Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are an American professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the Central Division of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their home ice arena was the Chicago Coliseum from 1926 to 1929, the Chicago Stadium from 1929 to 1994, and most recently the Blackhawks have played their home games at the United Center since 1994.

History

The Chicago Blackhawks’ name was derived from the 333rd WWII Machine Gun Battalion, led by the first team owner Major Fredrick McLaughlin, of the 86th Infantry Division. After a famous figure in the Illinois Sauk nation, the battalion was surnamed “The Blackhawks.” The $12,000 entry fee was paid by McLaughlin, a Harvard educated coffee tycoon, and founded the team in 1926. He bought the Portland Rosebuds and transferred them to Chicago for the supply of players, where he started a process of rebranding luckily. The Rosebuds definitely don’t seem as intimidating as The Blackhawks. Under the ownership of McLaughlin, the Blackhawks became the NHL’s first team with an all-American born starting lineup.

McLaughlin’s wife, Irene Castle, designed the team uniforms and designed the original Blackhawks logo. The logo and uniforms changed little over the decades as a testament of her ability. The first logo was white and black but finally color was added years later.  Fortunately, the first color version of Blackhawk in 1936 was replaced soon with a more natural, probably less offensive look than the original cartoon red skin. The Blackhawks logo received, in addition to the color change, a smile and a nose job. Surprisingly, over the years the Chicago Blackhawks have received little criticism of the “political incorrectness” of the Native American mascot (as compared with the Fighting Illini or Washington Redskins). Maybe because the logo is so rich in cultural history, or maybe no one would want to mess with hockey players.

Blackhawks Coaches

  • Pete Muldoon 1926–1927         
  • Barney Stanley 1927–1928
  • Hughie Lehman 1928
  • Herb Gardiner 1928–1929
  • Dick Irvin 1929
  • Tom Shaughnessy 1929–1930
  • Bill Tobin 1930
  • Dick Irvin 1930–1931
  • Bill Tobin 1931–1932
  • Emil Iverson 1932–1933
  • Godfrey Matheson 1933
  • Tommy Gorman 1933–1934
  • Clem Loughlin    1934–1937
  • Bill Stewart 1937–1939
  • Paul Thompson 1939–1944
  • Johnny Gottselig 1944–1947
  • Charlie Conacher 1948–1950
  • Ebbie Goodfellow 1950–1952
  • Sid Abel 1952–1954
  • Frank Eddolls 1954–1955
  • Dick Irvin 1955–1956
  • Tommy Ivan 1956–1957
  • Rudy Pilous 1957–1963
  • Billy Reay 1963–1976
  • Bill White 1976–1977
  • Bob Pulford 1977–1979
  • Eddie Johnston 1979–1980
  • Keith Magnuson 1980–1982
  • Bob Pulford 1982
  • Orval Tessier 1982–1985
  • Bob Pulford 1985–1987
  • Bob Murdoch 1987–1988
  • Mike Keenan 1988–1992
  • Darryl Sutter 1992–1995
  • Craig Hartsburg 1995–1998
  • Dirk Graham 1998–1999
  • Lorne Molleken 1999–1999
  • Bob Pulford 1999–2000
  • Alpo Suhonen   2000–2001
  • Brian Sutter 2001–2004
  • Trent Yawney 2005–2006
  • Denis Savard 2006–2008
  • Joel Quenneville 2008-2018
  • Jeremy Colliton 2018–present

Stanley Cup Wins

The Hawks won their first Stanley Cup in 1934 with a 1-0 overtime defeat of the Detroit Red Wings. Four years later in 1938, they won their second Cup by beating the Maple Leafs in Toronto in three games. That year, they barely made playoffs with a 14-25 mark — any Stanley Cup champion’s worst record ever.

When the Hawks won their third Cup in 1961, it was a shock to the hockey world. In the two years before, in the first round of playoffs, the Canadiens had beaten the Hawks. The Hawks shut down the offense of Montreal in ’61, and then passed through Detroit to take home their third Stanley Cup. It wasn’t until 2010 when they defeated Philadelphia in 6 games that they would raise the Cup again. That began the new era, with the Hawks going on to win the Stanley Cup again in 2013 and 2015.

How much is the Chicago Blackhawks worth?

In 2013-14, the Blackhawks ranked fifth best in the NHL franchises, at 625 million dollars. Over the last two years, this is an increase of $300 million.

Taking their significant increase under Rocky Wirtz into account, the Blackhawks will soon be the fourth NHL franchise to achieve a value of $1 billion, so it could happen early next year.

Just three teams were ranked above the Blackhawks: The New York Rangers ($1.2 trillion), The Canadians of Montreal ($1.18 trillion) and the Maple Leafs of Toronto ($1.15 trillion).

The average NHL team is worth $505 million which is an increase of 3 percent compared to last year according to Forbes. Revenue has also increased 8% from last year’s average of 133 million dollars.

Sources:

“Forbes Ranks Blackhawks Fourth Most Valuable NHL Franchise.” NBC Sports, 24 Nov. 2015, www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-blackhawks/forbes-ranks-blackhawks-fourth-most-valuable-nhl-franchise.

“NHL Logo Cup: The History and Evolution of Iconic Blackhawk and Bruin Logos.” Right Hat, righthat.com/perspectives/nhl-logo-cup-the-history-and-evolution-of-iconic-blackhawk-and-bruin-logos. Accessed 11 Dec. 2020.

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