NHL draft photos are highly entertaining. Outdated hairstyles, shirts and ties under a jersey and don’t forget the JCPenney backdrops. You can literally see these players morph from boys to men from their draft photos. The Blackhawks are not exempt from this, as you will see by the following photos.
I’m going to stick to, what fans would consider, the core players because more recent draft picks just aren’t as humorous. Hang on for the whole list because you will not be disappointed.
Patrick Kane – 2007
“What, me worry?” Nope, that isn’t Alfred E. Neuman from Mad Magazine fame, but Patrick Kane. That young buck would go on to become a 3-time Stanley Cup winner and rack up a Conn Smythe, Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Trophy to go along with it.
Jonathan Toews – 2006
What a cute little boy. Based on looks, there probably would have been a lot of people who would laugh at you if you said this guy would become “Captain Serious.” Toews has the third longest tenure as a Captain in the NHL.
Niklas Hjalmarsson – 2005
It’s hard to believe the guy who would go on to be known as “Hammer” would have an emo haircut. Hjalmarsson probably needed someone to help put on his jersey so it wouldn’t mess up his hair.
Corey Crawford – 2003
Can you believe Crawford was drafted in 2003? Can you believe that a guy that takes as much abuse as he does from pucks and fans, would look exactly the same?
Brent Seabrook – 2003
So, Seabrook’s haircut looks like a boy band style from the era. No wonder female fans have always swooned for him, even if there were only about three female Blackhawks fans in 2003.
Duncan Keith – 2002
The guy with the bleached flow in 2002 is the same guy blocking shots with his face and playing more minutes than anyone? Well it’s true, because Duncan Keith is that guy.
Marian Hossa – 1997
He wasn’t drafted by the Blackhawks but Marian Hossa is loved by Blackhawks fans. I had to pull up this photo of one of his rookie cards because usable photos are near impossible to find. “Big Hoss” has been around a long time and the numbers he still puts up are a good reason.
I hope you enjoyed the photos and had a few laughs, but I’m sure we all have embarrassing photos of ourselves that luckily are not on Google images.
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