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Height:
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5-9 |
Weight:
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169 |
Shoots:
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R |
Position:
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C |
HHOF:
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1983 | ||||||
Stan was a native Czechoslovakian who was sent to live in St. Catharines, Ontario with his uncle Joe Mikita in 1948, where Stan adopted his uncle's last name. Stan's early hockey career was spent with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey League. Despite his scoring capabilities Stan spent more than his fair share of time in the penalty box, but he still managed to lead the OHA in the 1958-59 season in assists(59) and points (97), and, still play 3 games with the Chicago Blackhawks that same year. The 1959-60 season was Stan's first full season with the Blackhawks and in 67 games he managed only 8 goals and 18 assists. Except for his last season in the NHL which consisted of only 17 games, Stan never came anywhere close to those numbers again. In 1961, Black Hawk coach Rudy Pilous put Mikita between Ken Wharram and Ab McDonald and the famous "Scooter Line" was born. Later, Doug Mohns replaced McDonald and the trio tore the league up in scoring. Stan continued to improve his game and production each season after that until the 1963-64 season when he racked up 39 goals and 50 assists to lead the league in scoring with 89 points, winning the Art Ross Trophy. He later did the same thing in 1965, 1967 and 1968. Mikita and team mate Bobby Hull were big supporters of the slapshot and were one of the first players in the NHL to experiment with a curved blade, known then as the banana blade. Not nearly as hard a shot as Bobby, Stan could nonetheless hold his own with the big gun, and their competitiveness drove both of them to new heights. Bobby had set the Pre expansion record for points in 1965-66 with 97, and Mikita equaled that record in 1966-67. Stan's work ethic and dedication earned him the admiration of Hawk coach Rudy Pilous who said, "he does more with everything he's got, than any player I have ever seen." Early in his career with the Blackhawks, Stan realized, with the help of his 2 year old daughter, that spending time in the penalty box was not helping him score goals, so Stan changed his ways and by the 1966-67 season he had cut his time in the penalty box down to just 12 minutes. This was good enough to win him the Lady Byng. Along with that he won the Art Ross and the Hart Trophies making him the only player to win the Triple Crown. The following season he repeated the same feat and to this day remains as the only player to win the hockey "Triple Crown." Stan spent his entire career with the Blackhawks, 22 seasons, tying him for 4th spot in Most Seasons Played. During that time he was named to the NHL First All Star Team 6 times and the Second All Star Team, twice. He won the Art Ross Trophy 4 times, the Lady Byng and Hart Trophies twice, the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1976 and played in 9 All Star games. In 1972 Stan established the American Impaired Hearing Association. Stan still holds the Chicago Black Hawk team records for the Most Seasons(22) the Most Games Played(1394), the Most Assists(career) 926 and the Most Points(career),1467. Stan's number 21 was also retired by the Chicago Black Hawks. In 1983, Stan was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. |
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