Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are an ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They were formed in 1926, named after the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I which was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division". The division was named after Chief Black Hawk, a native American leader. The team has won the Stanley Cup Championship six times, in 1933, 1937, 1961, 2010,  2013 and in 2015. The current captain of the Blackhawks is Jonathan Toews.

Early Games

The Regina Capitals were a team in the Western Canada Hockey League until 1925, when they moved and became the Portland Rosebuds.  One year later, the league folded. Most of the Portland players then played for the new Chicago team in the NHL.

In the 1930s, Charlie Gardiner was a star goaltender for the team.  Players on the Blackhawks won four scoring titles (Art Ross Trophy) in the 1940s:  Doug Bentley in 1943, his brother Ben in 1946 and 1947, and Roy Conacher in 1949. Max Bentley also won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 1946. Goalie Al Rollins won the Hart Trophy in 1954.  By 1960, however, the team had only made the Stanley Cup final four times, winning the Cup in 1934 and 1938, and losing in 1931 and 1944.

The team was much stronger in the 1960s. Bobby Hull led the NHL in goals seven times, more than any other player. He also won three Art Ross and two Hart Trophies. Stan Mikita won four Art Ross and two Hart Trophies. Between them, they led the NHL in scoring seven times in nine years. Star goaltender Glenn Hall was an all-star many times; and Pierre Pilote won the Norris Trophy as best defenceman three times. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 1961, and also made the finals in 1962 and 1965. Goalie Tony Esposito led them to the finals in 1971 and 1973.

Since that time, they have had many star players such as Doug Wilson, Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick, and Tony Amonte; but they have not won the Cup since 1961, the longest wait of any NHL team. They won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the regular season in 1991, and made the finals again in 1992, partly due to Ed Belfour (who won two Vezina Trophies as best goaltender) and Chris Chelios (who won two Norris Trophies on Chicago). As of 2006, however, they have only made the playoffs once in the last eight years.

Current

The mascot of the Chicago Blackhawks is named Tommy Hawk. He was introduced in the 2001–02 NHL season. He wears the Blackhawks' four feathers on his head and also wears a Blackhawks jersey and hockey pants. Tommy Hawk sometimes participates in the T-shirt toss and puck chuck with the fans.

The Blackhawks have their own official fight song called, "Here Come the Hawks!" which is also an introduction for them. A song that was called "Keys to the City" was given to the Blackhawks organization as a gift by Ministry & Co Conspirators. After the Blackhawks score a goal at the United Center they play the song "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis.

In 1985, during the Campbell Conference playoff game, a tradition was started where the Blackhawks fans would cheer and applaud loudly during the singing of the national anthem. This is still done today.

Jonathan Toews was named the team's captain prior to the 2008-09 season opener which made him the third-youngest captain at the time. The Blackhawks led the NHL in home attendance with a total of 912,155, averaging 22,247 fans per game during to the 2008-09 season. The number of attendance also included the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field which had 40,818 fans in attendance.

The Blackhawks acquired forward Marián Hossa and signed him to a 12-year contract which was worth 62.8 million dollars. The deal also included Tomas Kopecky, John Madden, and Richard Petiot. Due to the salary cap, the Blackhawks were forced to give up a bunch of their players.

On June 9, 2010 The Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years when Patrick Kane scored the game-winning overtime goal as they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in game 6 of the best-of-7 series.

On June 24, 2013, the team won their fifth Stanley Cup after they defeated the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2 in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals. They were down 2–1 and scored two goals from Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland 1:16 and 0:58.3 (17 seconds apart) to win 3-2.

On June 15, 2015, the Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup championship in six years after they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4 games to 2 in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. It was their first Stanley Cup win on home ice since 1938.

Team captains
Dick Irvin, 1926–29
Duke Dukowski, 1929–30
Ty Arbour, 1930–31
Cy Wentworth, 1931–32
Helge Bostrom, 1932–33
Charlie Gardiner, 1933–34
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, 1954–57Ed Litzenberger, 1958–61
Pierre Pilote, 1961–68
Pat Stapleton, 1969–70
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
Denis Savard, 1988–89
Dirk Graham, 1989–95
Chris Chelios, 1995–99
Doug Gilmour, 1999–2000
Tony Amonte, 2000–02
Alexei Zhamnov, 2002–04
Adrian Aucoin, 2005–07
Martin Lapointe, 2006-08
Jonathan Toews, 2008–present

References

Other websites

Official website

 
1926 establishments in the United States
1920s establishments in Illinois