Call him Savvy, call him Savoir Faire. It doesn't matter. Denis Savard was something else, the type of player the Hawks hadn't had in almost 40 years, since Max Bentley.

As a contemporary of Wayne Gretzky, he was an artist where Gretzky was a surgeon. There was an intrinsic beauty to watching Savard skate and stickhandle, this strange combination of fluid motion and dramatic twists and turns that was not the way anyone had been accustomed to seeing anyone on the Blackhawks play hockey.

Bobby Hull was power and speed, Stan Mikita was slippery and tactical. Savard was almost like a figure skater out there, Chicago's answer to Guy Lafleur. His on-ice artistry went far beyond what showed up on the stat sheet, and what showed up there was impressive.

Savard was born in Pointe Gatineau, Quebec, right outside Montreal. He first gained fame playing for the Montreal Juniors in the QMJHL. He became known for being the best stickhandler in a league that produced great ones. In one strange coincidence, he centered the "Trois Denis" line in 1978-79, playing with Denis Cyr and Denis Tremblay. The stange part was that they all were born on February 4, 1961.

The Blackhawks had the third pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, and they selected Savard. He had an outstanding rookie season, racking up 75 points (28G 47A) in 76 games. He had the good fortune of having Al Secord out there watching his back. That's not to say Savard couldn't take care of himself, despite his small stature. While he never won any Art Ross Trophies, we was never in any danger of winning any Lady Byngs either. In fact, throughout his Hawks career, he usually hovered around the 100 mark in both points and penalty minutes.

Then another outstanding rookie came in. Steve Larmer joined the line with Savard and Secord for the 1982-83 season, and had a 90 point season to go along with Savard's 121 points and Secord's 86. The Hawks finished first in the Norris Division, and coach Orval Tessier won the Jack Adams Trophy.

The years that followed in Chicago saw Savard and Larmer score a lot of goals, and smoke a lot of cigarettes. They were perfectly complimentary players, with Savard having more flash, often displaying the "Savard Spin-O-Rama" move, and Larmer having a lunchpail approach. Both had exceptional results.

While Savard excelled, the Hawks were never able to get to the Stanley Cup Finals while he was there. The Hawks had the misfortune of playing in the same conference as the Edmonton Oilers, featuring Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, and the Hawks had to run up against them at some point or another.

In the 1990 Conference Finals, the Hawks held a 2 games to 1 lead over Edmonton, and they were playing Game 4 in Chicago, when Savard scored one of the most amazing goals anyone has ever seen. He dragged the puck through and around every player on the ice for Edmonton before finding the back of the net, in a breathtaking display of North South East West stickhandling. Still, in the end, the Oilers made yet another trip to the Finals.

Here, see for yourself:



Unfortunately, then-coach Mike Keenan never cared for Savard. The pattern of Keenan calling out a future Hall-of-Famer would be repeated in other stops along his coaching tour, including Brian Leetch in New York and Pavel Bure in Vancouver. Since they weren't able to coexist, the Hawks traded Savard to the Canadiens for Chris Chelios.

While it always seemed unnatural to see Savard in anything other than a Blackhawks sweater, it was gratifying to see him get his name on the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993. He returned to the Hawks for a little more than two more seasons, and retired a Blackhawk.

He then stayed with the organization, working as an assistant coach, before taking over from Trent Yawney as head coach. He developed such good relationships with his players that upon his dismissal early in the 2008-09 season, Hawks' star Patrick Kane was in tears.

If he had done nothing else as a head coach, the fact that in calling out his players he told them they had to "Commit to the Indian" was enough.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.