OTD: Hawks Swap Savard for Chelios
Former Montreal Canadiens general manager Serge Savard (no relation) admits that it was one of the biggest blunders of his career, trading Chris Chelios and a second round pick for Denis Savard.
When the deal was announced on June 29, 1990, it was assumed that Chelios' lifestyle was a factor in the decision. Chelios' reputation was in the forefront because the trade was announced one day after the defenseman was involved in an altercation with police in Madison, Wisconsin, after he was discovered urinating in an alley outside a bar.
There was also speculation that the Canadiens were attempting to correct a mistake they the made in the 1980 draft. The Canadiens had the first overall pick and fans were hoping they would select Savard, the hometown kid, who was a high-scoring star with the Montreal Juniors. Instead, the Canadiens opted for Doug Wickenheiser and Savard went to Chicago with the third overall pick. Wickenheiser was a serviceable player, but Savard put up Hall of Fame numbers in Chicago.
At the time, Chelios was already a dominant two-way defenseman who played a punishing defensive style. In his last full season with the Habs, Chelios scored 73 points in 80 regular season games and added 19 more points in 21 postseason games. He won the Norris Trophy.
The former GM said he traded Chelios because he was concerned about a knee injury that sidelined the d-man for 27 games during the 1989-90 season.
"His knee was in terrible shape and his career in professional hockey wouldn't last much longer, maybe a season or two. That information was the deciding factor. That's why I traded Chelios. Otherwise, I never would have done it. His knee held up and he continued playing until he was 48 years old," said the former GM.
Denis Savard had already lost a step and had missed 42 games due to injury over the previous two seasons. He wouldn't score over 70 points in any of his three seasons in Montreal. Meanwhile Chelios, the hometown kid. played nine seasons in Chicago, won two Norris Trophies and scored 487 points. Safe to say, who won this deal.
The two ultimately became teammates for a couple of seasons when Savard returned in 1994 and they now share a role with the organization as Blackhawks ambassadors.
| POLL | ||
What was your reaction to the Savard/Chelios deal? | ||
| Clear win for Hawks | 42 | 41.2 % |
| Sad to see Savard go | 39 | 38.2 % |
| Too young to remember | 21 | 20.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
