Seeing stars
Hockey great Denis Savard was in town for the Weeks Celebrity Golf Tournament
Even though his hair has hints of grey and he’s holding an unlit cigar on an outdoor deck at Abercrombie Golf Club, Denis Savard looks like he could suit up and play in the NHL right now.
He could talk about hockey all day, if he had the time.
He remembers the playoff wars back in the 1980s, when there was real animosity between teams – it’s less so today, he said.
“But it was no fun to play that way – it was hard,” added the hockey hall-of-famer, who was this year’s marquee guest at the Scott Weeks Celebrity Golf Tournament.
In that time, players on different teams didn’t socialize nearly as much, but would play each other a lot – between exhibition games, regular season and playoffs – familiarity bred contempt.
“There was a lot of payback given out there on the ice,” Savard said.
The Montreal Canadiens had a chance to draft him in 1980, but passed on the smallish forward in favour of big centreman Doug Wickenheiser. Instead he went to the Chicago Blackhawks where he would forge a hall-of-fame career. He harbours no regrets about the Canadiens not selecting him back in 1980.
“The main question always comes up: ‘why didn’t the Canadiens draft you?’” he said.
“But I couldn’t have written a better script for my life. I was very blessed and I appreciate everyday that I’m here,” he said.
In 17 NHL seasons, the lightning-quick centreman collected 1,338 regular season points and 169 more in the playoffs.
Savard left Chicago in 1990 to play for the Montreal Canadiens, where he would win a Stanley Cup in 1993.
A few seasons later, the player they called ‘Savvy’ finished his career with the ’Hawks, coached them for a couple of years and now fills an ambassador’s role with the team.
Savard has been upclose in recent years as the Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups in five seasons, led by captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane (on Friday afternoon, Savard proudly wore a Stanley Cup ring the Blackhawks gave him).
“We have two kids – Jonathan and Patrick – and you need both of them to win championships,” he said.
“(Toews) is the leader of that group who leads by example and plays the hardest, night in and night out. He comes from a family that gave him great values.”
Tournament co-chair Ed MacLaren said Savard was a big hit with the hockey fans and golfers who encountered him this week.
“They all came flooding to him,” said MacLaren. “Everybody wanting to get pictures taken with him, and get his autograph.”