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114-644: The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929 to 1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967 to 1994 . The arena was the site of the first NFL playoff game in 1932 ; the 1932, 1940, and 1944 Democratic National Conventions ; and the 1932 and 1944 Republican National Conventions , as well as numerous concerts, rodeo competitions, boxing matches, political rallies, and plays. The Stadium

228-632: A 13-year extension worth $ 72 million on December 1, 2009. On April 6, 2010, the Hawks won their 50th game of the 2009–10 season against the Dallas Stars , setting a new franchise record for wins in a season. The next night, the Blackhawks notched their 109th point of the season in a game against the St. Louis Blues, setting another franchise record. The Blackhawks made the playoffs for the second consecutive season with

342-451: A Native American of the Sauk nation who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin named the new hockey team in honor of the military unit, making it one of many sports team names using Native Americans as icons. However, unlike the military division, the team's name was spelled in two words as "Black Hawks" until 1986, when the club officially became the "Blackhawks", based on

456-620: A building at St. Ignatius College Prep School , 1076 W. Roosevelt Road. Two of the Stadium's main parking lots, which are still used for United Center parking, retain signs that read "People's Stadium Parking". Chicago Blackhawks This is an accepted version of this page The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks ) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago . The Blackhawks compete in

570-615: A career season with 30 goals and 55 assists) from Detroit. Hull, Mikita, Pilote, and Hall became preeminent stars of the team, and all four would eventually be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame . After two first-round exits at the hands of the eventual champions from Montreal in 1959 and 1960 , it was expected the Canadiens would once again defeat the Hawks when they met in the semifinals in 1961 . A defensive plan that completely wore down Montreal's superstars worked, however, as Chicago won

684-404: A curse on this team that will hoodoo it until the end of time." The Curse of Muldoon was born – although Coleman admitted years after the fact that he had fabricated the whole incident – and became one of the first widely known sports "curses." While the team would go on to win three Stanley Cups in its first 39 years of existence, it did so without ever having finished in first place, either in

798-530: A mid-season trade to acquire winger Michael Frolik from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jack Skille , Hugh Jessiman and David Pacan. Thomas Duggan Thomas Joseph Duggan (January 9, 1882 – July 22, 1930) was a Canadian sports promoter with interests in horse racing , ice hockey , dog racing and arena management. He was the co-owner of the Mount Royal Arena and founder of

912-634: A record of 46–24–12, putting them in fourth place in the Western Conference with 104 points. The Blackhawks clinched a playoff berth for the first time since the 2001–02 season with a 3–1 win over the Nashville Predators on April 3. On April 8, with a shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets , the Blackhawks clinched their first 100-point season in 17 years. The Blackhawks defeated the fifth-seeded Calgary Flames in six games to advance to

1026-720: A regular season record of 52–22–8. They defeated the Nashville Predators in six games in the first round before defeating the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks for the second straight year, again in six games. The Blackhawks then swept the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in the conference finals, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992 , where they played the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blackhawks prevailed in six games to secure their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history, and their first since 1961 , ending

1140-535: A rule, paid almost no attention to the Black Hawks. Nearly every trade made between Detroit and Chicago ended up being Red Wing heists. As a result, for the next several years, the Black Hawks were the model of futility in the NHL. Between 1945 and 1958 , they only made the playoffs twice. In 1950, Norris' eldest son, James D. Norris , and Red Wings minority owner Arthur Wirtz (the senior Norris' original partner in buying

1254-461: A single- or multi-division format. The Black Hawks proceeded to have the worst record in the league in 1927–28 , winning only seven of 44 games. For the 1928–29 season , the Black Hawks were originally slated to play in the newly built Chicago Stadium , but due to construction delays and a dispute between McLaughlin and arena promoter Paddy Harmon, they instead divided their time between the Coliseum,

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1368-481: A six-high, four-wide incandescent light dot matrix display. That clock eventually was replaced by a four-sided scoreboard with a digital clock , first used on September 21, 1975, in Blackhawks preseason play, crafted by the Day Sign Company of Toronto, much like the one used at the end of the 1960s (and constructed by Day Sign Company) to replace the nearly identical Bulova Sports Timer game-timekeeping device in

1482-424: A team and lost in the third round in 1985 . In 1983, Arthur Wirtz died and the club came under the sole control of his son Bill Wirtz. Although the Black Hawks continued to make the playoffs each season, the club began a slow decline, punctuated with an appearance in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals . During the 1985 playoff series against Edmonton, the Black Hawks and their fans started a tradition of cheering during

1596-479: A total of US$ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 5,555,825 in 2023), of which $ 150,000 went for back taxes, $ 50,000 for reorganization expenses, and $ 50,000 for new working capital. The Stadium sat 17,317 for hockey at the time of closure, though standing room pushed the "actual" attendance beyond that figure. The official attendance figures in the published game summaries were often given in round numbers, such as 18,500 or 20,000. The largest recorded crowd for an NHL game at

1710-582: A unique monotone style: "Blackhawk goal scored by #9, Bobby Hull, unassisted, at 6:13." The Chicago Stadium also provided a unique fan experience. On the west side of the building was the Players/Employee/VIP Visitors Parking Lot. It is also where Teams/Bands/Politicians/Performers would enter the building through the legendary Gate 3 1/2 (Appropriately placed between Gates 3 and 4 on the North and South Sides). Although protected by fencing, it

1824-558: Is currently in the residence of Phil Maloof and is in good working condition with new pipes. In the Stanley Cup semifinals of 1971, when the Blackhawks scored a series-clinching empty-net goal in Game seven against the New York Rangers , CBS announcer Dan Kelly reported, "I can feel our broadcast booth shaking! That's the kind of place Chicago Stadium is right now!" The dressing rooms at

1938-555: The 1927 first-round playoff series to the Boston Bruins. Following the series, McLaughlin fired head coach Pete Muldoon . According to Jim Coleman , sportswriter for the Toronto -based Globe and Mail , McLaughlin felt that the Hawks were good enough to finish first. Muldoon disagreed, and in a fit of pique, McLaughlin fired him. According to Coleman, Muldoon responded by yelling, "Fire me, Major, and you'll never finish first. I'll put

2052-414: The 2007–08 season , the franchise experimented with a partnership with Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN-TV by airing selected Blackhawks home games on television. During the next season, Comcast and WGN began airing all of the team's regular season games. Rocky also named John McDonough , former president of Major League Baseball 's Chicago Cubs , as the Blackhawks' new president. After taking over

2166-575: The 2009 Winter Classic on a temporary ice rink at the Chicago Cubs' home park Wrigley Field on New Year's Day against fellow " Original Six " members, the Detroit Red Wings; the Red Wings defeated Chicago 6–4. On June 16, Pat Foley returned as the Blackhawks' TV play-by-play man, replacing Dan Kelly ; Foley called Blackhawks games from 1981 to 2006, and spent the next two years broadcasting for

2280-475: The Chicago Black Hawks (later 'Blackhawks'). With or without the Black Hawks, Harmon then spent $ 2.5 million and borrowed more funds from friends, including $ 600,000 from James E. Norris , in order to build the stadium. Eric Hall was the architect and he designed a stadium where all had a view of the action. His design philosophy was "The man who pays the lowest admission price has as much right to see

2394-758: The Detroit Olympia , and the Peace Bridge Arena in Fort Erie, Ontario , before moving to Chicago Stadium the following season. By 1931 , with goal-scorer Johnny Gottselig , Cy Wentworth on defense , and Charlie Gardiner in goal , the Hawks reached their first Stanley Cup Finals, but fizzled in the final two games against the Montreal Canadiens . They had another stellar season in 1932 , but that did not translate into playoff success. However, two years later, Gardiner led his team to victory by shutting out

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2508-529: The Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues in the playoffs before losing to another surprise team, the Vancouver Canucks, who made the Stanley Cup Finals . Chicago proved they were no fluke the next season, also making the third round before losing to the eventual runner-up Edmonton Oilers . After an off-year in 1984 , the Hawks again faced a now fresh-off-a-ring Edmonton offensive juggernaut of

2622-640: The National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. They are one of the " Original Six " NHL teams, along with the Detroit Red Wings , Montreal Canadiens , Toronto Maple Leafs , Boston Bruins , and New York Rangers . Since 1995 , the team has played their home games at

2736-688: The New York Americans and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tom Duggan was involved in advertising and real estate activities in Montreal before becoming involved in one of his first sports ventures, the Buffalo franchise of baseball's upstart Federal League . When this league failed in 1915, Duggan turned his attention to horse racing, helping to build the Mount Royal track in Montreal and

2850-747: The Phil Maloof residence in Las Vegas, Nevada . Also, the center of the Chicago Bulls' floor resides in Michael Jordan 's trophy room at his mansion in North Carolina. A pavement plaque with the words "Chicago Stadium – 1929–1994 – Remember The Roar" is located behind a statue of the Blackhawks' greatest players on the north side of the United Center. Two friezes from Chicago Stadium were incorporated into

2964-672: The Philadelphia Flyers in six games), their 16th season in the new building, although they won their first championship since 1961 in Philadelphia . The Blackhawks last won the Stanley Cup at the Stadium in 1938 ; they did not win the Cup again at home until 2015 at the United Center. It was also the last NHL arena to retain the use of an analog dial-type large four-sided clock for timekeeping in professional hockey games. Boston Garden and

3078-507: The Toronto Maple Leafs . Black Hawks goaltender Mike Karakas was injured and could not play, forcing a desperate Chicago team to pull minor-leaguer Alfie Moore out of a Toronto bar and onto the ice. Moore played one game and won it. Toronto refused to let Moore play the next, so Chicago used Paul Goodman in Game 2 and lost. However, for the third and fourth games, Karakas was fitted with a special skate to protect his injured toe, and

3192-544: The United Center , which they share with the National Basketball Association 's Chicago Bulls ; both teams previously played at the now-demolished Chicago Stadium . The Blackhawks' original owner was Frederic McLaughlin , a "hands-on" owner who fired many coaches during his ownership and led the team to win two Stanley Cup titles in 1934 and 1938 . After McLaughlin's death in 1944, the team came under

3306-504: The Western Hockey League for $ 100,000 from WHL president Frank Patrick in a deal brokered by Boston Bruins ' owner Charles Adams . However, only a month later, Hardwick's group sold out to Chicago coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin . McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I . This division was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division" after Black Hawk ,

3420-646: The second of their first of three straight NBA titles on their home floor against the Portland Trail Blazers . The next time the Bulls clinched the championship at home was in the newly built United Center in 1996 (when they did so against the Seattle SuperSonics ), their second season at the new arena, and the Blackhawks would not reach the Stanley Cup Finals again until 2010 (in which they defeated

3534-460: The 40,818 fans from the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Therefore, the total attendance for games hosted at the United Center is 871,337, good for an average of 21,783, which still led the NHL over Montreal's 21,273 average. The Blackhawks welcomed their one millionth fan of the season at the United Center before Game 6 of the conference semifinals on May 11, 2009. Prior to the 2009–10 season ,

Chicago Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue

3648-445: The AHL's Chicago Wolves. Foley was partnered with Ed Olczyk to broadcast all of the Blackhawks' games. On October 16, 2008, the Blackhawks relieved Denis Savard of his head coaching duties and replaced him with Joel Quenneville. Savard has since been brought back to the organization as an ambassador. The Blackhawks finished the 2008–09 regular season in second place in their division with

3762-463: The Black Hawks finished first, breaking the supposed "Curse of Muldoon", 23 years after the death of Frederic McLaughlin. However, they lost in the semifinals to Toronto, who went on to win their last Stanley Cup of the era. Afterward, Coleman, who first printed the story of the curse in 1943, admitted that he made the story up to break a writer's block he had as a column deadline approached. Before his death in 1966, one of James D. Norris' last moves in

3876-424: The Blackhawks again finished well out of the playoffs with a 26–43–13 record, next-to-last in the Western Conference and second-worst in the NHL. The Blackhawks reached another low point on May 16, 2006, when they announced that popular TV/radio play-by-play announcer Pat Foley would not be brought back after 25 years with the team, a move unpopular amongst most fans; Foley then became the television/radio voice for

3990-508: The Blackhawks made another major free agent purchase, signing Marian Hossa to a 12-year, US$ 62.8 million contract. The team also acquired Tomas Kopecky , John Madden and Richard Petiot . In early July, general manager Dale Tallon and the Blackhawks management came under fire when the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) claimed that the team did not submit offers to their restricted free agents before

4104-587: The Blackhawks made several major roster changes before the season, trading Tuomo Ruutu , their longest-tenured player, to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Andrew Ladd on February 26, 2008. Later that day, the Blackhawks traded captain Martin Lapointe to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft . On July 1, the first day of free agency,

4218-461: The Blackhawks the talented first-line caliber game breaker they desperately needed. The Havlat trade was soon followed by another major trade: winger and key Blackhawk player Kyle Calder was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for grinding defensive center Michal Handzus . The move caused a stir in Chicago, as Calder had won an increase in his contract through arbitration, which was accepted by

4332-523: The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup three times, in 2010 , 2013 and 2015 . Rocky died in July 2023, and his son, Danny Wirtz , was named chairman of the Blackhawks. On May 1, 1926, the NHL awarded an expansion franchise for Chicago to a syndicate headed by former football star Huntington Hardwick of Boston . At the same meeting, Hardwick arranged the purchase of the players of the Portland Rosebuds of

4446-532: The Boston Garden, and then in 1985 by another, this one with a color electronic message board. That latter scoreboard was built by White Way Sign, which would build scoreboards for the United Center . The Stadium was also one of the last three NHL arenas (the others being Boston Garden and the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium ) to have a shorter-than-regulation ice surface, as their construction predated

4560-524: The Bruins to the top of the NHL for several years and capture two Stanley Cups. In Boston, Esposito set numerous scoring records en route to a career as one of the NHL's all-time greats. Nonetheless, in the 1970–71 season , life was made easier for the Black Hawks, as in an attempt to better balance the divisions, the expansion Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks were both placed in the East Division while

4674-559: The Central Division with 79 points, but would finish ninth in the Western Conference, which would make them miss the playoffs by 13 points. A somber note was struck in February 2004, when ESPN named the Blackhawks the worst franchise in professional sports. Indeed, the Blackhawks were viewed with much indifference by Chicagoans for much of the 1990s and early 2000s due to anger over several policies instituted by then-owner Bill Wirtz, who

Chicago Stadium - Misplaced Pages Continue

4788-636: The Chicago Wolves. With the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL entry draft , the team selected Jonathan Toews , who led the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team to the 2006 NCAA Frozen Four . The Blackhawks were eager to make a splash in the free-agent market, and offered big money to many of the top free agents. However, they were denied, only being able to acquire two backup goaltenders in Patrick Lalime and Sebastien Caron . Chicago

4902-475: The Detroit Olympia (as well as the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in its pre-NHL days) had identical scoreboards but replaced them with digital timers in the mid-1960s, with Boston having their digital four-sided clock in use for the 1969–70 NHL season . After removing the balcony-edge game clocks at either end and at mid-ice zones of the Stadium, the replacement four-sided game clock suspended over center ice of

5016-410: The Detroit Red Wings in the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals ; Mush March scored the winning goal in double-overtime as the Hawks beat Detroit 1–0. In 1938 , the Black Hawks had a record of 14–25–9, almost missing the playoffs. They stunned the Canadiens and New York Americans on overtime goals in the deciding games of both semi-final series, advancing to the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals against

5130-701: The Devonshire track in Windsor , Ontario , which had opened in 1916 in partnership with American entrepreneur Grant Hugh Browne . In 1919, when Montreal's Jubilee Rink burned to the ground, Duggan joined up with George Kennedy , the owner of the NHL 's Montreal Canadiens , the Jubilee's tenants, to build the Mount Royal Arena on the south side of Mont-Royal avenue between Clark and St. Urbain Streets. From there, Duggan and Kennedy promoted boxing, wrestling and hockey events under

5244-639: The Finals after 19 years out of such status, winning 11 consecutive playoff games that year, setting an NHL record in the process. However, they were swept four games to none by the Mario Lemieux -led defending Stanley Cup champion, the Pittsburgh Penguins . In sweeping the Blackhawks, the Penguins tied the record Chicago had set only days before. Although the 4–0 sweep indicated Pittsburgh's dominance in games won,

5358-457: The First or Second All-Star goaltender eight out of nine seasons. Hull and Mikita especially were widely regarded as the most feared one-two punch in the league. However, despite a strong supporting cast which included Bill Hay , Ken Wharram , Phil Esposito , Moose Vasko , Doug Mohns , and Pat Stapleton , the Hawks never quite put it all together. In 1966–67 , the last season of the six-team NHL,

5472-633: The Hawks moved into the West Division . The Hawks became the class of the West overnight, rampaging to a 46–17–15 record and an easy first-place finish. With second-year goalie Tony Esposito (Phil's younger brother and winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year the previous season), Hull, his younger brother Dennis , Mikita, and sterling defensemen Stapleton, Keith Magnuson and Bill White ,

5586-464: The Hawks reached the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Canadiens. A critical blow to the franchise came in 1972–73 with the start of the World Hockey Association (WHA). Long dissatisfied with how little he was paid as the NHL's marquee star, Hull jumped to the upstart Winnipeg Jets for a million-dollar contract. Former Philadelphia Flyers star Andre Lacroix joined him, having received very little ice time during his single season with Chicago, and

5700-413: The Hawks, but rather than ink their leading scorer, the team decided to address their need for a proven center by acquiring Handzus. Injuries to both Havlat and Handzus hurt the Blackhawks, and Smolinski was eventually traded at the trade deadline to the Vancouver Canucks. On November 26, 2006, Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon fired head coach Trent Yawney and appointed assistant coach Denis Savard as

5814-417: The NBA", due to its barn-shaped features. When the Stadium closed in 1994, the organ was removed and prepared to be installed in the 19th hole museum. Soon after the museum closed, sending the organ along with another theatre organ to a warehouse in Phoenix Arizona. In October 1996, a year after the stadium was razed, a propane tank explosion melted and destroyed both pipe organs, excluding the console. The organ

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5928-406: The NHL was to arrange an expansion franchise in St. Louis , where he owned the St. Louis Arena . Tobin died in 1963, a vice president of the team until his death. Ownership now passed to Norris' longtime partner Arthur Wirtz and his son Bill Wirtz . The Wirtz–Norris partnership dated over three decades; Arthur Wirtz had been a minority partner in the syndicate the senior Norris put together to buy

6042-416: The Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years in 1994 . Belfour posted a 40-win season in 1992–93 as the Hawks looked to go deep yet again, and Chris Chelios accumulated career-high penalty time with 282 minutes in the box, but St. Louis stunned Chicago with a first-round sweep to continue Chicago's playoff losing streak. Although they finished near .500 in 1994 , the Blackhawks again qualified for

6156-501: The Red Wings 23 years earlier) took over the floundering club. They guided it through financial reversals, and rebuilt the team from there. One of their first moves was to hire former Detroit coach and general manager Tommy Ivan as general manager. In the late 1950s, the Hawks struck gold, acquiring three young prospects (forwards Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita and defenseman Pierre Pilote ), and obtaining both star goaltender Glenn Hall and veteran forward Ted Lindsay (who had just had

6270-401: The Red Wings in 1932. Goaltender Glenn Hall was drafted by the St. Louis Blues expansion team for the 1967–68 season , while Pierre Pilote was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Jim Pappin in 1968 . In the 1968–69 season, despite Bobby Hull breaking his own previous record of 54 goals in a season with 58, the Black Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 1958, and

6384-405: The San Jose Sharks. The Blackhawks signed former Dallas Stars starting goalie Marty Turco as his replacement, but eventually turned to rookie Corey Crawford to become their full-time starting goaltender. The Blackhawks also acquired Viktor Stalberg from the Toronto Maple Leafs and signed rookies Nick Leddy and Marcus Kruger to three-year entry-level contracts. The Blackhawks also made

6498-414: The St. Louis Blues in five games after winning Game 1 of the series), the Blackhawks were consistently out of the playoffs from the 1997–98 season until the 2008–09 season , in most years finishing well out of contention, despite finishing in third place in the Central Division six times. Amonte left for the Phoenix Coyotes in the summer of 2002. During the 2002–03 season , the Blackhawks finished third in

6612-409: The Stadium Corporation and Fred E. Hummel were named receivers. Strotz announced to the media that the Stadium would operate much like it had before. In 1935, the Stadium was sold to Norris and Arthur Wirtz , a Chicago real estate owner. Norris and Wirtz had in 1933 purchased the Detroit NHL franchise and the Detroit Olympia. By court judgment, control of the Stadium changed hands to Norris and Wirtz for

6726-463: The Stadium was attending for dinner. The dynamite's fuse went out, preventing its explosion. Harmon sank his entire fortune into the Stadium, and when he died less than a year later due to a car crash, he had only his shares in the Stadium and $ 2.50 in cash on hand to leave to his widow and daughter. His funeral was held in the Stadium, paid for by friends, and the Stadium held a benefit boxing show in August 1930 to benefit his family. Struggling to pay

6840-453: The Stadium were placed underneath the seats, and the cramped corridor that led to the ice, with its twenty-two steps, became the stuff of legend. Legend has it a German Shepherd wandered the bowels at night as "the security team." During the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals against Montreal, Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz had the horn of his yacht (Kahlenberg Q-3) installed in the building, and had it sound after Blackhawks goals. This practice would, in

6954-420: The Stadium, built by Bulova as their "Sports Timer", was installed in Chicago in 1943. Each side of the clock had a large diameter 20-minute face in the center that kept the main game time for one period of ice hockey, with a set of shorter black-colored minute and longer red-colored sweep-second hands, and a pair of smaller, 5-minute capacity dual-concentric faces for penalty timekeeping, to the left and right of

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7068-456: The Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the eventual champions, the Calgary Flames . The following season, the Hawks did prove they were late-round playoff material, running away with the Norris Division title, but, yet again, the third round continued to stymie them, this time against the eventual champion Oilers, despite 1970s Soviet star goaltender Vladislav Tretiak coming to Chicago to become the Blackhawks' goaltender coach. In 1990–91 , Chicago

7182-575: The banner of the National Sporting Club, and Duggan tried to get a franchise in the NHL for an English Montreal team to complement the Canadiens. When unsuccessful, he turned his sights southwards and obtained options for NHL franchises in the United States (where the league was looking to expand to thwart competition), selling one franchise to Boston grocery magnate Charles F. Adams and keeping another for himself (financed by bootlegger Bill Dwyer ) to play in New York's Madison Square Garden . Despite setbacks in Boston, where he accused Adams of reneging on

7296-418: The conference finals, losing to the rival Detroit Red Wings. Also in 1994, management fired Wayne Messmer , popular singer of "The Star-Spangled Banner". Jeremy Roenick, Ed Belfour and Chris Chelios were all traded away as the Blackhawks faltered through the late 1990s, until they missed the playoffs by five points in 1998 for the first time in 29 years, one season short of tying the Boston Bruins' record for

7410-436: The conference semifinals for the first time since 1996. The team proceeded to defeat the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks in six games, and then played the then-Stanley Cup champion, the Detroit Red Wings, for the Western Conference Championship, losing the series in five games. During the 2008–09 season, the team led the NHL in home attendance, with a total of 912,155 spectators, averaging 22,247 per game. This figure includes

7524-405: The deadline. In the worst-case scenario, the team's unsigned restricted free agents at the time, including Calder Memorial Trophy finalist Kris Versteeg , would have become unrestricted free agents. Despite the ordeal, the Blackhawks were able to sign Versteeg and all of their restricted free agents before the NHLPA could take further action. On July 14, 2009, the Blackhawks demoted Dale Tallon to

7638-432: The deal to give him half the profits, and New York, where an onerous lease arrangement constrained the profitability of the Americans, Duggan continued to be active in the various attempts to expand the NHL into the US northeast in the later part of the 1920s. At this time he also became interested in greyhound racing, but failed in his attempt to introduce the sport into Chicago Stadium . He had shifted his hopes to establish

7752-420: The decade in all—but were never a successful Stanley Cup contender, losing 16-straight playoff games at one point. The team acquired legendary blueliner Bobby Orr from the Boston Bruins in 1976, but ill health forced him to sit out for most of the season, and he eventually retired in 1979, having played only 26 games for the Hawks. Stan Mikita did the same the following year after playing for Chicago for 22 years,

7866-407: The dominant Canadiens in four games. After McLaughlin died in December 1944, his estate sold the team to a syndicate headed by longtime team president Bill Tobin . However, Tobin was only a puppet for James E. Norris , who owned the rival Red Wings. Norris had also been the Black Hawks' landlord since his 1936 purchase of the Chicago Stadium. For the next eight years, the Norris-Tobin ownership, as

7980-412: The draft. The team had never had a draft pick higher than third overall before, and used the pick to draft right wing Patrick Kane from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). On September 26, 2007, longtime Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz died after a brief battle with cancer. He was succeeded by his son Rocky , who drastically altered his father's long-standing policies. Midway into

8094-484: The ensuing years, become commonplace in professional hockey. Nancy Faust , organist for 40 years at Chicago White Sox games, also played indoors at the Stadium, at courtside for Chicago Bulls home games from 1976 to 1984, and on the pipe organ for Chicago Blackhawks hockey there from 1985 to 1989. She was replaced at the keyboard in 1990 by Frank Pellico, who serves as Hawks organist to this day. It also became traditional for Blackhawk fans to cheer loudly throughout

8208-523: The goaltender he would later become) could not secure a win in Game 4, which ended in a 6–5 final in favor of Pittsburgh. The defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls were in their finals in 1992 , but won their championship in six. This was the only year the city of Chicago would host the NBA and NHL finals concurrently in the same year; Blackhawks head coach Mike Keenan would see this again in New York, when he coached

8322-413: The head coach. Savard had been the assistant coach of the team since 1997, a year after he retired as one of the most popular and successful Blackhawks players of all time. The Blackhawks continued to struggle, and finished last in the Central Division, 12 points out of the playoffs. They finished with the fourth-worst record in the NHL, and in the draft lottery, won the opportunity to select first overall in

8436-435: The individual games were contested closely. Game 1 saw the Blackhawks squander leads of 3–0 and 4–1, and would eventually be beaten 5–4 after a Lemieux power-play goal with nine seconds remaining in regulation. The Blackhawks' most lackluster match was game two, losing 3–1. A frustrating loss of 1–0 followed in game three, and a natural hat trick from Dirk Graham and stellar play from Dominik Hasek (who showed indications of

8550-461: The interest on the Stadium's debt, the Stadium planned to turn the Stadium into a dog track for the summer of 1930 with the backing of Thomas Duggan , but dog racing was ruled illegal in Chicago. Al Capone had operated dog racing tracks in Cook County for several years before the authorities stopped his tracks from operating. On January 20, 1933, the Stadium went into receivership. Sidney Strotz of

8664-486: The kegs downstairs, the workers simply rolled them down the stairs, damaging the stairs in the process. Harmon became the Stadium's first president. Building it incurred enemies. Harmon himself helped put out a fire on the Stadium's roof set by disgruntled workmen. Harmon reached an impasse in getting the Black Hawks as a tenant, although both sides wanted the team to move to the Stadium from the Chicago Coliseum , which

8778-424: The last time before 1997–98 . In 1967 , the Black Hawks made a trade with the Boston Bruins that turned out to be one of the most one-sided in the history of the sport. Chicago sent young forwards Phil Esposito , Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to Boston in exchange for Pit Martin , Jack Norris and Gilles Marotte . While Martin would star for the Hawks for many seasons, Esposito, Hodge and Stanfield would lead

8892-404: The late 1980s, Chicago still made the playoffs on an annual basis but made early-round exits each time. In 1988–89 , after three-straight first-round defeats and despite a fourth-place finish in their division in the regular season, Chicago made it to the conference finals in the rookie seasons of both goaltender Ed Belfour and center Jeremy Roenick . However, they would once again fail to make

9006-508: The longest such streak in North American professional sport history. Chicago would also miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season in 1999 , and missed the playoffs again in 2000 and 2001 . The new millennium started with disappointment for the Blackhawks. Éric Daze , Alexei Zhamnov and Tony Amonte emerged as some of the team's leading stars by this time. However, aside from a quick first-round exit in 2002 (where they lost to

9120-637: The marketing slogan, "We Play Hockey the Old-Fashioned Way: We Actually Win." Following the lockout of the 2004–05 season , new general manager Dale Tallon set about restructuring the team in the hopes of making a playoff run. Tallon made several moves in the summer of 2005, most notably the signing of the Tampa Bay Lightning 's Stanley Cup -winning goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin and All-Star defenseman Adrian Aucoin . However, injuries plagued Khabibulin and Aucoin among others, and

9234-459: The owner of the Blackhawks. The younger Norris took an active interest in the team, which won another Stanley Cup title under his ownership in 1961 . After James D. Norris died in 1966, the Wirtz family became owners of the franchise. In 2007, the team came under the control of Rocky Wirtz , who is credited with turning around the organization, which had lost fan interest and competitiveness; under Wirtz,

9348-632: The ownership of the Norris family, who acted as their landlord as owners of the Chicago Stadium, and also owned stakes in several of the NHL teams. At first, the Norris ownership was as part of a syndicate fronted by longtime executive Bill Tobin , and the team languished in favor of the Norris-owned Detroit Red Wings. After the senior James E. Norris died in 1952, the Norris assets were spread among family members, and James D. Norris became

9462-532: The pair became two of the WHA's great stars. However, the Black Hawks repeated their appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals that year, again losing to Montreal. Stapleton also left for the WHA after that year, depleting the team further. While the team led or was second in the West Division for four straight seasons, for the rest of the 1970s, the Black Hawks made the playoffs each year—winning seven division championships in

9576-463: The playoffs by three points. The 2007–08 season marked the first time in six years that the team finished above .500. Prior to the 2008–09 season opener, the Blackhawks named 20-year-old Toews as the new captain, succeeding Adrian Aucoin (who was traded to the Calgary Flames, after the 2006–07 season) and making him the third-youngest captain at the time of appointment. In addition to a new captain,

9690-519: The playoffs. They were eliminated by eventual Western Conference finalist Toronto, but broke their playoff losing streak at 10 games with a game three win. It was not enough, however, and the Blackhawks fell in six games. The 1993–94 season was also the Blackhawks' last at the Chicago Stadium, as the team moved into the newly built United Center across the street for the lockout -shortened 1994–95 season . Bernie Nicholls and Joe Murphy both scored 20 goals over 48 games, and Chicago once again made it to

9804-662: The position of senior adviser. Stan Bowman , son of Scotty Bowman, was promoted to general manager. The Blackhawks continued to sell-out games, with the best average attendance of 21,356 over the Montreal Canadiens' 21,273 in the NHL, and had a total of 854,267, excluding the playoffs. The Blackhawks reached the one million mark in Game 3 of the conference finals against the San Jose Sharks. The Blackhawks re-signed Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to contract extensions worth $ 31.5 million over five years, and Duncan Keith to

9918-401: The position, McDonough was an instrumental figure in the Blackhawks' current marketing success. Wirtz was also able to bring back former Blackhawks greats Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull as the franchise's "hockey ambassadors". In addition to the changes in the team's policies and front office, the younger Wirtz also made a concerted effort to rebuild the team. The Blackhawks roster

10032-405: The primary 20-minute face — with each of the 5-minute penalty timers having its own single hand and each clock face, both the central main timer's dial and flanking penalty timer dials (when a penalty was counting down) illuminated from behind during gameplay. The "outer" face of each penalty timer had a single hand that avoided obscuration of the "inner" face and its own, "solid" single hand, through

10146-461: The regulation. The distance was taken out of the neutral zone. After the Blackhawks and Bulls moved to the United Center , the Chicago Stadium was demolished in 1995. Its site is now a parking lot for the United Center across the street. CNN televised the demolition, showing devoted Blackhawks and Bulls fans crying as the wrecking ball hit the old building. The console of the Barton organ now resides in

10260-602: The series in six games. They then bested the Wings to win their third Stanley Cup championship. The Hawks made the Cup Finals twice more in the 1960s, losing to the Leafs in 1962 and the Canadiens in 1965 . They remained a force to be reckoned with throughout the decade, with Hull enjoying four 50-goal seasons, Mikita winning back-to-back scoring titles and MVP accolades, Pilote winning three consecutive Norris Trophies , and Hall being named

10374-454: The show as those who sit at the ringside". The building used Art Deco flourishes, including flattened columns, long vertical windows, relief sculptures of various athletics and medallions of wrestlers adorned the walls above entrances. Breaking ground in July 1928, it opened eight months later, on March 28, 1929. Various reports give the cost at US$ 5 million, US$ 7 million and US$ 9,500,000 (equivalent to $ 168,569,767 in 2023). Chicago Stadium

10488-485: The singing of " The Star-Spangled Banner ". Prior to the 1986–87 season , while going through the team's records, someone discovered the team's original NHL contract and found that the team's name was printed as a compound word ("Blackhawks") as opposed to two separate words ("Black Hawks"), which was the way most sources had been printing it for 60 years and as the team had always officially listed it. The name officially became "Chicago Blackhawks" from that point on. In

10602-452: The singing of the national anthems, especially when sung by Chicago favorite Wayne Messmer . Denizens of the second balcony often added sparklers and flags to the occasion. Arguably, the most memorable of these was the singing before the 1991 NHL All-Star Game , which took place during the Gulf War . This tradition has continued at the United Center . Longtime PA announcer Harvey Wittenberg had

10716-596: The spelling found in the original franchise documents. The Black Hawks began play in the 1926–27 season , along with its fellow expansion franchises, the Detroit Cougars (now the Detroit Red Wings) and New York Rangers . The team had to face immediate competition in Chicago from Eddie Livingstone 's rival, the Chicago Cardinals , who played in the same building. McLaughlin took a very active role in running

10830-550: The sport in New York when he died suddenly at his home in Montreal on July 22, 1930. Coincidentally, Duggan died shortly after being interviewed about the sudden death of Paddy Harmon , the builder of Chicago Stadium and another failed NHL aspirant. Although Duggan was an important pioneer in the expansion of professional hockey in the United States, his legacy has often been overlooked in favour of other men like Tommy Gorman , Tex Rickard and Bill Dwyer . As Baz O'Meara wrote in

10944-400: The stadium was 20,069 for a playoff game between the Blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars on April 10, 1982. In addition to the close-quartered, triple-tiered, boxy layout of the building, much of the loud, ringing noise of the fans could be attributed to the fabled 3,663-pipe Barton organ. It was estimated to have the total volume of 25 brass bands. The organ was considered to have

11058-467: The team despite having no background in the sport. He hired Bill Tobin , a former goaltender who had played in the Western League, as his assistant, but directed the team himself. He was also very interested in promoting American players, then very rare in professional hockey. Several of them, including Doc Romnes , Taffy Abel , Alex Levinsky , Mike Karakas , and Cully Dahlstrom , become staples with

11172-430: The team signed goaltender Cristobal Huet to a four-year, US$ 22.5 million contract, and later signed defenseman Brian Campbell to an eight-year, $ 56.8 million contract. They also added former coaches Joel Quenneville and Scotty Bowman to their organization. On February 13, 2008, the Blackhawks announced they would hold their first fan convention. On July 16, 2008, the team announced that they would host

11286-441: The team won both games. It was too late for Toronto, as the Hawks won their second championship. As of 2019 , the 1938 Black Hawks possess the poorest regular season record of any Stanley Cup champion. The Black Hawks next returned to the Finals in 1944 behind Doug Bentley 's 38 goals, with Bentley's linemate Clint Smith leading the team in assists. After upsetting the Red Wings in the semifinals, they were promptly dispatched by

11400-570: The team's 49-year championship drought . The Blackhawks immediately faced salary cap constraints prior to the 2010–11 season . The team was forced to trade several players who played an integral role to their 2009–10 Stanley Cup victory, including Dustin Byfuglien , Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg, Brent Sopel , Ben Eager and Colin Fraser . The team was also unable to agree to terms with starting goaltender Antti Niemi , who left as restricted free agent to

11514-487: The team, and under McLaughlin, the Black Hawks were the first NHL team with an all-American-born lineup. The Black Hawks played their first game on November 17, 1926, against the Toronto St. Patricks at the Chicago Coliseum . They won their first game 4–1, in front of a crowd of over 7,000. The Hawks' first season was a moderate success, as they finished the season in third place with a record of 19–22–3. However, they lost

11628-464: The third-longest career for a single team in league history. By 1982 , the Black Hawks squeaked into the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Norris Division (at the time the top four teams in each division automatically made the playoffs), and were one of the NHL's Cinderella teams that year. Led by second-year Denis Savard 's 32 goals and 119 points and Doug Wilson 's 39 goals, the Hawks stunned

11742-424: The use of metal rods forming the outer hand's "shaft", holding its hand's "pointer" head — the set of two concentric faces for each penalty timer dial could handle two penalties for each set, with an illuminated "2" on each penalty timer dial lighting up to display a minor penalty infraction. It was difficult to read how much time was left in a period of play on the main game timer's large face, as each minute of play

11856-417: The world's largest theater organ console with six manuals (keyboards) and over 800 stops. It was Harmon's intention that the massive organ would be needed to provide the music for whatever event was playing in the building. It was played by Al Melgard for decades during hockey games there, earning the Stadium the moniker "The Madhouse on Madison". For years, the Stadium was also known as "The Loudest Arena in

11970-425: Was a model for the Chicago Stadium. The Stadium was also the first arena with an air conditioning system. However, the system was fairly rudimentary by modern standards, and was memorably given to filling the arena with fog during late-season basketball and hockey games. The Stadium also had no elevators. To get kegs of beer to upper-floor concessions, concession workers formed a line to pass the kegs upstairs. To return

12084-490: Was bolstered by the addition of Patrick Kane, the first overall selection in the 2007 NHL entry draft , who led all rookies in points. Kane and Jonathan Toews were finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL's best rookie. Kane ultimately beat his teammate for the award. Kane finished the 2007–08 season with 21 goals and 51 assists in 82 games. The Blackhawks finished with a record of 40–34–8, missing

12198-460: Was built by Chicago sports promoter Paddy Harmon , first proposed in 1926, not long after the legalization of professional boxing in Illinois. Encouraged by the success of the New York Rangers and New York Americans expansion NHL teams, and their Madison Square Garden , Harmon also wanted to bring an NHL team to Chicago, but he lost out to Col. Frederic McLaughlin . This team would soon be known as

12312-462: Was derisively known as "Dollar Bill". For example, Wirtz did not allow home games to be televised in the Chicago area, claiming it was unfair to the team's season ticket holders. He also raised ticket prices to an average of $ 50, making them among the most expensive in the NHL. The Chicago Wolves , an American Hockey League (AHL) team based in Rosemont, Illinois , mocked the Blackhawks' struggle by using

12426-460: Was marked by a longer line on every third "seconds" increment on the central main dial, due to the minute hand's twenty-minute "full rotation" timing capacity for one period of ice hockey. The difficulty was compounded on the main central dial from the aforementioned minute and sweep-second hands being in constant motion during gameplay. The "Sports Timer's" only digital displays were for scoring and for penalized players' numbers , each digit comprising

12540-449: Was much smaller. Fed up with the delay, the Stadium board of directors forced Harmon to resign as president, although he remained an executive with the Stadium. Sheldon Clark became the new president, and he retained Nate Clark as the Stadium's boxing matchmaker. The board acceded to the Black Hawks' terms and the team moved in weeks later. After Harmon was ousted, dynamite was placed at the home of James Norris when Sidney Strotz, treasurer of

12654-739: Was one of the biggest buyers in the trade market, acquiring a future franchise player in left-winger Martin Havlat , as well as center Bryan Smolinski from the Ottawa Senators in a three-way trade that also involved the San Jose Sharks . The Hawks dealt forward Mark Bell to the Sharks, Michal Barinka and a 2008 second-round draft pick to the Senators, while Ottawa also received defenseman Tom Preissing and center Josh Hennessy from San Jose. Havlat gave

12768-566: Was poised to fare even better in the playoffs, winning the Presidents' Trophy for best regular season record, but the Minnesota North Stars stunned them in six games in the first round en route to an improbable Stanley Cup Finals appearance. In 1991–92 , the Blackhawks – with Roenick scoring 53 goals, Steve Larmer scoring 29 goals, Chris Chelios (acquired from Montreal two years earlier) on defense, and Belfour in goal – finally reached

12882-484: Was the largest indoor arena in the world at the time, with permanent seating for 15,000 people, and a capacity for 26,000 with floor seats and standing room. It was situated in Harmon's old "Valley" neighbourhood where he grew up. Its first event was a boxing match between Tommy Loughran and Mickey Walker for a purse of US$ 150,000 (equivalent to $ 2,661,628 in 2023). Detroit's Olympia stadium, built two years earlier,

12996-451: Was where fans could see the talent get out of their cars or teams exit their buses before going into the building. It was also a great autograph and informal "meet and greet" opportunity. In 1992, both the Blackhawks and the Bulls reached the finals in their respective leagues. The Blackhawks were swept in their finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins , losing at Chicago Stadium, while the Bulls won

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