Rozner: Retiring Seabrook owns big place in Blackhawks' history

One by one they depart, the remnants of a dynasty disappearing before your eyes.

And if you think it's tough for you, imagine how difficult it is for the championship-era players remaining to know that Brent Seabrook will never skate for the Blackhawks again.

From the 2015 Stanley Cup roster, only Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Andrew Shaw are still in town. Toews has not been heard from in months and Shaw's status is also uncertain.

Seabrook, who turns 36 next month, did all he could to return from numerous surgeries, after playing more than a decade with one of those injuries. It goes without saying that they don't come much tougher than Brent Seabrook.

He arrived here at age 20 in 2005 and logged a staggering 1,114 games, third all-time for an Original Six franchise. Seabrook skated in another 123 playoff games with 59 postseason points and 3 overtime winners, all enormous, all of them series-changing — or clinching — goals.

That's a lot of miles and a lot of minutes, important minutes, eaten up many of those years with Keith at his side, but also doing the heavy lifting that few others on the team could handle.

On a skilled and soft team with players that didn't like getting hit, Seabrook would stand up to anyone, dishing out hits, protecting the net and looking out for his teammates.

Perhaps the biggest of such moments earned him a suspension during the 2014 postseason against the Blues, when St. Louis spent the first two games bashing the Hawks' brains against the boards, many of the hits dirty and most of the illegal play unpunished by the refs.

And when the officials won't police the game, you do it yourself. That's what Seabrook did when he hammered David Backes in the corner, knocking him out of the game and, well, knocking him out.

One of the dirtiest players in the league, Backes took a hit from a team tired of his antics, a player Colorado coach Patrick Roy had called “gutless” just weeks before when Backes jumped 18-year-old rookie Nathan MacKinnon, not exactly a tough guy.

The hit on Backes turned the series around for the Hawks, who lost the first two games in overtime. After that hit they won the next four, Backes missing a pair of games and then a nonfactor when he returned.

As the Blues' top center, top defensive forward and most physical player, not to mention an offensive threat, Backes' departure changed the series.

It wasn't that Seabrook was trying to take him out, but he was trying to send a message. Take liberties with our best players and someone will answer for it.

Someone had to do it.

As good as he was on the ice — part of the Magnificent Seven that won three Stanley Cups together — Seabrook off the ice was just as big, carrying the loudest voice in the room, one that inspired confidence and eliminated fear.

When certain players walk into a room with big shoulders and mountains of certainty, everyone else takes a deep breath and knows it will turn out well.

Seabrook was one of those guys.

His game wasn't pretty, didn't get him on highlight reels or the cover of a magazine. He didn't skate like the wind or raise fans out of their seats. No, he did the hard jobs, the dirty work, the important work.

He did the things that must be done in order to win, so that the superstars can get their points and their headlines, things he never cared about.

Among that group of seven — Toews, Kane, Keith, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Niklas Hjalmarsson — Seabrook was easily the least celebrated.

Seabrook didn't even understand why reporters wanted to talk to him after games. A guy who doesn't want the camera lights is exactly the guy you want sitting next to you on the bench, and lining up next to you on a faceoff.

His presence was immense and irreplaceable on those three Cup winners. At his best, he was big, mean, could clear a zone and join the rush. With a heavy shot that made defense and goaltenders cringe, he did whatever was necessary to win a game or a shift.

Simply put, he is one of the greatest defensemen ever to wear a Blackhawks sweater.

And he will be missed.