Blackhawks' Foley humbled by 'great honor'

Pat Foley could have easily taken Sunday off.

Few, if any, Hawks fans would have blamed the longtime play-by-play announcer for missing the team's game against Dallas as he gets set to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

"I've got a game to do," Foley said beforehand. "There's no chance I was gonna miss this."

A professional all the way, that just shows how much Foley is committed to the sport he loves and has broadcast for three-plus decades for the Blackhawks and the Chicago Wolves.

At the top of his nine-minute meeting with the media - one in which he had reporters cracking up numerous times - the 60-year-old Glenview native said he's having a hard time wrapping his head around what's about to transpire.

"It's a great honor. I'm very humbled by it," Foley said. "And I'm not sure what it all means. I'm not sure I belong, but if somebody else tells me that I do, then OK. I'm really grateful for it."

Foley has had a one-track career mind ever since he was 10, when he sat in the Wrigley Field radio booth with Jack Quinlan and Lou Boudreau.

"I feel very lucky that I knew at a young age that I had all my focus going in one direction," Foley said.

The opportunity of a lifetime came when Foley was just 26 as the Hawks hired him to be their play-by-play man. His first game, in October 1980, came on the night the team retired Stan Mikita's jersey.

Foley says his career has been "beyond dreamlike," but it didn't come without one bump in the road. The Hawks fired him in 2006 and he promptly went to work for the Wolves.

Foley, who said he would have loved to be a "fly on the wall" when the Hawks found out about that move, also said he had no problems going to the AHL, noting that there are only 30 NHL play-by-play jobs available. Plus, it allowed him to stay home.

The reunion with the Hawks in 2008 wasn't a slam-dunk, but John McDonough eventually convinced Foley to return.

As for Monday, Foley's not sure if his emotions will get the better of him or not.

"I'm not summarizing a career here," he said. "I know I'm on the back nine, but I think I've got some mileage left. In Eddie's (Olzcyk) case when he went into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, that was a very emotional and lengthy speech. He was summarizing a terrific playing career.

"I'm not done yet, at least not planning on it."

Big day for Richards:

Not only was Sunday's game the 1,000th of Brad Richards' career, it also came against Dallas, the team he spent three-plus seasons with from 2007-11. Richards, honored in a pregame ceremony with his newborn son, wife, mom and dad, admitted it wasn't a "normal day."

The veteran centerman reflected on how much his life has changed since he took photographs before his first game with Tampa Bay in 2000.

"But now (in the pictures are) my niece and my sister and my wife and my son," Richards said, "It's just crazy how things change. There's so many people to thank. … You just think about all those people who helped you and brought you along and taught you how to be a pro."

Tip-ins:

Daniel Carcillo returned to action after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. He saw 8:40 of ice time. … Andrew Shaw received a standing ovation after a lengthy fight with the Stars' Antoine Roussel in the first period. Shaw landed quite a few haymakers and clearly came out on top. … Antti Raanta, who stopped 33 of 35 shots in a 3-2 Rockford IceHogs victory Sunday, will be with the Hawks as they embark on their six-game circus trip this week.