Died
August 7, 2018 (aged 78)Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height
5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight
169 lb (77 kg; 12 st 1 lb)
Position
Centre
Shot
Right
Played for
Chicago Blackhawks
National team
Canada
Playing career
1958–1980
Stanislav Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018), was a Slovak-born Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s.[1][2] In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.[3]
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Playing career
1.2.1 Use of curved stick
1.3 Retirement
2 Career statistics
3 Awards and accomplishments
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Mikita was born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic as Stanislav Guoth and raised in a small farming community there until late 1948,[4] but moved to St. Catharines, Ontario, as a young boy to escape Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle, Anna and Joe Mikita, who gave him their surname.[5][4]
Playing career[edit]
After three starring junior seasons with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association, Mikita was promoted to the parent Chicago Blackhawks in 1959–60. In his second full year, in 1961, the Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup. The young centre led the entire league in goals during the playoffs, scoring a total of six.[6]
The following season was his breakout year. Stan Mikita became a star as centre of the famed "Scooter Line", with right wing Ken Wharram and left wingers Ab McDonald and Doug Mohns.[5] Combining skilled defense and a reputation as one of the game's best faceoff men using his innovative curved stick, Mikita led the league in scoring four times in the decade, tying Bobby Hull's year-old single-season scoring mark in 1966–67 with 97 points[7] (a mark broken two years later by former teammate Phil Esposito[8] and currently held by Wayne Gretzky).[9] The 1967–68 season, an 87-point effort from Mikita, was the last year a Chicago player won the scoring title until Patrick Kane's 106-point 2015–16 season.[10]
In his early years, Mikita 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 particularly sportsmanlike conduct combined with excellence twice. Mikita's drastic change in behavior came after he returned home from a road trip. His wife told him that while their daughter, Meg, was watching the Blackhawks' last road game on television, she turned and said, "Mommy, why does Daddy spend so much time sitting down?"[4] The camera had just shown Mikita in the penalty box again (from Mikita's autobiography I Play to Win).[citation needed]
During his playing career, in 1973, Mikita teamed up with Chicago businessman 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, and he founded the Stan Mikita School for the Hearing Impaired, inspired by a friend’s deaf son who was an aspiring goalie. He also helped bring the Special Olympics to Chicago, bringing his family out to volunteer at races.[4]