Big Game Seabs, the Unsung Hero

PUBLICATION

James
May 6, 2022 (1:36)

SHARE THIS STORY

Hockey players are a different breed of athlete and they've proven that time and time again. Players insulate their pain, especially come the playoffs, for the lure and thrill of winning the Stanley Cup. Along the way, there are broken noses, broken jaws, stitches, separated shoulders, concussions, high-ankle sprains, black eyes and numerous other injuries.

Brent Seabrook was one of the most durable athletes in hockey history. He appeared in at least 95 percent of the Blackhawks regular-season games during 13 consecutive seasons. Over that span, only three players in the league appeared in more combined regular season and playoff games than Seabrook's 1,237 � Joe Thorton (1,239), Alex Ovechkin (1,250) and Patrick Marleau (1,273). For 15 seasons, he was a physical player and a dependable one, before surgeries on his shoulder and both hips in 2020 forced him to retire.

His 1,998 blocks rank 4th all-time and his 2,137 hits rank 20th. He scored 464 points (103 goals and 461 assists), good for third and sixth respectively among Hawks d-men. His shot from the point was among the game's best.

Seabs will forever be one of the all-time best defensemen to wear the Indian head along with his partner Duncan Keith. Seabrook was a warrior who was critical to the resurrection of the franchise and three Stanley Cup championships. The «A» he wore was fitting. He was always one of the key leaders for the Hawks.

Seabrook shined when the lights were the brightest and the game was on the line. Of his 122 combined goals, 22 were game-winners, including three overtime winners in the postseason. None bigger than Game 7 of the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals against Detroit.

Chicago trailed 3-1 in the series before rallying for a 4-1 win in Game 5 and then went to Joe Louis Arena and overcame a third period deficit to win Game 64-3 and send the series back to Chicago for a decisive Game 7.
The game was knotted 1-1 until the final two minutes when Niklas Hjalmarsson blasted a slap shot past Jimmy Howard, but the official called two penalties behind the play. It was one of the worst calls in recent memory. Maybe it was fitting though that the final postseason matchup between the bitter rivals (Detroit would move to the Eastern Conference the following season) would be decided in sudden-death overtime.

Enter Big Game Seabs. He picked up a loose puck and skated in on Howard through the middle of the ice, firing a shot into the net at the 3:35 mark of the OT sending the United Center into an uproar. He would add a OT winner in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Boston that same year and also tallied a triple OT winner against Nashville in the 2015 playoffs.

"I just don't think there's much of an ego there. It's always been like that. When we were winning Stanley Cups and having playoff success over the years, he was probably one of the last guys to get credit for what he was bringing to our team every single night, scoring big goals and overtime goals. Obviously, people talked about that, but you could argue he still didn't really get the lion's share of the credit," said Jonathan Toews.

We talk a lot about number retirements, but I think there's a very strong case to put No. 7 up into the United Center rafters in honor of both Seabrook and Chris Chelios.