THE VERDICT: Remembering Pat Stapleton

Pat Stapleton, an exemplary defenseman with the Blackhawks for eight seasons, has died. He was 79.
Nicknamed "Whitey" for his ample blond hair, Stapleton was a fixture on the blue line for teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final, in 1971 and 1973. He possessed superior acumen while defending, but was also gifted at generating rushes. In 1968-69, he garnered 50 assists for the Blackhawks, a National Hockey League record at the time. It lasted one year, until Bobby Orr amassed 87.

Stapleton, a native of Sarnia, Ontario, originally signed with the Blackhawks but was claimed by the Boston Bruins in the 1961 intra-league draft. After a couple seasons in the minors, Stapleton was again left unprotected in 1965, and the Blackhawks grabbed him back. By 1966, he established himself in the NHL, and soon flourished.
PAT STAPLETON
STATEMENT: Blackhawks Mourn Passing of Pat Stapleton
In 1970, a veteran presence on an upstart Blackhawk team featuring rookies Tony Esposito, Keith Magnuson and Cliff Koroll, Stapleton incurred a serious mid-season knee injury that required surgery. But General Manager Tommy Ivan did not despair and he acquired Bill White from the Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks went on a tear, and finished atop the East Division, culminating
an unprecedented worst-to-first revival from the previous year
.
As a healed Stapleton returned for the 1970-71 season, he was paired with White, whose stay-at-home style fit perfectly. They evolved into one of the finest tandems in the NHL, logging huge minutes as the Blackhawks emerged as a force. They earned two trips to the Final, losing both to the Montreal Canadiens.
Before the latter defeat, Stapleton and White anchored Team Canada's defense in the epic 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Four games were played in Canada, then four in Moscow, where Paul Henderson's goal at 19:26 of the third period clinched victory in the climactic match. Henderson became a national hero in Canada, but tellingly, the final stretch of the 6-5 conquest featured Stapleton and White on the ice.

"We looked at our bench to see if we would come off, but nobody would look at us," recalled White, who finished a plus-7 in the Summit Series. Stapleton was plus-6. They were appropriately hailed for their stability by their homeland.
Stapleton and White contributed to an enviable chemistry on the Blackhawks, usually by lightening the mood with unabated mischief. Nobody was spared, whether it was Magnuson being tormented by frequent false rumors of his impending trade, or a young reporter who was separated from his typewriter on a flight to Vancouver.
"Then there was the time Bill Friday, the referee, was on our plane to Minnesota," beamed Stapleton. "We stole his skates. We were going to paint them white, but decided against it. A few minutes before the next night's game, his skates miraculously showed up. Too late. He was furious. I want to say the first four penalties he called were against us."
Stapleton left the Blackhawks in 1973 to sign a five-year contract as player-coach with the Chicago Cougars of the infant World Hockey Association. He was voted the best defenseman there, but the team and the league struggled. When the Cougars folded, he joined the Indianapolis Racers, where he eventually became Wayne Gretzky's first professional coach in 1978.
An immensely popular captain, Stapleton played 545 regular season games with the Blackhawks, recording 41 goals and 286 assists, plus 65 playoff games, contributing 10 goals and 39 assists. His son Mike played 125 games with the Blackhawks in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In recent years, Pat and wife Jackie attended the Blackhawks Convention. He marveled at the vibrant new organization, noting the connection between current players and management. For a few summers, Stapleton was joined there by his former accomplice, White, and it was as though nothing had changed.

"Did you ask him about the puck?" White would urge.
You see, according to hockey lore, after Game 8 in Moscow concluded, while his fellow Team Canadians celebrated grandly, Stapleton calmly skated over to retrieve perhaps the most famous puck in the sport's history, the puck that Henderson fired to beat the Soviets.
Stapleton never quite admitted that he had the puck, nor did he ever quite deny that he didn't. What he gladly did is torment his fellow provocateur.
"Don't forget, Bill White was on the ice at the end of the game too," he would say. "I think he has Henderson's puck."
White then rolled his eyes.
"Stapleton said that?" he responded. "Consider the source."