How Chris Chelios was like Jonathan Toews and NHL legend Gordie Howe

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It's no secret that Hockey Hall of Famer and former Blackhawks defenseman Chris Chelios could do it all as a player. One of his former teammates in Chicago, NBC Sports Chicago Hawks analyst and color commentator Steve Konroyd, provided more insight on what a rare breed of blueliners he was. 

"Just an all-around player," Konroyd said over the phone recently. "When you think of (Denis) Savard, it's all offense. But with with Cheli, it was offense, it was defense, it was toughness and being an instigator. It was getting under the skin of the opposition. I mean, he could do all those things. He had a really big toolbox. And he wore a lot of different hats, too: power play, penalty kill . . .

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"Imagine a Jonathan Toews but with a little more of a mean streak. And I don't know if it was his upbringing . . . I know he grew up part of his life on the south side of Chicago, but he really had a mean streak in him and he'd just stick you than say hello on the ice. And I could say that comfortably because I played against him for a number years and then played with him. He's one of those guys you certainly want him on your side. 

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"The other thing, too, you hear those stories about Gordie Howe, how he used to switch hands to take a shot. I saw Cheli do that probably half a dozen times playing with him. Every once in a while I get paired up on defense with him and I see him change hands and take a slapshot from the blue line. 

"And it's like, you know, I'd bet 90 percent of the fans in the stands probably wouldn't realize what he just did. But here's a right-handed guy, a right-handed shot, who's taking a left-handed shot with a stick that was curved the other way. That's just one of the little things that made Cheli special."

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