Stan Mikita was born on May 20, 1940, in Sokolce, Czechoslovakia. He was the first Czechoslovakian-born player in the NHL. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle and he moved with them to Canada. Stan played junior hockey for the St. Catharines Tee Pees where he was coached by his future Blackhawks coach Rudy Pilous. Mikita played center for the Hawks from 1958 to 1980. The eight time all-star was known as one of the most agressive players in the NHL. In 1967, Mikita became the first player to win the Art Ross, Hart and Lady Byng trophies in the same year. He also won all three trophies again in 1968.
Stan is credited with inventing the curved stick. He became angry one day during practice and tried to break his stick by jamming it in between the boards and the hinges of the players bench gate, but the stick wouldn't break. When he pulled it out, the blade had curved dramatically and Mikita started shooting pucks at the net. He was amazed at how it made the puck do weird things when he shot it. The next season, the league limited the curve allowed to 1.5 inches. A season later, they lowered it even more, down to 1 inch.
Stan holds the current Blackhawks record for career points with 1,467. Seventeen games into the 1979-80 season, Mikita retired. In 1983, he was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Today, Stan runs a hockey school for the hearing impaired.
(While playing for the Blackhawks)
Season Games Goals Assists Points PIM 1958-59 3 0 1 1 4 1959-60 67 8 18 26 119 1960-61 66 19 34 53 100 1961-62 70 25 52 77 97 1962-63 65 31 45 76 69 1963-64 70 39 50 89 146 1964-65 70 28 59 87 154 1965-66 68 30 48 78 58 1966-67 70 35 62 97 12 1967-68 72 40 47 87 14 1968-69 74 30 67 97 52 1969-70 76 39 47 86 50 1970-71 74 24 48 72 85 1971-72 74 26 39 65 46 1972-73 57 27 56 83 32 1973-74 76 30 50 80 46 1974-75 79 36 50 86 48 1975-76 48 16 41 57 37 1976-77 57 19 30 49 20 1977-78 76 18 41 59 35 1978-79 65 19 36 55 34 1979-80 17 2 5 7 12
Totals 1394 541 926 1467 1270
Site hosted by GeoCities