitable that I would be working for the Hawks organization when I was done playing.
As it turned out, neither general manager Bob Murray nor I was around for the Blackhawks' rebuilding effort, one that took much longer than anticipated. He was fired eight months after I left, with Bob Pulford returning to his former job as general manager. The Blackhawks only made one playoff appearance between 1998 and 2008.
Never in a million years would I have thought that I would play longer in Detroit than I played in Chicago.
There's also a second book excerpt that has very little to do with Chicago except some more Michael Jordan namedropping at the beginning of it: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/n...ngs-chris-chelios-book-excerpt-team/17175845/
