Stan Mikita

Stanislav "Stan" Mikita (born May 20 1940) is a retired Slovak-Canadian professional ice hockey player, generally regarded as the best center of the 1960s. In 1961 he won Stanley Cup with Chicago Black Hawks.

Mikita was born in Sokolče, Slovakia as Stanislav Guoth, but moved to Ontario, Canada, as a young boy to avoid the political troubles in the area due to Communist control. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle who gave him their surname, Mikita.

Playing Career

After three starring junior seasons with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association, Mikita was promoted for good to the parent Chicago Black Hawks in 1959. In his second full season, the Hawks won their third and most recent Stanley Cup, and the young center led the league in goals in the playoffs with six.

The following season was his breakout year as a star, and centering the famed "Scooter Line" (with right wing Ken Wharram and left wingers Ab McDonald and Doug Mohns), became the most-feared center of the Sixties, and with superstar teammate Bobby Hull, the Black Hawks had the most powerful offense of the decade, generally leading the league in goals scored. Combining skilled defense and a reputation as one of the game's best faceoff men with his innovative curved stick, Mikita led the league in scoring four times in the decade, tying Bobby Hull's single-season scoring mark in 1966-67 with 97 points (a mark broken two years later by former teammate Phil Esposito and currently held by Wayne Gretzky).

In his early years, he was among the most-penalized players in the league, but he then decided to play a cleaner game and went on to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanlike conduct twice. Mikita's drastic change in behavior came when he returned from a road trip one night. His wife told him that while their daughter was watching the Blackhawks' last road game on television, she turned and said, "Mommy, why does Daddy spend so much time sitting down?" The camera had just shown Mikita in the penalty box serving a penalty.

Retirement

His latter years marred by chronic back injuries, Mikita finally retired during the 1980 season. Upon his retirement he had the second-highest career scoring point total of any NHL player, after Gordie Howe, and had played in the seventh most games of any player at the time.

Mikita was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 and into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

Career statistics

Awards and accomplishments

• Currently 24th all-time in games played, 25th in goals, 14th in assists, and 12th in points.
• Won the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player in 1967 and 1968.
• Won the Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer in 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968.
• Won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1967 and 1968.
• Named to the NHL's First All-Star Team in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1968.
• Named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team in 1965 and 1970.
• Played in NHL All-Star Game in 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.
• Won the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1976.
• The only player in NHL history to win the Hart, Art Ross, and Lady Byng trophies in the same season, doing so in consecutive seasons, in 1966-67 and 1967-68.
• Only Alex Delvecchio and Steve Yzerman had a longer career playing for only a single team.
• Was named to Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series, but only played two games due to injuries.
• Inducted into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.
• In 1998, he was ranked number 17 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, making him the highest-ranked player born outside of Canada, although he was trained in Canada.

Notes

• His name was used in Wayne's World as the name of a doughnut shop, as a parody reference to the Canadian chain Tim Hortons. A restaurant named "Stan Mikita's" and closely resembling the movie's version was opened at the Virginia amusement park Kings Dominion,And Paramounts Carowinds in Charlotte which was then owned by Paramount, in 1994. The Virginia restaurant was later converted into a Happy Days theme.
• Reportedly the first player to ever use a curved blade on his stick and was one of the first practitioners of the slapshot.
• In 1973, Stan teamed up with Chicago business man Irv Tiahnybik to form the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association (AHIHA), to bring together deaf and hard-of hearing hockey players from all over the country.
• Also known as "Stosh"
• Is the main character in the book "My Man Stan" by Tim Wendel.
• His daughter is married to the caddie of golfer David Toms. [1]

See also

• Captain (ice hockey)
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 500 goals

Donate to Wikimedia