I am a fan of tattoos. I have been for about as long as I’ve been a Blackhawks fan. I remember being a little kid and being fascinated by the artwork that went into tattoos, just as I was fascinated watching the Blackhawks. If we are playing up stereotypes, tough guys get tattoos and tough guys play hockey. Now I’m not laying claim to being tough, winning the fake Lady Bing award in a weekend hockey league basically means anything but tough. But I have a deep appreciation for both.
I got my first tattoo a few months after I turned 18. After the first one, it becomes addicting and when you see a friend’s new tattoo or a really nice piece, it just intensifies that desire.
But when ink and hockey mix something awesome happens. Lots of players have them, from the Blackhawks Carcillo and Emery have quite a few, Ovechkin has the Russian version of a tramp stamp that was exposed during the 24/7 Capitals vs. Pens HBO series and just about everyone knows about Marchand and Seguins Starley Cup Champions tattoos. Ruslan Fedetenko has a tribute to both his Stanley Cups on his back, from ’04 with the Lightning and ’09 with the Penguins , Dr. Mark Recchi has this collage for his Stanley Cups, Joey Corvo decided that a tribal band around his belly button was the way to go, and Tampa Bay’s Ryan Malone is working on some pretty solid half sleeves. Even Marian’s little brother Marcel sports some ink and whatever the hell else is going on in this picture. Oh yeah, and you can’t talk about tattoos on hockey players without mentioning Scott “The Sheriff” Parker, who played for the Avalanche and Sha-arks and is now, if memory serves me correctly, running a barber shop somewhere in Colorado.
Hockey fans get in on the action as well, with Stanley Cup tattoos becoming more and more popular. I myself have my own tribute to my beloved Blackhawks. It started out after the Hawks won the Cup, I wanted to do something to commemorate it and since I already had a few tattoos, I figured why the hell not. It started off as a simple Stanley Cup tribute tattoo, being a Cubs fan hasn’t afforded me any opportunities to watch my team win a championship, I was a little too young to be really into what the Bulls were doing, and basketball has never really been my thing.
First, I thought of the iconic Indianhead, but I wanted something a little less obvious. I decided I would use the “C” and tomahawks from the shoulder of the sweater and I wanted it in the same place that it is when you wear the sweater. The idea began to evolve and change, adding in the four feathers, color changes and going with realism versus the actual design. It also got bigger. The artist who did my tattoo free hand drew on my arm with markers then put this together only stenciling the outline of the city. It was three 2 hour sessions and turned into a quarter sleeve, but I really like the uniqueness of it and the detail. (Picture)
Some other Blackhawks fan tattoos 1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 I would say the last one is my favorite of this group.
Please feel free to post your pictures and stories of your Hawks ink, or if you know of any other players with interesting tattoos.