Chris Chelios

Chris Chelios (born Christos Kostas Tselios on January 25, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings. Chelios has played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. He has played in the NHL since 1984, and has earned many awards during his long career. Chelios is 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 2007–08 season, he appeared in the playoffs for an NHL record 23rd time, having missed the playoffs only once (1997–98) in his entire career. Chelios is of Greek heritage. His cousin, Nikos Tselios, also plays professional hockey.

Playing career

Early years

Chelios was raised in Chicago and was a standout youth hockey player. He briefly 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. 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 that, he played for the Moose Jaw Canucks of the SJHL. Chelios enjoyed two strong years at the University of Wisconsin after being drafted. As one of the top collegiate players in the country, he was selected 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 team for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. After that he made his debut for the Canadiens, playing 12 games in the regular season and 15 in the playoffs. That summer he joined the U.S. team at the 1984 Canada Cup. He wore number 24 in Montreal and Detroit but number 7 in Chicago.

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 defenseman, 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 season. He scored 73 points in 80 games at +35, was named to the All-Star First-Team, and won the James Norris Memorial Trophy. During that year's Wales Conference Finals 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 Philadelphia winger with a concussion and forced him to miss the next game. For the remainder of the series, the Flyers vented their anger against Chelios until finally, late in Game 6, Flyer 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 Final 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.

The Detroit Years

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. While Chelios didn't compete in the bobsled, he did captain the USA hockey team at the Torino Olympics.

On August 4, 2005, the 43-year-old 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. 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.

On June 12, 2007, Chelios re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings for one year. This is his 24th NHL season and 10th with the Red Wings.

On January 8, 2008 Chelios became the second oldest player in the history of the NHL, at 45 years, 348 days, passing Moe Roberts. Only Gordie Howe, who played until age 52, was older. He is older than his coach Mike Babcock.

On April 12, 2008 Chelios played in his 248th playoff game, breaking the NHL record set by Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.

On June 4th, 2008, although he had not played in the Stanley Cup Finals (he played 14 playoff games during the 2008 playoffs), he had played enough games in the regular season to be a part of the Stanley Cup winning team. At the age of 46, he became the oldest active player to win the Stanley Cup.

Through 2007-08, Chelios is one of 4 currently active NHL players to be a captain of 2 different NHL teams, with the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks. The players sharing this honour are Jason Smith, Chris Pronger and Michael Peca.

On September 9, 2008, he signed with the Red Wings for his 25th NHL season. This will be his 9th season with the Red Wings. It will match Mark Messier as second only to Gordie Howe for the most NHL seasons played in a career.

Personal

Chelios grew up in Evergreen Park, 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. He was a Chicago Blackhawks fan during his childhood but was more focused on football, idolizing Bears linebacker Dick Butkus.

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. Dean plays for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL in Cedar Rapids, IA .

He was very active in charitable causes during his playing days in Chicago, founding Cheli's Children.

He is the 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. His cousin, also named Chris Chelios (little Chris), is a former minor league player and current coach of the Robert Morris College women's hockey team in Chicago. He is also founder of the CCH Xtreme hockey school.

In his career, Chelios has befriended many non-hockey athletes and entertainers. In 2004, Chris and surfer Laird Hamilton trained with the U.S. bobsled team and hoped to form the first Greek bobsled team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. They weren't successful.

On Scrubs, Dr. Perry Cox often wears a Chelios model Red Wings jersey. He is a friend of 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. Chelios is also close friends with actor John Cusack,truck driver Mitch Mullin, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and musician Kid Rock. One of Chris' oldest Hollywood friends is D.B. Sweeney. Chelios appeared with Sweeney in The Cutting Edge (1992) and in Two Tickets to Paradise (2007). Chelios is also godfather to Sweeney's son, Cade.

Chelios and his family, along with Hamilton, can be seen Stand up paddle surfing. Chelios credits the activity with helping him maintain his long career .

Malibu Mob

Chelios maintains a home in Malibu, California, and is well-known as a member of the Malibu Mob, a group of celebrity friends and neighbors including McGinley, Cusack, actor Tony Danza, big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, beach volleyball pro Gabrielle Reece, and tennis great John McEnroe.

Business

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). In 2008, he opened a third location in Clinton Township, MI. He previously owned a Cheli's Chili Bar on West Madison in Chicago near the United Center, 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. 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. On January 9, 2007, the Red Wings announced that Chelios would be playing that night.

Stanley Cup controversies

Chelios has been involved in at least two recent incidents regarding the handling of the Stanley Cup. It was dropped by fellow Red Wing Brett Lebda in Chelios' bar on June 6, 2008, while being handed off by Chelios. Additionally, the Cup was also left behind on a beach in Malibu on July 4 while under the watch of Chelios.

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	55	66	-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
2007–08	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		69	3	9	12	11	36		14	0	0	0	2	10
NHL totals				1616	185	763	970	340	2873		260	31	113	144	48	421

International play

• 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 Olympic medal came from the 2002 Salt Lake games, winning the Silver losing to team Canada. Chelios played a key role in the Team USA win over Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. He captained the US team in 2004 World Cup of Hockey where the USA lost in its semi-final to Finland.

References

External links

• Chris Chelios' bio @ hockeydraftcentral.com
• ESPN Article
• Chris Chelios' U.S. Olympic Team bio
• NHL.com - Ice Age: April 20, 2007
• Cheli's Chili Official Site