Jeremy Roenick made a claim as one of the greatest American born forwards in hockey history and luckily for the Chicago Blackhawks it was there where he was the most productive.

Bill Mosienko would make a relatively quick debut into the National Hockey League at the age of 20 in the 1941-42 season, as the events of World War II would deplete the rosters of the premier league of Hockey.  Dubbed “Wee Willie” due to his short stature, Mosienko would blossom in the 1943-44 season with a 70 Point season, and the season after would see him paired with the Bentley brothers to form the “Pony Line,” a moniker derived from all three of the players being a little vertically challenged.  The trio would become one of the best lines in the NHL, and Mosienko would benefit with a pair of Second Team All-Star Selections (1945 & 1946).

If you asked hockey scouts when they saw Ed Belfour at the age of 18, none of them would have pegged Ed Belfour as a future Hall of Famer.  That may very well have been the case for his next four years.  Belfour went undrafted and committed to the University of North Dakota, where he led the University to a Frozen Four win. During that time, he was signed by the Blackhawks, although it's unlikely that even they knew what was to come.