STAN THE MAN
The legendary Chicago Blackhawks centre passes away after long battle with Lewy body dementia
Disease robbed Stan Mikita of his memory in the end, but ‘Stosh’ will never be forgotten in the hockey world.
The Chicago Blackhawks legend, who completed a stunning mid-career compass change from penalty leader to Lady Byng Trophy winner, died Tuesday at age 78. In 2015, he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, and had kept up a tremendous fight against it since.
“He was surrounded by his loving family whom he fiercely loved,” said a statement on his passing from the Mikita clan.
In addition to being the centre for Bobby Hull until the latter’s departure for the World Hockey Association in 1972, he was a mentor to several Blackhawk stars.
Mikita spent his formative NHL years playing with a chip on his shoulder, partly because some made fun of his raw English, having come from Czechoslovakia at an early age. He also took the advice of early teammate ‘Terrible’ Ted Lindsay, who was in the same 5-foot-8 height range, hitting foes first before thinking offence.
That landed Mikita in the box too much for his own good. When his three-yearold daughter asked why he always sitting by himself, it made him think, as did his own assessment that many of the calls on him were holding, hooking and tripping — “lazy penalties” he told author Chris McDonnell.
He went from 154 sin-bin minutes in 1964-65 to 58 in one year, then under 20 for two more straight seasons, remaining the only NHLer to win the Art Ross, Hart and Byng in the same season (twice).
“There are no words to describe our sadness over Stan’s passing,” Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz said in a statement. “He meant so much to the Blackhawks, to the game of hockey, and to all of Chicago. He left an imprint that will forever be etched in the hearts of fans — past, present and future.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Mikita “lived a remarkable life and was a wonderful man, respected and revered by so many.”
Hull called him “pound for pound, the greatest player ever.”
Before his illness, Mikita was an active team ambassador and was revered in the Windy City during the 49-year drought between Cups. This past spring, three of Mikita’s grandsons suited up with the Hawks for the warmup in a game against the Blues in his honour.
Mikita wore the ‘C’ a few
times and current Chicago captain Jonathan Toews told the Sun-Times in 2015 that “long after his playing days, he’s still a humble, down-toearth person who takes the time to talk to everybody. He found ways to make other people feel good about themselves and feel special, and I think that says more about him than anything else.”