Alec Martinez Giving Up The Number He's Worn His Entire Career For The Legend And Hall-Of-Famer, Jeremy Roenick
The Blackhawks signed Alec Martinez a little under three weeks ago when the free agency window opened. When you close your eyes and think of Alec Martinez in Chicago, this is the memory
Right off of Nick Leddy, into the net, and dreams of a repeat (possible three-peat) were gone. Blackhawks were on the wrong end of one of the greatest playoff series I can remember and it was Martinez in OT that killed us. For that, I hated Martinez. One of those names that irked me for a decade even after the Blackhawks and Kings were both dismantled.
When they signed him I was excited. He has Brent Seabrook vibes. Veteran leader. Loved by teammates. Does things the right way. Always comes through in the playoffs.
Still...residual...ehhh because the most vivid memory of him is associated with pain.
Now...that's done. I am in. Love the guy. A child of the 90s like me decided to switch his number to 25 just for JR. All class. And frankly...the right thing to do. Every 27 for the Blackhawks since Roenick has looked weird. Boqvist and Reichel (who should also get a hat tip for switching to 73) never belonged in that jersey. I LOVED what Oduya did here, but even in real time seeing him in 27 didn't feel right. Now...it's unofficially retired.
Roenick is going into the Hall Of Fame, and I hope someday 27 goes into the rafters as well. Last player to score 50 goals here (hopefully Bedard clips that soon) and a guy who is the face of 1990s hockey to me and people my age. We were so lucky to grow up on those Blackhawks teams with Chelios, Belfour, and Roenick. They played the game the way you tell yourself you'd play if you were good enough. Tough as nails. Super competitive. Fearless. Inspirational players which is something you can't say about too many guys. Even as a kid you knew you were never going to be able to skate like Bure. You weren't going to shoot it like Selanne. You could play hard and mean like Chelios and Roenick though. They were the perfect stars for this city which is why I think they are still so beloved.
There's going to be a lot of numbers going to the rafters in the next several years. 81 is already up there. 19, 88, and 2 are locks. I think Seabrook's 7 should be right up there next to Chelios (we already have two #3s up there). I'd love to have all seven guys who won three Cups retired as well. I am more liberal with the jersey retirements than others, but that is because a run of three Cups in 6 years will never happen again and it's impossible to imagine them winning without Sharp, Hjalmarsson, and Seabs. I don't think they will all go up, but the Blackhawks have 9 retired numbers. Half of what Montreal has. I don't think they're in danger of running out of numbers any time soon. We hopefully have a great generation of players coming. I hope some are worthy of this discussion at some point, but it would be weird to see Oliver Moore wear #10 or Levshunov wear #4. We know who owns those numbers in this town the same way Alec Martinez and the rest of us know who #27 belongs to.
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With the young guys coming through and the veterans the Blackhawks signed they might actually be a likeable team this year. Maybe not good. Probably not sniffing around the wild card, but they'll hopefully be the right mix to build a new foundation, a new culture, and a new era of winning hockey. Starts with small gestures like this from Martinez and good habits.