Chris Chelios

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Position	Defence
Shoots	Right
Nickname(s)	Cherrios Cheli
Height Weight	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg/14 st)
NHL Team F. Teams	Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks Montreal Canadiens
Nationality	United States
Born	January 25 1962 (1962-01-25) (age 46), Chicago, IL, USA
NHL Draft	40th overall, 1981 Montréal Canadiens
Pro Career	1983 – present

Chris Chelios (born Christos Kostas Tselios January 25 1962, in Chicago, United States) is an American defenceman for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. Chelios also played for the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. Chelios has played in the NHL since 1984, and has earned many awards during his long career. Chelios is currently the oldest active player in the NHL, has played the most games of any active player in the NHL, and has the most career penalty minutes of any active player. On November 24, 2006, he played in his 1,496th NHL game, the most of any American-born player, passing the record total of Phil Housley. In the 2006-07 season, he appeared in the playoffs for an NHL record 22nd time. Chelios is of Greek heritage. His cousin, Nikos Tselios, also plays hockey.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Early years 1.2 The Montreal years 1.3 The Chicago years 1.4 Red Wings career 1.5 Recent years 2 Personal 3 Trivia 4 Chris Chelios restaurant/bar 5 Awards 6 Career statistics 7 International play 8 External links

Playing career

Early years

Chelios was raised in Chicago and was a standout youth hockey player. He attended Mount Carmel High School, but moved to Southern California in 1977. As a teenager, he was twice cut by Junior B teams in Canada and hit a low point when he had to borrow money from strangers to get home to California one year. As Chelios said, "I wasn't any bigger or any better than the other guys, so they weren't going to take a kid from the States when they could have a local guy." He returned home and grew three inches while adding 40 pounds of muscle. Chelios was then drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to being drafted, he played for the Moose Jaw Canucks of the SJHL. Chelios enjoyed two strong years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after being drafted. As one of the top collegiate players in the country, he was selected to play for the United States at the 1981-82 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship. In 1983, he was part of the Badgers NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship team and was named to the All-Tournament Team and the Second WCHA All-Star Team. Chelios was a member of the U.S. Olympic Hockey team for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. After the Olympics he made his debut for the Canadiens, playing 12 games in the regular season and 15 in the playoffs. That summer he joined the United States team at the 1984 Canada Cup.

The Montreal years

In 1984, he made the Habs for good, and distinguished himself with his play. He earned a trip to the National Hockey League All-Star Game and was named to the 1985 NHL All-Rookie Team. He scored 64 points in 74 games, a high total for a defenceman, even in the higher-scoring 1980s. In the playoffs that year, he scored 10 points in 9 games, with a +17 plus/minus. Although he only played 41 games in the 1985-1986 season, he won his first Stanley Cup, playing in front of Conn Smythe Trophy winner Patrick Roy. Following two more good seasons, Chelios really broke out in the 1988-1989 sason. He scored 73 points in 80 games at +35, was named to the All-Star First-Team, and won the James Norris Memorial Trophy. In that season's Prince of Wales Trophy final Series against the Philadelphia Flyers, which the Canadiens won in six games, Chelios became reviled by Flyer fans for a hit on Brian Propp that left the Flyer winger concussed and forced him to miss the Flyers' next game. For the remainder of the series, the Flyers vented their anger against Chelios until finally, late in Game Six, Philly goaltender Ron Hextall whacked his stick and blocker pad at Chelios, apparently in retaliation for the hit. After playing only 53 games in the next season (in which he served as co-captain, with Guy Carbonneau), on June 29, 1990, Chelios was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks with a 2nd-round draft pick for Denis Savard, who is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Chicago years

In his first season with Chicago, he continued to score at his usual rate, tallying 64 points, and earned a spot on the Second NHL All-Star Team. Chelios would help lead the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1992, before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was in top form for the 1992-1993 season, scoring 73 points and won another Norris Trophy. In 1995-96, Chelios would have another great season for the Blackhawks, scoring 73 points and winning his third Norris Trophy. When the Summer of 1996 rolled around, he would help lead the United States to its biggest international hockey win since the 1980 Winter Olympics, beating Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey final series and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Chelios was captain of the Blackhawks from 1995 to 1999.

Red Wings career

By 1999, though, Chelios was starting to show signs of age. At 37, his career was clearly in decline, and he was no longer the offensive and defensive force he had once been. However, even if he did not have much to offer the Blackhawks, he could still help teams with his veteran leadership and his largely-remaining talent. On March 23, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Anders Eriksson and two first-round draft picks. The move to Detroit, where he had fewer responsibilities and more skilled teammates, helped keep Chelios playing at close to his peak level. In 2002, his +40 plus/minus led the league, and he was again named to the First All-Star Team. He also led the United States hockey team to a silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics, and was named to the Tournament's All-Star Team. His season culminated in the Red Wings' victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals, giving Chelios his second Stanley Cup. In 2004, because of the cancellation of the NHL season, Chelios, along with fellow Red Wing teammates Derian Hatcher and Kris Draper, decided to play hockey for the Motor City Mechanics, a UHL team based out of Fraser, Michigan. He was heavily criticized for this decision as the UHL has a maximum salary in place, but at the same time he was strongly against a salary cap in the NHL. In October 2004 he trained with the U.S. bobsled federation in a bid to compete for the Greek bobsled team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. On August 4, 2005, the 43-year-old defenceman re-signed with the Red Wings for a one-year contract.

Recent years

On February 1, 2006, Chelios was again named captain of the US Olympic Hockey Team that played at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Chelios was also captain in the 1998 Nagano games and of the silver-medal-winning team in the 2002 Salt Lake City games. On May 24, 2006, Chelios signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Turning 45 years old in January 2007, he is the third oldest player in the history of the NHL. On July 3, 2006, Chelios became the active leader for most games played upon the retirement of teammate Steve Yzerman. On April 21, 2007 he became the oldest defenseman to score a short-handed goal in the NHL in a playoff game against Calgary Flames. On May 22, 2007, at Game 6 of the 2007 Western Conference Finals, Chelios and the Red Wings were eliminated from postseason play by the Anaheim Ducks. After the game, Chelios did not shake the hands of the Anaheim Ducks at center ice, as is the custom, and chose instead to shake the hands of only the coaches at their bench. This drew much criticism from fans and the media. He later stated that he was overcome by emotion, and felt he could not maintain his composure on the ice. [1] On June 12, 2007, Chelios re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings for one year. He needs to appear in just 2 more playoff games to become the NHL's career leader in playoff games played. This will be his 24th NHL season and 10th with the Red Wings.

Personal

Chelios has been married to his wife, Tracee, for twenty years. They met while students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They have four children, Dean, 18, Jake, 16, Caley, 14, and Tara, 12. Dean Chelios, a forward, scored a pair of power play goals to help his high school team, Cranbrook-Kingswood, win the division 3 Michigan state high school hockey championship in 2006 and will head to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this fall to play Tier I junior hockey.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In 2004, Chris and surfer Laird Hamilton trained with the US bobsled team, and hoped to form the first Greek bobsled team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. They weren't successful.
• Grew up in Chicago, where his father, Constantine "Gus" Chelios owned a chain of Greek restaurants.
• The family moved to Poway, CA in 1977 when his father left his struggling business in Chicago to open a restaurant in the San Diego area.
• Was a Chicago Blackhawks fan during his childhood, but was more focused on football, idolizing Bears linebacker Dick Butkus.
• Active in charitable causes during his playing days in Chicago, founding Cheli's Children.
• Opened Cheli's Chili Bar restaurant in Dearborn, MI, in 2003.
• Opened second Cheli's Chili Bar restaurant in downtown Detroit, MI, in 2006.
• Older brother of former minor-leaguer Steve Chelios. Cousin of NHL player Nikos Tselios, whose father was one of Gus Chelios' brothers. The family name was originally Tselios, but Gus Chelios changed his family's spelling to "Chelios."[2]
• On Scrubs, Dr. Perry Cox often wears a Chelios Red Wings jersey; Chelios is friends with actor John C. McGinley, who portrays Cox. During the fourth season of the show, which was concurrent with the 2004-05 lockout, Cox was seen on at least one occasion wearing a number 24 Motor City Mechanics jersey.
• Also close friends with actor John Cusack, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.
• Wore number 24 in Montreal and Detroit, and number 7 in Chicago. He became friends with the previous Detroit player to wear number 24, Bob Probert, during their time together with the Blackhawks, leading in part to the decision to return to his previous number in Detroit (number 7 had previously been retired by the Wings for Ted Lindsay).
• Chris and Kid Rock are close friends.
• Rides an exercise bike in the sauna for 15 minutes to an hour, until he finishes drinking two jugs of water.

Chris Chelios restaurant/bar

Chelios has two restaurant/bars in Dearborn (opened in 2003) and Detroit (opened in 2006), Michigan (Cheli's Chili Bar I and Cheli's Chili Bar II). He previously owned a Cheli's Chili Bar in Chicago, but this closed after his move to the Red Wings. On January 2, 2007 two employees of Cheli's in Detroit were fatally stabbed. Megan Soroka, 49, was a manager at the restaurant and Mark Barnard, 52, was a chef. Police arrested Justin Blackshere, 17, who allegedly confessed to the crime. He was a busboy at the restaurant and was fired in November 2006. Blackshere's pregnant girlfriend had also been fired from her job as a dishwasher. Blackshere was found guilty of murder in the first degree on August 22, 2007. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on September 7, 2007[3]. Chelios took a leave of absence from the Detroit Red Wings to help the families of his murdered employees. He said, "I'll come back when I feel ready and the families feel ready. I'm just going to try to get through this day by day with everybody."[4] On January 9, 2007, the Red Wings announced that Chelios would be playing that night.[5]

Awards

Career statistics

				Regular season							Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
1981-82	Wisconsin Badgers	WCHA		43	6	43	49	-	50		-	-	-	-	-	-
1982-83	Wisconsin Badgers	WCHA		45	16	32	48	-	62		-	-	-	-	-	-
1983-84	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		10	0	2	2	-5	12		15	1	9	10	3	17
1984-85	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		74	9	55	64	11	87		9	2	8	10	2	17
1985-86	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		41	8	26	34	4	67		20	2	9	11	3	49
1986-87	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	11	33	44	-5	124		17	4	9	13	-1	38
1987-88	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	20	41	61	14	172		11	3	1	4	3	29
1988-89	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	15	58	73	35	185		21	4	15	19	2	28
1989-90	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		53	9	22	31	20	136		5	0	1	1	-4	8
1990-91	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		77	12	52	64	23	192		6	1	7	8	2	46
1991-92	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		80	9	47	56	24	245		18	6	15	21	19	37
1992-93	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		84	15	58	73	14	282		4	0	2	2	-1	14
1993-94	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		76	16	44	60	12	212		6	1	1	2	0	8
1994-95	EHC Biel	Swiss-A		3	0	3	3	-	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
1994-95	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		48	5	33	38	17	72		16	4	7	11	6	12
1995-96	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		81	14	58	72	25	140		9	0	3	3	2	8
1996-97	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		72	10	38	48	16	112		6	0	1	1	-2	8
1997-98	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		81	3	39	42	-7	151		-	-	-	-	-	-
1998-99	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		65	8	26	34	-4	89		-	-	-	-	-	-
1998-99	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		10	1	1	2	5	4		10	0	4	4	-6	14
1999-00	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		81	3	31	34	48	103		9	0	1	1	-3	8
2000-01	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		24	0	3	3	4	45		5	1	0	1	-1	2
2001-02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		79	6	33	39	40	126		23	1	13	14	15	44
2002-03	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		66	2	17	19	4	78		4	0	0	0	-3	2
2003-04	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		69	2	19	21	12	61		8	0	1	1	1	4
2004-05	Motor City Mechanics	UHL		23	5	19	24	-	25		-	-	-	-	-	-
2005-06	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		81	4	7	11	22	108		6	0	0	0	2	6
2006-07	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		71	0	11	11	11	34		18	1	6	7	7	12
NHL totals				1547	182	754	936	340	2837		246	31	113	144	46	411

Stats as of the end of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs

International play

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Silver	2002 Salt Lake City	Ice hockey

• 1982 - Played for the United States in the 1982 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship
• 1984 - Played for the United States in the XIV Olympic Winter Games
• 1984 - Played for the United States in the 1984 Canada Cup
• 1987 - Played for the United States in the 1987 Canada Cup
• 1991 - Played for the United States in the 1991 Canada Cup
• 1996 - Played for the United States in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey
• 1998 - Played for the United States in the XVIII Olympic Winter Games
• 2002 - Played for the United States in the XIX Olympic Winter Games
• 2004 - Played for the United States in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• 2006 - Played for the United States in the XX Olympic Winter Games

His only medal came from the 2002 Salt Lake games, winning the Silver losing to team Canada. Playing an important defensive role along with Brian Rafalski. In the 2004 World Cup of Hockey he did not medal however he did play as captain during that stretch.

External links

• Chris Chelios at TSN.ca
• Chris Chelios's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• ESPN Article
• Chris Chelios' U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Find materials about Chris Chelios in a library.
• Chelios Cheats Father Time
• NHL.com - Ice Age: April 20, 2007

Preceded by Peter Laviolette	US Men's Olympic Hockey Team Captain 1998, 2002, 2006	Succeeded by n/a
Preceded by Dirk Graham	Chicago Blackhawks captains 1995-99	Succeeded by Doug Gilmour
Preceded by Bob Gainey	Montreal Canadiens captains 1989-90 Co-captains with Guy Carbonneau	Succeeded by Guy Carbonneau
Preceded by Paul Coffey	Winner of the Norris Trophy 1996	Succeeded by Brian Leetch
Preceded by Brian Leetch	Winner of the Norris Trophy 1993	Succeeded by Ray Bourque
Preceded by Ray Bourque	Winner of the Norris Trophy 1989	Succeeded by Ray Bourque
Preceded by Joe Sakic and Patrik Elias	Winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award 2002	Succeeded by Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk