The
Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They currently play in the Central Division of the National Hockey League (NHL). They have won three Stanley Cup Championships and thirteen division titles since their foundation in 1926.
Franchise history
Beginnings
First logo of the Black Hawks, used until 1935.The Chicago Black Hawks joined the NHL in 1926 as part of the league's successful foray into United States-based teams. They were founded by coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin. Most of the Hawks' original players came from the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Canada Hockey League, which had folded the previous season.
For many years the name was spelled primarily "Black Hawks", but sometimes "Blackhawks", even by the club itself. This ambiguity was finally settled in the summer of 1986 when the club officially decided on the one-word version based on the spelling found in the original franchise documents. Over the years, McLaughlin took a very active role in running the team, even though he knew very little about hockey. For instance, he served as his own general manager for many years.
The Original Six era
The Black Hawks got back to the Final in 1944 behind Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley's 30-goal seasons and their linemate Clint Smith leading the league in assists. After upsetting the Red Wings in the semifinals, they were promptly dispatched by the juggernaut Canadiens in four games. Mosienko still holds the record for quickest hat trick, 21 seconds, in the NHL, but Habs star Maurice "The Rocket" Richard proved Mosienko's better.
Owner and founder Frederic McLaughlin died in 1944. His estate sold the team to a syndicate headed by longtime team president Bill Tobin. However, Tobin was only a puppet for Red Wings owner James E. Norris, who had been the Black Hawks' landlord since his 1936 purchase of Chicago Stadium. For the next eight years, the Norris-Tobin ownership, as a rule, paid almost no attention to the Black Hawks. Nearly every trade between Detroit and Chicago ended up being Red Wing heists. As a result, for the next several years, Chicago was the model of futility in the NHL. Between 1945 and 1958, they only made the playoffs twice.
In the late 1950s, the Hawks struck gold, picking up three young prospects, forwards Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, and defenceman Pierre Pilote, as well as obtaining star goaltender Glenn Hall and veteran forward Ted Lindsay, co-organizer of the original NHL Players Association, who'd just had a career season (30 goals-55 assists), from Detroit. Hull, Mikita, Pilote, and Hall would become preeminent stars, and all would eventually make 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 that the Canadiens would once again beat the Hawks when they met in the semifinals in 1961. A defensive plan that completely wore down Montreal's superstars did the trick though, as Chicago won the series in six games. They then bested the Wings to win their third (and, as of 2007, most recent) Stanley Cup championship. In the 25 years of the Original Six era, this was the only time a team other than Montreal, Toronto, or Detroit won the Cup.
The expansion era
Hall left for the expansion St. Louis Blues for the 1967-68 season. Pilote left for the Maple Leafs for the 1968-69 season. In that season, despite 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 the last time before 1998.
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 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 the Bruins to the top of the league for several years and capture two Stanley Cups. In Boston, Phil Esposito set numerous scoring records en route to a career as one of the NHL's all-time greats.
A critical blow to the franchise came in 1972, though, with the start of the World Hockey Association. Long dissatisfied with how little he was paid as the league's marquee star, Bobby Hull jumped to the upstart Winnipeg Jets for a million-dollar contract. Former Philadelphia Flyers star Andre Lacroix, who received very little ice time in his single season in Chicago, joined Hull, and the pair became two of the WHA's great stars. The Hawks repeated their appearance in Cup Final that year, however, again losing to Montreal. Stapleton left for the WHA too after that year, depleting the team further.
#35 Goaltender Tony Esposito was a frequent NHL All-Star during his lengthy Hockey Hall of Fame career while a Chicago Blackhawk.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 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. Stan Mikita did the same the following year after playing 22 years in Chicago, the third-longest career for a single team in league history.
By 1982, the Black Hawks squeaked into the playoffs as the 4th seed in the Norris Division (at the time the top four teams in each division automatically made the playoffs), and were one of the league's Cinderella teams that year.
In the late 1980s, Chicago still made the playoffs on an annual basis, but made early-round exits each time. It wasn't for a lack of offense, though: Savard and Steve Larmer each consistently scored 30 goals a season. The defence was poor.
In 1989, 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 Final in the rookie seasons of both goalie Ed Belfour and center Jeremy Roenick. Once again though, they would fail to make the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the eventual champion 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 Oilers, despite 1970s Soviet star goaltender Vladislav Tretiak coming to Chicago to become the Blackhawks' goaltender coach.
In 1991, Chicago was poised to fare even better in the playoffs, winning the Presidents' Trophy for best regular-season record, but the Cinderella Minnesota North Stars stunned them in six games in the first-round en route to an improbable Stanley Cup Final appearance.
In 1992 the Blackhawks, with Roenick scoring 53 goals, Chris Chelios (acquired from Montreal two years previously) on defence, and Belfour in goal, finally reached the Final after 19 years out of such status. However, they were no match for the defending champs, Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing in four straight games.
Belfour posted a 40-win season in 1993 as the Hawks looked to go deep yet again, and Chelios accumulated career-high penalty time with 282 minutes in the box, but St. Louis stunned Chicago with a first-round sweep.
After a near-.500 season in 1994, the Blackhawks moved out of the old Chicago Stadium and into the new United Center in the lockout-shortened 1995 season. Bernie Nicholls and Joe Murphy both scored 20 goals over 48 games, and Chicago once again made it to the Western Conference Final, losing to the rival Detroit Red Wings.
Roenick, Belfour, and Chelios were all traded away as the Blackhawks faltered through the late 1990s until they missed the playoffs in 1998 for the first time in 29 years, one season short of tying the Boston Bruins' record for the longest such streak in North American professional sports history.
The 21st century
Chicago's alternate logo; two tomahawks crossing each other atop a "C".The millennium has largely been a disappointing time for the Hawks thus far. Eric Daze, Alexei Zhamnov, and Tony Amonte emerged as some of the team's leading stars by this time. However, Chicago missed the playoffs for four straight years until they took a quick first-round exit in 2002. Amonte left for the Phoenix Coyotes in the summer of 2002, and the Blackhawks missed the playoffs again in 2003 and 2004.
A somber note was struck in February of 2004, when ESPN named the Blackhawks the worst franchise in professional sports [1]. Indeed, the Blackhawks are now viewed with much indifference by Chicagoans, as the team seems to find any way possible to alienate what fans are left, what with owner "Dollar Bill" Wirtz raising ticket prices and still refusing to put home games on television. Many hockey fans in Chicago prefer the minor-league Chicago Wolves to the 'Hawks, who have advertised themselves by saying "We Play Hockey the Old-Fashioned Way: We Actually Win". The club under Wirtz was then subject of a highly critical book, Career Misconduct, sold outside games until Wirtz arrested its author and publisher.
Following the lockout of the 2004-05 season, new GM 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 Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup-winning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and All-Star defenceman Adrian Aucoin. However, injuries plagued Khabibulin and Aucoin (among others), and the Blackhawks again finished with one of the worst records in the league (26-43-13) — next-to-last in the Western Conference and twenty seventh in the league.
The Blackhawks reached another low point on May 16, 2006, when they announced that longtime TV/radio play-by-play announcer Pat Foley, the voice of the 'Hawks for 25 years, was not going to be brought back, a move unpopular amongst most Blackhawks fans.
With the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, the team selected Jonathan Toews, who'd 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. They were, however, denied, only being able to acquire two backup goalies in Patrick Lalime and Sebastien Caron. Chicago was one of the biggest buyers in the trade market, though, acquiring a future franchise player in left-winger Martin Havlat, as well as center Bryan Smolinski from the Ottawa Senators in a three-way deal that also involved the San Jose Sharks. The 'Hawks dealt mean forward Mark Bell to the Sharks, Michal Barinka and a 2008 second-round draft pick to the Senators, while Ottawa also received defenceman Tom Preissing and center Josh Hennessy from San Jose. Havlat gave the Blackhawks the talented, first-line caliber gamebreaker they so desperately needed. The Havlat trade was soon followed by another major trade — winger and key Blackhawk player, another left wing, Kyle Calder, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for grinding defensive center Michal Handzus. The move caused a stir in Chicago. Calder had won an increase in his contract through arbitration, which was accepted by the Hawks, but rather than ink their leading scorer, the Blackhawks decided to address their need for a proven center by acquring 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 GM Dale Tallon fired Head Coach Trent Yawney and appointed assistant coach Denis Savard as head coach. Savard had been the Assistant Coach of the Blackhawks since 1997, the year after he retired as one of the most popular and successful Blackhawks of all time. The Blackhawks continue to struggle, and are currently second to last in the Western Conference Standings of the NHL.
The team has still not won the Cup since 1961, the longest drought of any current NHL team. (The current Senators franchise began play in 1992, named for a team that folded in 1934 and last won the Cup in 1927). They finished with the 4th worst record in the league, and in the Draft Lottery, won the opportunity to select 1st overall in the draft, whereas the team had never had a draft pick higher than 3rd overall.
Team captains
Dick Irvin, 1926-29
Duke Dukowski, 1929-30
Ty Arbour, 1930-31
Cy Wentworth, 1931-32
Helge Bostrom, 1932-33
Chuck Gardiner, 1933-34
No captain, 1934-35
Johnny Gottselig, 1935-40
Earl Seibert, 1940-42
Doug Bentley, 1942-44
Clint Smith, 1944-45
John Mariucci, 1945-46
Red Hamill, 1946-47
John Mariucci, 1947-48
Gaye Stewart, 1948-49
Doug Bentley, 1949-50
Jack Stewart, 1950-52
Bill Gadsby, 1952-54
Gus Mortson, 1954-57
No captain, 1957-58
Ed Litzenberger, 1958-61
Pierre Pilote, 1961-68
No captain, 1968-69
Pat Stapleton, 1969-70
No captain, 1970-75
Pit Martin, 1975-76
Pit Martin; Stan Mikita; Keith Magnuson, 1976-77
Keith Magnuson, 1977-79
Terry Ruskowski, 1979-82
Darryl Sutter, 1982-87
Bob Murray, 1985-86 (interim)
No captain, 1987-88
Denis Savard, 1988-89
Dirk Graham, 1989-95
Chris Chelios, 1995-99
Doug Gilmour, 1999-2000
Tony Amonte, 2000-02
Alexei Zhamnov, 2002-04
No captain, 2004-05 (Lockout)
Adrian Aucoin, 2005- present
Martin Lapointe, 2006 (interim)
Hall of Famers
Doug Bentley, LW, 1939-52, inducted 1964
Max Bentley, C, 1940-48, inducted 1966
Paul Coffey, D, 1998, inducted 2004
Roy Conacher, LW, 1947-52, inducted 1998
Art Coulter, D, 1931-36, inducted 1974
Babe Dye, C, 1926-28, inducted 1970
Phil Esposito, C, 1963-67, inducted 1984
Tony Esposito, G, 1969-84, inducted 1988
Bill Gadsby, D, 1946-55, inducted 1970
Charlie Gardiner, G, 1927-34, inducted 1945
Glenn Hall, G, 1957-67, inducted 1975
Bobby Hull, LW, 1957-72, inducted 1983
Stan Mikita, C, 1958-80, inducted 1983
Howie Morenz, C, 1934-36, inducted 1945
Bill Mosienko, RW, 1941-55, inducted 1965
Bobby Orr, D, 1976-79, inducted 1979
Pierre Pilote, D, 1955-68, inducted 1975
Denis Savard, C, 1980-90 & 1995-97, inducted 2000
Earl Seibert, D, 1935-45, inducted 1963
Clint Smith, D, 1943-47, inducted 1991
Retired numbers
1 Glenn Hall, G, 1957-67, number retired November 20, 1988
3 Keith Magnuson, D, 1969-80, number unofficially retired
9 Bobby Hull, LW, 1957-72, number retired December 18, 1983
18 Denis Savard, C, 1980-90 & 1995-97, number retired March 19, 1998
21 Stan Mikita, C, 1958-80, number retired October 19, 1980
35 Tony Esposito, G, 1969-84, number retired November 20, 1988
99 Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000
First-round draft picks
1963: Art Hampson (5th overall)
1964: Richie Bayes (4th overall)
1965: Andy Culligan (2nd overall)
1966: Terry Caffery (3rd overall)
1967: Bob Tombari (7th overall)
1968: John Marks (9th overall)
1969: J.P. Bordeleau (13th overall)
1970: Dan Maloney (14th overall)
1971: Dan Spring (12th overall)
1972: Phil Russell (13th overall)
1973: Darcy Rota (13th overall)
1974: Grant Mulvey (16th overall)
1975: Greg Vaydik (7th overall)
1976: Real Cloutier (9th overall)
1977: Doug Wilson (6th overall)
1978: Tom Higgins (10th overall)
1979: Keith Brown (7th overall)
1980: Denis Savard (3rd overall)
1981: Tony Tanti (12th overall)
1982: Ken Yaremchuk (7th overall)
1983: Bruce Cassidy (18th overall)
1984: Ed Olczyk (3rd overall)
1985: Dave Manson (11th overall)
1986: Everett Sanipass (14th overall)
1987: Jimmy Waite (8th overall)
1988: Jeremy Roenick (8th overall)
1989: Adam Bennett (6th overall)
1990: Karl Dykhuis (16th overall)
1991: Dean McAmmond (22nd overall)
1992: Sergei Krivokrasov (12th overall)
1993: Eric Lecompte (24th overall)
1994: Ethan Moreau (14th overall)
1995: Dmitri Nabokov (19th overall)
1996: None
1997: Daniel Cleary (13th overall) & Ty Jones (16th overall)
1998: Mark Bell (8th overall)
1999: Steve McCarthy (23rd overall)
2000: Mikhail Yakubov (10th overall) & Pavel Vorobiev (11th overall)
2001: Tuomo Ruutu (9th overall) & Adam Munro (29th overall)
2002: Anton Babchuk (21st overall)
2003: Brent Seabrook (14th overall)
2004: Cam Barker (3rd overall)
2005: Jack Skille (7th overall)
2006: Jonathan Toews (3rd overall)
Franchise scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Blackhawks player
Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Stan Mikita C 1394 541 926 1467 1.05
Bobby Hull LW 1036 604 549 1153 1.11
Denis Savard C 881 337 719 1096 1.24
Steve Larmer RW 891 406 517 923 1.04
Doug Wilson D 938 225 554 779 .83
Dennis Hull LW 904 298 342 640 .71
Pit Martin C 740 243 384 627 .85
Jeremy Roenick C 524 267 329 596 1.14
Tony Amonte RW 627 268 273 541 .86
Bill Mosienko RW 711 258 282 540 .76
NHL awards and trophies
Stanley Cup
1933-34, 1937-38, 1960-61
Presidents' Trophy
1990-91
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1991-92
Prince of Wales Trophy
1966-67, 1969-70
Art Ross Trophy
Roy Conacher: 1948-49
Bobby Hull: 1959-60, 1961-62, 1965-66
Stan Mikita: 1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Pit Martin: 1969-70
Bryan Berard: 2003-04
Calder Memorial Trophy
Cully Dahlstrom: 1937-38 (trophy known as "Calder Trophy")
Ed Litzenberger: 1954-55
Bill Hay: 1959-60
Tony Esposito: 1969-70
Steve Larmer: 1982-83
Ed Belfour: 1990-91
Frank J. Selke Trophy
Troy Murray: 1985-86
Dirk Graham: 1990-91
Hart Memorial Trophy
Max Bentley: 1945-46
Al Rollins: 1953-54
Bobby Hull: 1964-65, 1965-66
Stan Mikita: 1966-67, 1967-68
Jack Adams Award
Orval Tessier: 1982-83
James Norris Memorial Trophy
Pierre Pilote: 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65
Doug Wilson: 1981-82
Chris Chelios: 1992-93, 1995-96
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Elwyn "Doc" Romnes: 1935-36
Max Bentley: 1942-43
Clint Smith: 1943-44
Bill Mosienko: 1944-45
Ken Wharram: 1963-64
Bobby Hull: 1964-65
Stan Mikita: 1966-67, 1967-68
Lester Patrick Trophy
Bobby Hull: 1968-69
Tommy Ivan: 1974-75
Stan Mikita: 1975-76
Phil Esposito: 1977-78
Bill Wirtz: 1977-78
Bobby Orr: 1978-79
Arthur M. Wirtz: 1984-85
Vezina Trophy
Chuck Gardiner: 1931-32, 1933-34
Lorne Chabot: 1934-35
Glenn Hall: 1962-63
Glenn Hall & Denis DeJordy: 1966-67
Tony Esposito: 1969-70, 1973-74 (shared with Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers)
Tony Esposito & Gary Smith: 1971-72
Ed Belfour: 1990-91, 1992-93
William M. Jennings Trophy
Ed Belfour: 1990-91, 1992-93, 1994-95
Franchise individual records
Most Goals in a season: Bobby Hull, 58 (1968-69)
Most Assists in a season: Denis Savard, 87 (1981-82 & 1987-88)
Most Points in a season: Denis Savard, 131 (1987-88)
Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Mike Peluso, 408 (1991-92)
Most Points in a season, defenceman: Doug Wilson, 85 (1981-82)
Most Points in a season, rookie: Steve Larmer, 90 (1982-83)
Most Wins in a season: Ed Belfour, 43 (1990-91)
Most Shutouts in a season, Tony Esposito, 15 (1969-70)
Fastest Hat Trick (NHL Record): Bill Mosienko, 21 sec (1951-1952)
FULL STORY: Chicago Blackhawks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chicago Blackhawks Franchise Story
Chicago Blackhawks Franchise Story
Linear Mode
