San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson describes Chris Chelios as what he pictures as the ultimate Greek hockey player: dance all night, chug a jug of wine and still be the first to the rink in the morning.
Dallas co-general manager Brett Hull says the only way the ageless Detroit defenseman leaves the game is if someone locks him in a box and carries him out of the arena. And he didn't mean it in any morbid sense, rather he knows the only way Chelios goes is while kicking and screaming.
Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick, a former teammate and close friend of Chelios, gets right to the point: "He's a freak of nature."
Definitely one of a kind, Chelios now sits No. 2 behind only Gordie Howe as the oldest player to appear in an NHL game. Chelios achieved that distinction earlier in the month, passing former Chicago emergency goalie Moe Roberts, and will turn 46 on Thursday.
Howe played until age 52 and six days, retiring from the NHL – for the second time – in 1980.
"I guess it's something to be proud of," said Chelios, who contributed an assist to his team's 6-3 romp of the Sharks. "I've been very fortunate to play for this team for the last eight years. I'm thankful of the Red Wings for letting me continue my career here. I can't thank the fans enough for the way they've treated me."
CHELI'S HIGHLIGHTS
• 1983-84: Debuted with Montreal against Hartford, the last NHL team for which Gordie Howe appeared, on March 8, 1984.
• 1984-85: Selected to NHL all-rookie team during his first full season (64 points in 74 games).
• 1985-86: Wins Stanley Cup with Montreal and contributes two goals and 11 points in 20 playoff games.
• 1987-88: Scores 20 goals, which still stands as a career high.
• 1988-89: Collects career-high 58 assists for the first of three times and produces four goals and 19 points in 21 playoff games as Canadiens reach the finals. He becomes the first right-handed shooting defenseman to win the Norris Trophy in the 36 years of the award.
• 1989-90: Chicago native becomes the first American-born player to captain the Montreal Canadiens, then gets traded in offseason to Chicago for Denis Savard and a draft pick.
• 1990-91: Scores 64 points and logs 192 PIM in 77 games during first season with the Blackhawks.
• 1991-92: Sets franchise records for points in the playoffs (21 in 18 games) and goals (six) in the postseason as Chicago reaches the finals.
• 1992-93: His 58 assists sets a team record and 282 PIM are a career high. Wins his second Norris Trophy.
• 1993-94: Collects 400th career assist vs. Winnipeg on Oct. 14, 1993.
• 1995-96: Named Blackhawks captain and becomes first defenseman in team history to lead Chicago in scoring (72 points in 81 games). Wins his third Norris Trophy.
• 1997-98: Plays 1,000th regular-season game on March 16, 1998 and captained the U.S. Olympic Team.
• 1998-99: Acquired at the trade deadline, debuts with Detroit on March 24, 1999.
• 1999-2000: Posts a career-high plus-48 during first full season with the Red Wings and makes his 10th All-Star Game appearance.
• 2000-01: Limited to 24 games due to knee injuries and a broken thumb, but still returned to appear in five of Detroit's six playoff games. He earns silver medal as captain of U.S. Olympic team.
• 2001-02: Norris Trophy runner-up at age 40. He wins his second Stanley Cup.
•2003-04: Eclipses 900 career points and is captain for Team USA in World Cup of Hockey.
• 2005-06: Captains the U.S. during the '06 Olympic Games.
• 2006-07: Passes Phil Housley for most games played by an American-born player. Also wins Mark Messier Award for exemplary performance and charitable works.
"He epitomizes the notion of the Greek God," Roenick said. "He doesn't misuse his body, he doesn't live by the rules of good nature, either. One thing that he has is a love for the game that is unmatched."
The burning question is will Chelios challenge Howe's record? He says he intends to play again next season. After that is anyone's guess, but Roenick says he's got a pretty good idea. He says Chelios, who won't admit this publicly, has told Roenick he would like to play until age 50.
"He's the one guy who could play this game until he's 50," Roenick said.
You don't know if he's serious or not, but Chelios has said in the past that if he ever were to approach Howe's mark he'd retire a year short of breaking the record out of respect for Mr. Hockey. Chelios says he and Howe, who attends a number of Red Wings games in Detroit, haven't spoken about the record.
"He has a keen sense of humor and doesn't ask a lot of serious questions," Chelios said. "I'm just glad he's around here quite a bit and enjoys the game and players."
Chelios enjoys those things, too, but no one drives himself as hard in terms of fitness as the veteran who after Saturday's game stands just eight short of 1,600 for his illustrious career.
The stories are of legend. Chelios riding a stationary bike in a sauna after games while watching television. And he doesn't stop until he downs two healthy containers of water.
There's the summers spent on the shores of Malibu, Calif., where Chelios and trainer T.R. Gordon push the envelope on exercise. A number of NHL players, including Roenick, partake in the grueling program. And when everyone's done, Chelios heads out into the water for endurance work or goes for a run on the beach.
Chelios says it's just his nature. He doesn't take more than a week or two off between the end of one season and the grind of training for another. He can't sit still, even at home with his wife and four children. During the pregame skate Saturday, the horn sounded, the lights went down and guess who was the last Red Wing still firing pucks from the blue line?
"Cheli absolutely refuses to take days off," said Wilson, who has coached Chelios in a number of international events. "I think he's been blessed with sort of an ageless body because he works on it so hard, it's like one fuels the other."
"His passion and work ethic go hand-in-hand," added Hull, a teammate in Detroit and on many of those same national teams Wilson coached. "There's only one other guy I've met like that and it's Mike Keane. They love the game so much."
Chelios has to love the success he's enjoyed, too. Since breaking into the league late during the 1983-84 season with Montreal, Chelios has appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs in all but one of the last 22 postseasons. That one early-spring tee-time followed the 1997-98 season with Chicago when the Blackhawks finished ninth in the West, five points out of the final playoff spot.
Chelios hates to lose at anything. It's probably the reason why all the teams he's played for have enjoyed success. Last year in the playoffs the Wings looked to be in trouble in a second-round series against San Jose when the Wings lost Mathieu Schneider to injury, but Chelios picked up the slack and they advanced to the conference finals.
"He's one of the few I always felt absolutely held himself accountable," Wilson said. "If you lost he always felt it was his fault and he could have done better, even more so than all the guys I've coached."
But it's not all work and no play for Chelios. Roenick calls him the most connected player to Hollywood in the league. Counted among Chelios' friends include actor John Cusack, comedian Chris Rock and musicians Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins.
"He goes hard at everything he does, he enjoys his life," Wilson said.
Roenick still remembers the routine when both he and Chelios were teammates in Chicago.
"We'd drive in together, stop at 7-Eleven and get Hostess Cupcakes, milk and head to the game," Roenick said. "That's the key to his success, Hostess Cupcakes."
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