Stan Mikita

In 1963-64, Mikita began competing with teammate Hull for the league's scoring title. Mikita won the Ross Trophy by scoring 39 goals and 50 assists, while Hull had 43 goals but fewer assists. The following season, Mikita led the league in scoring again with 87 points, but also had 154 penalty minutes. Mikita added 53 additional penalty minutes in the playoffs. He changed his penalty-prone attitude after the 1965-66 season when his four-year-old daughter Meg (one of four children he had with wife Jill) asked why he had to got to the penalty box away from his teammates all the time. In this and the six seasons before it, he led the league in penalty minutes for centers. But Mikita realized as more players were bigger that could not fight everyone, but he could be more effective as a scorer.

In the 1966-67 season, Mikita set a league record with 62 assists, and tied Hull's record of 97 total points in a season. His biggest number was his smallest: he had only 12 penalty minutes on the year. Though opponents tried to goad him into fighting and taking other dumb penalties, Mikita resisted. For his restrained on-ice attitude, Mikita was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, given for gentlemanly play. He also won the Ross Trophy, for winning the scoring title, and the Hart Trophy for most valuable player. This marked the first time a player had won all three. He repeated his triple crown in 1967-68, though he had 52 penalty minutes.

Despite these kind of numbers and awards, Mikita always played second fiddle to Bobby Hull in terms of publicity, money, recognition, and from fans. But Mikita maintained the pair did not feud personally. A more important issue was the fact that Blackhawks could not win another championship despite having such quality players. The team as a whole was seen as choking.