Marcus Kruger remembers a time when there weren’t so many Whole Foods around Chicago.



As he sees it, Chicago has evolved. He has, too.



Long gone are the days when he and his Johnny Oduya walked up and down the aisles, piecing together their meals. Their significant others used to joke about how much time the two friends, roommates and teammates would spend together at the grocery store.



There’s so much Kruger will fondly remember about Chicago and the Blackhawks. The city, its people, its hockey and its grocery stores filled his daily life for nearly a decade. He arrived in Chicago as one person and player and left as another.



“I came here when I was 20,” Kruger said recently by phone from his home in Sweden. “Kind of grow up there a little bit. The adult life started there in some ways. It’s always going to be special. I can’t think of a better city to spend time than in Chicago. It’s amazing, as you...