Perhaps a better hockey player than Chicago Black Hawks teammate Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita is often overshadowed by the Golden Jet when it comes to remembering the offensive powered Black Hawks of the 1960’s.
Mikita stands in Hull’s shadow in the hockey card world, as well. The Stan Mikita rookie card from the 1960-61 Topps series is worth a mere $400. Whereas, the Bobby Hull rookie card from two years before is worth a comparative fortune at $3000. Even in the 1960-61 set, the Bobby Hull hockey card outshines, valued at $500 by Beckett Hockey Monthly. The hockey cards of the two Chicago players are the two most valuable cards in the set.
Stan Mikita was born in Czechoslovakia (Slovakia) but moved to St. Catherines, Ontario at a young age. He played his junior hockey with the OHA’s St. Catherines Teepees, a team sponsored by the Black Hawks. For three years from 1956-57 to 1958-59, Stan excelled with the Teepees. In his final season, he scored 38 goals and added 59 assists for 97 points in just 45 games. His 97 points and 59 assists were both league highs and he earned the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHA’s most valuable player as St. Catherines dominated the league.
It was in junior where Mikita developed a reputation as one who spends plenty of time in the penalty box. He was over 100 PIM in each of his seasons with St. Catherines and in his final year he sat out 197. This was a trait that dogged him through the first part of his NHL career, topping out at 154 minutes during the 1964-65 season. Two seasons later, he served just 12 minutes and won his first of two Lady Byng Trophys as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player.
Stan spent his entire NHL career with the Chicago Black Hawks. He made the jump from junior and immediately became a regular in 1959-60. His career lasted until the 1979-80 season. In 1966-67, Mikita totalled 97 points, the same tally he put up in his final year of junior. The 97 points tied the then NHL record for most points in a season, shared with teammate Bobby Hull.
During the same two seasons that Mikita won the Lady Byng, 1966-67 and 1967-68, he also won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer. He is the only player to win this ‘triple crown’ on more than one occasion. Stan also won the Art Ross on two other occasions consecutively, 1963-64 and 1964-65.
Over his career, Mikita totalled 1467 points in 1394 regular season NHL games. His 21 became a Chicago Black Hawks retired number in 1980 and Stan entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. Behind Alex Delvecchio and Steve Yzerman, Mikita has played the third most games in an NHL career that was spent with just one team.