2009 - 10 Chicago Blackhawks season The 2009 – 10 Chicago Blackhawks season is the club ' s 83rd season in the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . The season began on October 2 , 2009 ; with a pair of games against the Florida Panthers in Helsinki , Finland ; and ended on June 9 , 2010 ; when the Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers , 4 games to 2 , in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals , giving the organization its first NHL championship since 1961 and fourth overall . Pre - season . During the ownership of Bill Wirtz , Blackhawks fans had become aggravated with the direction he had taken the franchise in . He had banned home games from being televised , did not bring back some of more notable Blackhawk players and had damaged the reputation one of the league ' s Original Six franchises . Wirtz had become one of the most disparaged owners in professional sports . After Wirtz passed away , his son Rocky Wirtz took ownership of the team . When he took over , the Blackhawks had only 3 , 500 season - ticket holders and had the second - lowest attendance in the league . One week into the 2007 - 08 NHL season , the team was in danger of failing to make payroll and needed a $ 34 million loan from the Wirtz Corp . to help it stay afloat . However , Wirtz ended his father ' s ban on televising home games and fixed the franchise ' s relationship with Blackhawk legends Bobby Hull , Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito . He also hired John McDonough , president of the Chicago Cubs , to the same position with the Blackhawks . Home attendance rose 46 percent and merchandise sales surged 175 percent after McDonough was hired . In the 2007 - 08 season , the Blackhawks finished above . 500 ( 40 - 34 - 8 , 88 points ) for the first time since the 1995 - 96 NHL season but narrowly missed the playoffs . In the 2008 – 09 NHL season , The Blackhawks went 46 - 24 - 12 , finishing with 104 points . They finished 2nd in the Central Division and 4th in the Western Conference . The Blackhawks ' 46 wins were their most since winning 47 in the 1992 – 93 NHL season . The Blackhawks ’ reached the 100 - point mark for the first time since 1992 – 93 season and improved by 16 points over the past season when their 88 - point total left them three points away of a playoff berth . They were the only NHL to improve on its record in each of the previous four seasons . The Blackhawks made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and it was their second playoff appearance in the previous 11 years . In the playoffs , the Blackhawks defeated the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks before losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals . It was the Blackhawks first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 1995 . The Blackhawks , however , had a turbulent offseason . The Blackhawks saw assistant General Manager Rick Dudley resign from his position and join the Atlanta Thrashers as associate General Manager . On July 1 , 2009 , the Blackhawks made a significant acquisition to the team when they signed five - time all - star Marian Hossa to a 12 year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks worth $ 62 . 8 million . At the time , it was the most lucrative deal in team history . The signing of Hossa by the Blackhawks coincided with the departure of the team ' s leading scorer from the previous season , Martin Havlat , to the Minnesota Wild . Other key additions for the Blackhawks were John Madden and Tomáš Kopecký . Along with Havlat , Nikolai Khabibulin , Sammy Pahlsson , and Matt Walker were notable losses for the team . Shortly after signing Hossa , the team disclosed that he was still rehabilitating a shoulder injury he sustained during the previous postseason . He underwent shoulder surgery and ended up missing the first 22 games of the season . During the offseason , The NHL Players ' Association filed a grievance , saying that the Blackhawks missed the deadline for giving qualifying offers to restricted free agents . This caused Tallon to quickly sign eight players to make sure they didn ' t end up as unrestricted free agents . The mistake proved to be a large influence in the removing of Dale Tallon as General Manager . He was replaced with Stan Bowman , the assistant General Manager and son of Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman . The NHL also investigated Hossa ' s contract as well . The Blackhawks named Kevin Cheveldayoff , General Manager of the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League , as assistant General Manager . The team also promoted assistant coach Marc Bergevin to the position of director of player personnel . In August , the Blackhawks saw star player Patrick Kane embroiled in controversy when he and his cousin were arrested in Buffalo , New York . Kane was apprehended in the early morning hours after allegedly punching a cab driver when he claimed to not have proper change for their trip fare . Kane was charged with second - degree robbery , a Class C felony , and fourth - degree criminal mischief and theft - of - services , both of which were Class A misdemeanors . He pleaded not guilty . On August 17 , Kane apologized for the arrest . Kane and his cousin appeared before a grand jury on August 19 . While they were cleared of any felony charges , the two were still indicted on misdemeanor assault , theft and harassment charges . Kane and his cousin reiterated their not guilty pleas when appearing in court the next day . On August 27 , Kane and his cousin pleaded guilty to noncriminal disorderly conduct charges , and were both given conditional discharges . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Games against non - NHL teams don ' t count in the standings . < / div > < / div > Regular season . Game log . Legend : Player stats . Skaters . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; PIM = Penalty minutes " Goaltenders . " Note : GP = Games Played ; TOI = Time On Ice ( minutes ) ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; OT = Overtime Losses ; GA = Goals Against ; GAA = Goals Against Average ; SA = Shots Against ; SV = Saves ; Sv % = Save Percentage ; SO = Shutouts " Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks . Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only . Traded mid - season Bold / italics denotes franchise record Transactions . The Blackhawks have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009 – 10 season . Draft picks . The 2009 NHL Entry Draft was hosted at Bell Centre in Montreal , Quebec on June 26 and 27 . The Blackhawks made a total of six picks .