Hundreds even thousands of guys play professional sports. The majority of that come and go and a lot of us fans don’t remember them not long after they leave our favorite team. Then there are those who are lucky enough to be superstars, the ones when we look back on the good times the guys we think of first and even sometimes name those times after those players. For example you know the Edmonton Oilers are saying, “Back in the Gretzky days.” Detroit Red Wings fans probably say something like the Yzerman and Lidstrom days. Superstars are what drive sports.
Somewhere between that player we forget and the stars are maybe the best players to watch. Guys who haven’t necessarily been blessed with the God given talent, mostly guys who love their sport and worked hard at getting better. Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp probably falls somewhere between star status and that kind of player.
Patrick Sharp was drafted ninety-fifth overall back in 2001 by the Philadelphia Flyers. After two solid years in Vermont Sharp made his NHL Debut during the 2002-03 season spending most of that year in the AHL however. He never really got a big chance in the Flyers organization though only playing forty-six NHL games for Philadelphia over a three year span. It wasn’t until Sharp got traded that his career would take off.
Looking back on the trade is, well laughable. On December 5th 2005 Patrick Sharp was traded along with Eric Meloche to the Chicago Blackhawks for Matt Ellison and a third round draft pick in 2006. To recap this trade both Meloche and Ellison have only played 117 combined NHL games and the third round pick was eventually traded to the Montreal Canadiens.
Patrick Sharp on the other hand went on to add to his current forty-six NHL games and add six hundred and seventy-nine more. As a team Chicago and Sharp were in for a rough stretch, in the first two and a half years the Blackhawks missed the playoffs but that Patrick Sharp trade was proving to be a steal. Scoring only ten goals in the forty-six games for the Flyers Sharp would hit the twenty goal mark in the 2006-07 season and getting even better in the next season scoring thirty-six goals and recording sixty-two points. The trade was won at that point.
Team success would soon follow. Drafting players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks and Patrick Sharps legend was about to start. In 2009 the Blackhawks made the playoffs for the first time since 2002 reenergizing a hockey hotbed, and hotbed that would soon explode. Chicago would lose in the Western Conference Final to Detroit but Sharp continued his success scoring seven goals in seventeen games.
After the 2009 playoffs you don’t need me telling you what happened next to this Chicago Franchise. If your reading this I assume you already know that over the next six years the Blackhawks would win three Stanley Cups and turn into the storied Franchise once lost earlier in the 2000’s.
The Blackhawks wouldn’t be anywhere without Patrick Sharp. Trading for the forward for players who would only sniff the NHL on a couple of occasions, Sharp would end up playing six hundred seventy-nine games for the Blackhawks alone. Scoring two hundred thirty-nine goals and five hundred eleven points. Getting traded to Chicago during the down days when making the playoffs seemed like a miracle, who would have guessed Sharp would go on to play in one hundred seventeen playoff games for the Hawks, getting forty-two goals in those games. Not only did the Blackhawks find playoff success, they found Stanley Cup success as did Patrick Sharp, playing in eighteen Final games scoring seven goals and eleven points.
To add to Patrick Sharps already impressive career you can add being an NHL All-Star in 2011 MVP of that All-Star game and oh yes he was named to the 2014 Olympic gold medal winning team Canada getting one goal in Sochi.
Are any of these numbers or is anything we mentioned Hall of Fame material? Probably not. When people talk about the Blackhawks Dynasty of 2010-whenever it ends is Patrick Sharp going to be the first player they mention? Doubtful. But players like Patrick Sharp are what make good teams great. Players that can be put up or down in the lineup and help. A player that can contribute and take the pressure off the star players.
With the Blackhawks up against the salary cap Patrick Sharp’s time in Chicago seems to be up. I know I don’t have to tell Blackhawks fans but this player was a key member in your teams Dynasty run. Most likely getting traded sometime this offseason the Blackhawks are losing a heck of a player and definitely a locker room leader and a well liked teammate. This is going to be a huge hole to plug for many reasons, we’ll see if the Chicago Blackawks can fill the void being left by this player.
If you’re any Stanley Cup contending team you need to give Chicago a call to try to acquire this guy, it’s this kind of player that can make your team go from good to great.
I’m not a Chicago Blackhawks fan, but well done Patrick Sharp, and the city of Chicago thanks you.
