Throughout the 80s the Blackhawks and the Oilers had some classic playoff matchups. I use the term “classic” loosely because every single time the powerhouse Oilers blew past the Hawks. In the 1985 Campbell Conference Finals the Oilers scored 11, 7, 5, 8 ,10, 8 goals in the six game series… That’s what happens when you have the likes of Gretzky, Lowe, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey, and Fuhr. Those 80s Hawks teams weren’t scrubs either, there was serious talent there. One of those talented guys was a player named Denis Savard. The “Savardian Spin-O-Rama” was his signature move to fool goalies and bring Chicago Stadium to a roar. In this 1988 game vs. Edmonton, Savard danced through the entire Oilers team from his own blue line in one of the most dazzling goals in Blackhawks history.

In his 13 seasons in Chicago, Savard scored 377 goals in a Blackhawks uniform, along with 719 assists adding up to 1,096 points in his career for the Hawks. For his career totals Savard put up 473 goals and 1,338 points. This goal vs. the Oilers was an amazing display of what Savard did on a regular basis in Chicago. The Hawks were never able to get past Gretzky’s great Oilers team, but they sure had some amazing battles throughout the decade.

denis-savard-001298923No. 17 in the countdown coming tomorrow…