Here Come the Hawks!
Rob and David look forward to another Blackhawks Championship with two hockey Hall of Famers who were also members of the 1961 Stanley Cup Winners: Al Arbour and Pierre Pilote.
Episode Segments
Bearly Legal: Al Arbour
Hall of Famer Al Arbour talks about the Stanley Cup run of the Blackhawks, and the pride he feels being a multi-time Stanley Cup winner as both a player and a coach.
Bearly Legal: Pierre Pilote & Mike Hollis
Hall of Famer Pierre Pilote talks about his career and his teammates from the 1961 Stanley Cup winners.
Then, forme NFL Kicker Mike Hollis talks about his latest endeavor, the ProForm Kicking Academy.
Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode
Al Arbour
Al started his playing career in 1957-58 NHL
Season with the Detroit Red Wings. He would
also play for the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto
Maple Leafs, and St. Louis Blues (hockey)|St.
Louis Blues. He would win four Stanley Cups in
his playing career.
Al\'s coaching career with St. Louis in 1973-74 NHL
season|1973. After three years with the Blues, he
headed to Long Island to lead a young New York
Islanders team. All would lead the Islanders to
four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s.
Al is currently second in wins and games coached
behind Scotty Bowman in NHL history. Although
Bowman is recognized as the greatest coach in NHL
history because of his statistics, Arbour deserves
special distinction because he worked with
struggling teams to turn them into champions,
whereas Bowman usually took over already
well-established teams. A good example of Arbour\'s
work was when he took the helm of the fading
Islanders in 1988-89 NHL season|1988 and helped
rebuilt it into a contender by 1992-93 NHL
season. The most memorable moment came in
1993 with the matchup of the two best coaches in
NHL history. Arbour\'s Islanders defeated Bowman\'s
heavily favoured Pittsburgh Penguins in 7 games
during the second round of the 1992-93 NHL
season playoffs.
Pierre Pilote
His teammates and friends called him \"Pete\" and although he was a small man, he was one of the most feared defensemen of Original Six hockey in the NHL. Pierre Pilote was born in Kenogami, Quebec, but his family moved to Fort Erie, Ontario, when he was young. He learned to skate as a child, but between the ages 14 and 17 he never played at all because the local rink burned down and he had nowhere to go. As a result, Pilote didn\'t play his first game of organized hockey until he was 17, and even then he almost had to quit because of bad luck.
He played parts of five seasons with the Buffalo Bisons, but during 1955-56 he was called up to the Black Hawks to try the NHL game. On his first shift, Tod Sloan of the Leafs walked around him for a great scoring chance, but his play improved steadily and by the next fall he was part of the team full-time.
Pilote also became renowned as a tough guy who should be avoided, a reputation enhanced when he knocked both Henri and Maurice Richard out cold during the same mix-up. Pilote played the next 376 games in a row with Chicago, including five seasons without missing a game. His \"iron man\" streak finally ended when he dislocated a shoulder during the 1961-62 season. Pilote was a superb defenseman at both ends of the ice. In his own zone he blocked shots fearlessly, but he also wasn\'t afraid to join the rush and he was a first-rate passer. He teamed with Elmer \"Moose\" Vasko on the blue line, and together they formed the best duo in the league in the late 1950s.
After the Hawks captured the Stanley Cup in the spring of 1961, Pilote was made captain in October 1961 on a team that also featured Bobby Hull and Stan mikita. He was named to the First or Second All-Star Team every year from 1960 to 1967 and played in eight consecutive All-Star games during that time. He won the Norris Trophy for three successive years, 1963 to 1965, and finished as one of Chicago\'s leading scorers from the blue line. In 1968 the Hawks traded their aging hero to Toronto for Jim Pappin, but Pilote played just one season with the Leafs before retiring. When he left the game, he made no apologies, shed no tears and didn\'t look back for a second.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.
Mike Hollis
Mike Hollis began his kicking career back in 1985 serving as the kicker on his junior high school football team and continuing throughout high school, college and eventually the NFL. Mike began his professional career in 1994 with the San Diego Chargers (pre-season only) and retired in 2003, spending 7 years with the Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 year with the Buffalo Bills, and 1 year with the New York Giants. During that time, Mike connected on 200 of 250 field goals (80%), scored 879 points, had a consecutive streak of 20 field goals, and was voted AFC Special Teams Player of the Week 7 times. In 1997 he was selected to the Pro Bowl after leading the NFL in scoring with 134 points. Mike had his best season in 2000, converting on 24 of 26 field goals (92.3%), even when he missed 4 games after his second of 3 back surgeries. Mike presently holds some very impressive rankings in NFL history. He is in the top 5 of highest percentages in field goals over 50 yards (13/19, 68.4%); top 10 in accuracy over 40+ yard field goals (63/92, 68.5%); top 5 in field goal accuracy in the playoffs (16/18, 88.8%); and top 20 in overall field goal accuracy (80.0%).
