The-Rink.com co-hosts Jeff “Gatekeeper” Osborn and John Jaeckel get together in this short and sweet episode to discuss the scraps of Blackhawks news.

• What is a Puckpedia?
• John McDonough, Stan Bowman and the Blackhawks circus are still peddling the snake oil
• The Blackhawks convention ends, mercifully
• The we talk a little about the big hammer, John Scott, and his brand new podcast “Dropping The Gloves with John Scott”
• What is all this Artemi Panarin nonsense?
• RIP, Stan Mikita
• What upcoming guests might be joining us soon?
• We wrap up the episode with some great listener/reader questions.

thanks to @Wm_J_Lepetomane on Twitter for this fine creation

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The post The Blackhawks Rinkcast – Episode 28 (Farewell to Stosh) appeared first on The Rink.

Most recently, Mikita was suffering from Lewy Body dementia, as announced by his family in 2015.

The 5’9” 160 lbs Czech born immigrant came to Canada, after being adopted by his aunt and uncle, just prior to Christmas in 1948.  He entered the NHL in 1959 and played for the Blackhawks for over two decades, leading the Blackhawks to their last Stanley Cup championship in 1961 before this modern era won in 2010.

Mikita retired as the Blackhawks leading all-time scorer (1467 pts), one of the greatest players of all-time and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. The Blackhawks retired Mikita’s number 21 in 1980, and his was the first to receive this honor.

In both 1967 and 1968 the perennial Blackhawks captain won the Art Ross (scoring champion), Hart (MVP) and Lady Byng (sportsmanship) trophies in the same season, which is a feat that has never been repeated.

Early in his career Mikita was known as a scrappy player, piling up over 90 penalty minutes in five of his first six full seasons, but transformed his game into one of gentlemanly play and sportsmanship after an interaction with his, then, six-year-old daughter struck a chord.

Not only did he transform his own personal game but transformed the entire game of hockey by inventing the curved stick, which allowed him to take shots not normally seen by goaltenders, and then going down the unpopular path of donning his now signature bowl helmet, later in his career.

I never met the man and I am not old enough to have seen him play, but his hockey and Blackhawks legacy is unquestionable and unmistakable.  Please join all of us here at The-Rink.com in passing our best wishes to the Mikita family on the loss of a truly legendary human being, and please share your memories below

The post Chicago Blackhawks Legend Stan Mikita Passes Away appeared first on The Rink.