The Chicago Blackhawks Renaissance

CHICAGO, Ill. – Who thought that in just two years that the team I followed as a young boy can turn to become a force in today’s hockey. During those days, hockey was exciting. I remember listening to the games on the radio when I was in bed with headphones tucked under my pillow listening to the play-by-play of Pat Foley. On a few rare occasions I was able to catch a few games on WGN-TV which is where I probably first caught the hockey “bug”. In my culture at home, academics was always put first and foremost with my father working all the time to support the family at the restaurant. The only time I was able to go to Chicago Stadium for a game was with my grammar school classmates as a reward for having perfect attendance in school, and boy I was hooked. Forget about the game for now, but the experience alone was overwhelming. We got off the bus, went inside to a capacity crowd, and were amazed by the aura of the event. We walked all the way to the upper deck standing room aisles to get to our seats. The concourse, if you can call it that, would only allow maybe two people to walk through, but half of it was taken up by the people waiting at the concession stands. My first sign of major action didn’t even start on the ice, but in these stands. Still trying to get to our seats, one woman started to shove one another after accusing her of cutting into the concession line. Beer flew all over the place, and at that time, I walked through and got a face full of beer soaked hair. Yum, nice and tasty, blah. Unfortunately I don’t remember much of the game since the players looked like little ants on an ice block, but hockey at the old Chicago Stadium is what I enjoyed the most. The sellout crowd, which was the norm in those days, showed their team pride in the stands. At each end of the Stadium were boarded up windows, and that is where the fans would pound on in rhythmic fashion in an Indian dance beat that resonated throughout the arena. Even if you were not a fan of the team, you felt the pride in the players and in the fans for their team. Then, during the 1994-95 season, the team moved into the United Center which is a bigger venue, but felt more sterile where you can almost hear every skate moving on the ice. It didn’t help when the team started to play poorly, and the seats became empty and the fans became disillusioned. Some swore off the team and went to become fans of the Chicago Wolves who were just starting off in the International Hockey League and later joined the American Hockey League after the IHL folded. And yes I was one of them. In the last two years, a few things started to happen. Jonathan Toews was drafted third overall by Chicago in 2006. That followed by the drafting of Patrick Kane as the number one overall pick in 2007. One thing that also brought about change was the passing of longtime owner William Wirtz right before the season started. Ownership was passed on to son Peter, who then passed it on to his brother, Rocky. Toews and Kane have become instant fan favorites, and the team just missed out on the playoffs but showed promise and confidence that this would be their year, and the fans can sense it. Rocky made a few changes that “changed” the face of the Blackhawks. I say change in that they are turning the team to one that I remember in my youth. Recently he brought in John McDonough as Team President. McDonough came in from the same capacity as he had with the Chicago Cubs. He did wonders with the team when he moved up from the ranks as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Broadcasting. Rocky and John righted some wrongs to the delight of all Chicago Blackhawk fans past and present. They mended the estranged relationship that the team had with some of the teams all time bests. Hall of Famers Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito were brought back aboard as team ambassadors. It was an honor meeting Mr. Hull a few times was an honor. He might have been the toughest and meanest man on the ice, but when you listen and talk to him he is very genuine. Two years ago, the Blackhawks fired announcer Pat Foley after 25 years of service. After two years announcing for the Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup Championship, the team righted that mistake and hired him back as the team’s primary announcer. Another major announcement from the broadcasting side was that the team will not only carry the away games as they did in the past, but all games would be broadcast on television. It was policy for the team to not carry home games since it hurt the numbers at the turnstile. It really didn’t matter, if you had a bad product on the ice, no one would be in the stands anyway. And wouldn’t you know it, some of the games will return to Channel 9, WGN-TV. There is so much happening with this organization that makes me so happy. There is a renaissance with this team in that the pride in the organization is back. You can feel it all the way from the team to the front office to the fans. What was old tradition is now anew. The Blackhawks are also now going to be part of something special also in the second annual Winter Classic to be held in Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs. These are the two teams that are very special to me because of their history in their respective games. I am one of those people who other local fans hate in that I am a Chicago fan and cheer for any team that gives it their all on the playing field, and that includes the White Sox. Wow, I just see the Cubs and Blackhawks are the last two teams that I haven’t seen win a championship. Just watching the classic 20 plus inning game with my mom on the television when the Cubs and Phillies battled it out on Wrigley trenches, I can be part of another classic battle between the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings on the same grass that the Cubs play. That my friends, is what I call heaven. The only thing I really don’t want to see is a wave of Detroit red in the stands at Wrigley. Come on Chicago, let’s try to get all of the tickets that we can. I love a full stadium, but I hate when the Detroit fans outnumber us when they come to Chicago. I have the same feeling for the Milwaukee fans as the Cubs go up north, or even when the team plays the St. Louis Cardinals here or there. Ok… I am getting a little excited here. Heaven would be that the Cubs beat the White Sox at Wrigley in Game Seven of the World Series, and then just two months later watch the Blackhawks slaughter the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings on their way to their first Stanley Cup since 1961. Just imagine, one goal that the team has is to make the playoffs, and to make their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1992. Isn’t that why we are all here, to see our team have a shot at winning hockey’s holy grail? It might not have felt like it in the last 15 years for Hawks fans, but we can all feel it now. You can tell that the roar is back both with the team and their fans. Once the player puts on the sweater with the Blackhawk crest on the front, you can almost feel the pride oozing from the ice. From there to the stands and out to the fans all over, tt just gives me chills just writing about it. Let me pause for a minute because……. I feel like crying now. Contact the author at Matt.Chin@prohockeynews.com