Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact Chris Chelios booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company if you would like to hire Chris Chelios for a speaker appearance, autograph signing, endorsement deal or corporate event. Here you can find speaker fees, booking fees, costs, availability and schedule information. Hockey pro, Chris Chelios, was born on January 25, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois. Chris Chelios plays defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings. Chelios has played in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. He has played in the NHL since 1984, and has earned many awards during his long career. Chelios is the oldest active player in the NHL, has played the most games of any active player in the NHL, and has the most career penalty minutes of any active player. On November 24, 2006, he played in his 1,496th NHL game, the most of any American-born player, passing the record total of Phil Housley. In the 2007–08 season, he appeared in the playoffs for an NHL record 23rd time, having missed the playoffs only once (1997–98) in his entire career. Chelios is of Greek heritage. His cousin, Nikos Tselios, also plays professional hockey.

On February 1, 2006, Chris Chelios was again named captain of the US Olympic Hockey Team that played at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Chelios was also captain in the 1998 Nagano games and of the silver-medal-winning team in the 2002 Salt Lake City games.

On May 24, 2006, Chelios signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. On July 3, 2006, Chelios became the active leader for most games played upon the retirement of teammate Steve Yzerman. On April 21, 2007 he became the oldest defenseman to score a short-handed goal in the NHL in a playoff game against Calgary Flames.

On May 22, 2007, at Game 6 of the 2007 Western Conference Finals, Chelios and the Red Wings were eliminated from postseason play by the Anaheim Ducks. After the game, Chelios did not shake the hands of the Anaheim Ducks at center ice, as is the custom, and chose instead to shake the hands of only the coaches at their bench. This drew much criticism from fans and the media. He later stated that he was overcome by emotion, and felt he could not maintain his composure on the ice.

On June 12, 2007, Chris Chelios re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings for one year. This is his 24th NHL season and 10th with the Red Wings.

On January 8, 2008 Chelios became the second oldest player in the history of the NHL, at 45 years, 348 days, passing Moe Roberts. Only Gordie Howe, who played until age 52, was older. He is older than his coach Mike Babcock.

On April 12, 2008 Chelios played in his 248th playoff game, breaking the NHL record set by Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.

On June 4th, 2008, although he had not played in the Stanley Cup Finals (he played 14 playoff games during the 2008 playoffs), he had played enough games in the regular season to be a part of the Stanley Cup winning team. At the age of 46, he became the oldest active player to win the Stanley Cup.

Through 2007-08, Chelios is one of five currently active NHL players to be a captain of two different NHL teams, with the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks. The players sharing this honour are Chris Drury,Jason Smith, Chris Pronger and Michael Peca.

On September 9, 2008, he signed with the Red Wings for his 25th NHL season. This will be his 9th season with the Red Wings.[2] It will match Mark Messier as second only to Gordie Howe for the most NHL seasons played in a career.

Chris Chelios has been married to his wife, Tracee, for twenty years. They met while students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They have four children, Dean, 18, Jake, 16, Caley, 14, and Tara, 12. Dean Chelios, a forward, scored a pair of power play goals to help his high school team, Cranbrook-Kingswood, win the division 3 Michigan state high school hockey championship in 2006. Dean plays for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL in Cedar Rapids, IA.

He was very active in charitable causes during his playing days in Chicago, founding Cheli's Children."

In his career, Chris Chelios has befriended many non-hockey athletes and entertainers. In 2004, Chris and surfer Laird Hamilton trained with the U.S. bobsled team and hoped to form the first Greek bobsled team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. They weren't successful.

Chelios maintains a home in Malibu, California, and is well-known as a member of the Malibu Mob, a group of celebrity friends and neighbors including McGinley, Cusack, actor Tony Danza, big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, beach volleyball pro Gabrielle Reece, and tennis great John McEnroe.

Chris Chelios has two restaurant/bars in Dearborn (opened in 2003) and Detroit (opened in 2006), Michigan (Cheli's Chili Bar I and Cheli's Chili Bar II). In 2008, he opened a third location in Clinton Township, MI. He previously owned a Cheli's Chili Bar on West Madison in Chicago near the United Center, but this closed after his move to the Red Wings.