Chris Chelios Is Every Celebrity's Favorite Celebrity

Yesterday at the United Center feels like a fever dream. An absolutely perfect celebration of hockey, Chicago, the Blackhawks and Chris Chelios. We did a podcast about the ultimate bachelor party crew about this time last year and I need to retroactively go back and make Chris Chelios the #1 pick because it appears that he is just universally loved by everyone in all walks of life. Anyone who has met him in the last 40 years wanted to be at the United Center and made time for their guy, Cheli. 

It was great to see his former teammates back in the United Center. That is normal though for any athlete being honored. His guest was so long and so diverse that it is beyond comprehension. The most iconic athlete whoever lived had a death in the family otherwise, Michael Jordan was coming to pay his respects

What was Cindy Crawford doing there?

How does he know John McEnroe?

Musical performances from Kid Rock and Eddie Vedder. 

He's apparently good friends with Theo Epstein who came in from New England to celebrate. 

The guy kind of just floated around. He has an aura about him. I don't think there's anyone like him. He seems both totally carefree, but driven and intentional with his actions. That's a rare combination. His career is the perfect example. The guy LOVED playing hockey so he did it as long as he could. After 1600 games and in his mid-40s he played 46 games in the American Hockey League. He was on a hockey ops management track, but that was too much of a grind and took away from the rest of his life and he seems like a guy who enjoys life too much to get bogged down with really anything. He has a dream retirement of only having fun. I hope his retirement lasts twice as long as his career because it's an outlook on life, a life looking forward, that we can all learn from. 

And you saw exactly why Chelios is so beloved by everyone in his speech. It was incredibly gracious while being charming and funny. He gave credit to everyone from Dick Butkis, to the Wirtz family, to his trainers, to Chicago PD. It was about him, but he made everyone feel special and apart of it. The entire production was appropriately over the top and larger that life. Just like Chelios. I have bumped into him no less than 15 times in the last couple years, just like you all have. He's a man about town. Officially an ambassador for the Blackhawks. Unofficially an ambassador for the entire city of Chicago.