Blackhawks Back in the Day: The Steal of a Deal for Patrick Sharp

The Chicago Blackhawks made a quiet trade in 2005 that would become a loud boom during the franchise’s eventual three Stanley Cup run. Patrick Sharp would become one of the core players who made it happen.

And all it took to get him was a prospect and a third-round pick. In December of 2005, Sharp was acquired along with Eric Meloche for Matt Ellison and a 2026 third-round pick. That pick would be traded to Montreal by Philadelphia who would select center Ryan White. White would have career numbers that mirrored one of Sharp’s best seasons in Chicago.

Meloche would be reacquired by Philadelphia a year later. Ellison would go overseas to play.

Sharp would win three Stanley Cups and score 249 goals for the Blackhawks.

A Slow Build with Patrick Sharp in the Middle of It

Ask anyone about what they remember about the trade, and it’s usually a shrug of the shoulders. But thanks to the internet, the team release from the deal is still available. Then general manager Dale Tallon had this to say:

“We addressed a need we had for speed and skill in getting Patrick Sharp,” said Tallon. “Sharp is a good skater and a solid two-way player who fits into our plans for the future. We hated to give up Matt Ellison, but Patrick Sharp gives us that dimension of speed and skill that we need.”

Boy did he ever.

The Blackhawks were in the midst of a brutal rebuild in 2005, trying to cobble together whatever they could to build a core. The 2006 Draft would snag Jonathan Toews and then the 2007 would gift them Patrick Kane. Skating  quietly along the way was Sharp, who would see his numbers get better with every passing year.

His initial season he potted just nine goals. But starting in 2006-07, he would have six consecutive seasons of 20 or more goals. Three of those seasons featured 30+ goals and he would top 30 again in the 2013-14 campaign.

Tallon, who to this day does not get the true due for his construction of the team, was spot on. That skill would pay off in a big way.

Sharp Had a Knack for Big Goals

The goals came in bunches along with the point totals, but it was in the playoffs where Sharp’s clutch factor came through. Of the 42 career playoff goals with Chicago, five were game winners. It should have been six but his potential game winner during Game 4 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final was wiped out by Johnny Boychuk since 56 seconds later.

Sharp led all playoff goal scorers during the 2012-13 playoffs with 10 and led the team during the 2010 Cup run where he had 11. Sharp also had the first big goal in the Game 7 against Detroit in 2013, where the Blackhawks clawed back from a 3-1 deficit in the series.

When the Blackhawks made the trade for Patrick Sharp, not even Tallon could have dreamed that it would have worked out as well as it did.

249 goals and 532 points later, Sharp left quite the legacy in Chicago.