Glory Days The 1920s are sometimes called the Golden Age of Sports Sports of all kinds became wildly popular with the public Athletes became as famous as explorers movie stars and military heroes Unfortunately professional hockey lagged behind other sports At the dawn of this exciting time the NHL was based in Canada American fans were hungry for hockey but there was no place in the United States to see the NHL teams play Many people wondered whether a league that belonged to Canada could expand south of the country’s border and still call itself national The NHL was eager to try It started placing teams in major American cities including Chicago Illinois The Blackhawks played their first season in 1926 27 along with the New York Rangers and Detroit Cougars who later became the Red Wings 6
The Blackhawks had some of the league’s top players including high-scoring Johnny Gottselig and a pesky right wing named Mush March Goalie Chuck Gardiner was one of the best in the business This trio led the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 1934 Chicago won the championship again four years later Burly Earl Seibert was a dangerous scorer and played great defense Mike Karakas starred in goal The Blackhawks of the 1930s were unusual because of the number of Americans they had in uniform Most teams had only one or two players born in the U S if any at all The owner of the Blackhawks Frederic McLaughlin wanted to promote American hockey He signed every U S player he could find During the 1940s the Blackhawks were led by several players destined for the Hall of Fame including Bill Mosienko Clint Smith and the Bentley brothers Max and Doug During the LEFT Johnny Gottselig was one of Chicago’s first stars ABOVE Team owner Frederic McLaughlin made finding American players a top priority 7
1950s however Chicago did not record a single winning season Things began to change when center Stan Mikita goalie Glenn Hall and defenseman Pierre Pilote joined the club In 1960 61 Chicago won its third Stanley Cup The team’s star of stars was 22-year old Bobby Hull Known as the Golden Jet he electrified fans Hull was a lightning fast skater who never slowed down He had arms like sledgehammers and a body like an anvil No one could bump him off the puck Hull’s slapshot exploded off his stick at over 110 miles per hour 161 kilometers per hour If a goalie blinked the puck was past him The Blackhawks returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1962 1965 1971 and 1973 One of their top players in the early 1970s was an acrobatic goalie named Tony Esposito Along with defensemen Keith Magnuson Bill White Pat Stapleton and Doug Wilson Tony O made Chicago a tough team to score against and a tough team to beat The Blackhawks remained strong during the 1980s During the decade they reached the finals of their conference five times LEFT Bobby Hull earned his nickname the Golden Jet because of his speed and blond hair ABOVE Chicago fans loved to cheer for Tony Esposito 9
