Red Wings legend Chris Chelios takes his rightful place in Michigan history

Getting into my mid-thirties, former players like Chris Chelios are those I'm starting to look up to because of his sheer longevity. Arriving in Hockeytown during his age-37 season after spending nine seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and before that, seven seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, the former Detroit Red Wings defenseman is finally going into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

And as I already implied, Chelios is one of my favorite players in NHL history (alongside the equally ageless Gordie Howe) because of the way he kept showing up and producing when the average player would've been way past their prime.

I mean, how many players 37 and older are involved in a blockbuster trade (meaning they were in high demand) and sticking around for another decade? You won't find many, but Chelios was one of the few who managed it.

And for most of the time he spent in Detroit, he still managed top-four and sometimes even top-pairing minutes, ultimately averaging 21:03 in the winged wheel. I mean, if you want to see longevity in pro sports, look no further than this guy, and it's one of many reasons why he deserves a spot in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Chris Chelios helped make sure the Detroit Red Wings dominance continued into the 21st century

Those Red Wings teams of the mid-to-late 1990s, which Chelios knew well since he played for the then-rival Chicago Blackhawks, were the class of the NHL. Chelios, following his trade to Detroit, helped ensure that the trend continued when he arrived during the 1998-99 season and played his first full campaign with Detroit in 1999-00.

While Chelios wasn't the same points producer he once was during the final leg of his career, his contributions still enticed me to put him on my Top 25 best Red Wings list earlier this week. Top-four minutes, for the most part, means he still put up consistent, reliable play, and snagged a plus-158 rating throughout 578 games in the winged wheel.

During the Wings 2002 Cup run, Chelios was still a centerpiece, playing in 23 games and averaging 26:22 per contest while snagging a ridiculous plus-15 rating. For the 2008 season, Chelios saw his ice time diminish, but he was still there for 14 of those games, ending the championship run with a plus-2 rating and 12:54 of average ice time.

Overall, this was a long-awaited destination for Chelios, who got inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame back in 2013. Besides winning a pair of Cups with the Wings, Chelios snagged his first Cup with the Canadiens all the way back in 1986 during his age-24 season.