Blackhawks Quarter Century Team reaction: Dynasty years made for easy picks

Credit: Nov 23, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (88) and center Jonathan Toews (19) in action during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday, kicking off the 2025 NHL Winter Classic, the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues unveiled their Quarter-Century teams, naming their best players since 2000, voted on by broadcasters and former players.

As each team releases its Quarter-Century squad, we’ll provide analysis on Daily Faceoff as to what the voters got right and wrong. Today, we begin with the Hawks.

THE TEAM

First Team

FORWARDS

Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp
Jonathan Toews

DEFENSEMEN

Duncan Keith
Brent Seabrook

GOALIE

Corey Crawford

Second Team

FORWARDS

Alex DeBrincat
Marian Hossa
Brandon Saad

DEFENSEMEN

Brian Campbell
Niklas Hjalmarsson

GOALIE

Jocelyn Thibault

WHAT THEY GOT RIGHT

When your past 25 years include a mini dynasty with Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015, you’ll obviously have a collection of legendary talents to choose from. Kane is regarded by many as the greatest American-born player of all-time. Toews was one of the best captains and two-way forwards of his era. Keith is a two-time Norris Trophy winner. Each is a future Hall of Famer and each won a Conn Smythe Trophy during one of Chicago’s runs. Keith’s longtime partner Seabrook was an easy choice for the first team, too. And how about Crawford? He’s one of the most underrated goalies of his generation. During his peak years with the team from 2010-11 through 2019-20, only eight NHL goalies won more games.

WHAT THEY GOT WRONG

Placing Sharp on the first team, with Hossa on the second team, was quite the galaxy braining by the voters. Sharp is one of the best and most liked Blackhawk forwards ever, fourth on the team in scoring this century. But come on. Hossa is a Hall of Famer, one of the best two-way forwards of all-time, and was just as important as Sharp on the three Stanley Cup teams. Not convinced? Think of it this way: only players on the First Teams are eligible for consideration when the NHL releases its All-Quarter Century first team, which will be voted on by fans beginning in February, and now Hossa won’t even be eligible for a vote whereas Sharp will. Ludicrous.

BIGGEST SNUB

Nothing jumps out as particularly egregious. It would’ve been nice to see Johnny Oduya get some love given he formed such a reliable second pair with Hjalmarsson on the 2013 and 2015 Cup teams, but Campbell deserved the spot over Oduya on merit given Campbell impacted the game a lot more with his puck-moving prowess. What about Artemi Panarin, though? He didn’t play on a Stanley Cup team, true, and his stint with the Hawks was only a couple years long, but he won the Calder Trophy with them. DeBrincat got the nod instead given he played far more games with the team, which is understandable. He was the team’s best goal-scorer during his five seasons in Chicago. But The Bread Man’s time there arguably felt more memorable.

Thibault’s selection as the second-team goalie may have raised some eyebrows because he played for Chicago in the early-2000s during a dark period for the franchise that has probably been forgotten by some casual fans. Chicago only made the playoffs once during his six-year run with them. Should 2010 Stanley Cup starter Antti Niemi have been selected instead? Maybe, but Thibault has started and won the second most games for the Blackhawks by a wide margin during the 2000s.

VERDICT

This was a hard team to screw up given it reflects the most successful period in franchise history. So it’s mostly a job well done. But leaving Hossa off the first team was inexcusable. Sharp was a great player, but in no universe was he ever better than Hossa.

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