Christos Konstantinos Chelios (Greek: Χρήστος Κωνσταντίνος "Κρις" Τσέλιος; born January 25, 1962) is a Greek-American former professional ice hockey defenseman.

He was one of the longest-tenured players in the National Hockey League (NHL), and is a three-time Stanley Cup champion—one with the Montreal Canadiens and two with the Detroit Red Wings.

His cousin, Nikos Tselios, also played professional hockey and is a former first round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Chris attended Mount Carmel High School not far from the shore of Lake Michigan until his family moved to Poway, California.

His only scholarship offer came from San Diego-based United States International University, the only NCAA Division I hockey team west of the Rockies.

However, when Chelios arrived on campus as a freshman in 1979, he soon realized he was in the wrong environment, facing bigger players with considerably more junior hockey experience.

Instead, Chelios tried his luck in Canada, where he was twice cut by Junior B teams and hit a low point when he had to borrow money from strangers to get home to California one year.

Prior to that, he played for the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, where he tallied 87 points and 175 penalty minutes in just 54 games in his final season.

As one of the top collegiate players in the country, he was selected for the United States team at the 1982 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship.

During his early days, he was known for his offensive abilities, and his teammates even called him "Soft Hands Chelios"[6] He earned a trip to the National Hockey League All-Star Game and was named to the 1985 NHL All-Rookie Team.

He scored 64 points in 74 games, a high total for a defenseman even in the high-scoring 1980s, and finished second to Mario Lemieux for the Calder Memorial Trophy.

During that year's Wales Conference (now Eastern Conference) Finals series against the Philadelphia Flyers (which the Canadiens won in six games), Chelios became reviled by Flyer fans for a dirty hit on Brian Propp that left the Philadelphia winger with a serious concussion and forced him to miss the next game.

The trade occurred one day after Chelios was accused of fighting with two police officers as they tried to arrest him for urinating in public outside a bar in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, according to a criminal complaint.

[8][9] In his first season with Chicago, Chelios continued to score at his usual rate, tallying 64 points, and earned a spot on the Second NHL All-Star team.

The move to Detroit, where he had fewer responsibilities and more skilled teammates, helped keep Chelios playing at close to his peak level.

In 2004, because of the cancellation of the NHL season, Chelios, along with fellow Red Wing teammates Derian Hatcher and Kris Draper, decided to play hockey for the Motor City Mechanics, a UHL team based out of Fraser, Michigan.

While Chelios did not compete in the bobsled, he did captain the USA hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

[12] The old record was set by Swiss hockey player Bibi Torriani who had played twenty years after his debut (1928 and 1948).

On January 8, 2008, Chelios became the second oldest player in the history of the NHL, at 45 years, 348 days, passing Moe Roberts.

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

On December 5, 2008, Chelios played in his first of two games for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the American Hockey League (AHL) farm club for the Red Wings, as part of a conditioning stint.

He was named Adviser to Hockey Operations, with a role of working with Red Wings' defense prospects in Grand Rapids.

In July 2018, Chelios announced that he was leaving the Detroit area, and the Red Wings front office, to return to Chicago to be close to his family.

Chelios served the same studio analyst role he held for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and sat alongside Mark Messier and P. K. Subban, joining Steve Levy for games on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+.

[29] On June 23, 2015, Chelios was named to the Red Wings coaching staff, where he will continue to play a role in player development, by working on-ice with the team's defensemen during practices.

His job involved evaluating in-game player performance and offering his insight and observations to Red Wings bench coaches.

The family moved to Poway, California, in 1977, when Chris' father left his struggling business in Chicago to open a restaurant in the San Diego area.

Chelios was sitting courtside with Kid Rock during the Pacers-Pistons brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills on November 19, 2004.

Chelios was a regular at Michigan State University hockey games, cheering on his sons Jake and Dean.

On January 2, 2007, two employees of Cheli's in Detroit were fatally stabbed: Megan Soroka, 49, a manager at the restaurant, and Mark Barnard, 52, a chef.