The Original 6 Celebrating Hockey's History Table of Contents 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 Winners in the Windy City The NHL at 100 The Stanley Cup Blackhawks Best Great Goalies Blackhawks by the Numbers Black White and Red Trophy Winners Behind the Bench Blackhawks Bits and Pieces Team Rivalries Fan Frenzy On Home Ice Glossary Further Reading and Websites to Check Out Test Your Blackhawks Knowledge Places to Go and About the Author 31 Index 32 30
Winners in the Windy City Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 the Chicago Blackhawks have been the best team in the NHL They don’t win the cup every year but they’re always in contention and they boast some of the biggest stars in the game today 49-Year Drought The Blackhawks were in big trouble back in 2007 Since 1997 98 they’d missed the playoffs eight times in nine seasons Attendance was terrible It was even hard to find the team’s games on TV beyond the Chicago area Still there was hope on the horizon Chicago had selected Jonathan Toews third overall in the 2006 NHL Draft They got Patrick Kane with the 1 pick in 2007 Toews and Kane both made the team in 2007 08 and two years later Chicago won the Stanley Cup It was the first time the Blackhawks had won the cup in 49 years Patrick Kane 4 Jonathan Toews When Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews began their NHL careers in 2007 08 Kane won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year Toews finished third in the voting
Building a Dynasty It’s hard to build a dynasty in modern sports Teams used to be able to keep all the players they wanted until they decided to trade them Now free agency means players can leave their teams and sell their services to the highest bidder NHL teams also have to deal with a salary cap that sets out how much they can pay for players If you pay too much to your top stars there won’t be enough money left to put together a winning team Chicago has managed to hold onto both Toews and Kane as well as Duncan Keith Brent Seabrook and Marian Hossa and still put together a solid roster of supporting players year after year Bobby Hull was a rookie with Chicago in 1957-58 He finished second to Toronto Maple Leaf Frank Mahovlich in Calder Trophy voting that year Bobby Hull The Golden Jet The Glory Years The Blackhawks had been through similar struggles in the 1940s and 1950s Chicago missed the playoffs 11 times in 12 seasons from 1946 to 1958 Back then the team was rescued by new young stars Bobby Hull Stan Mikita and Pierre Pilote Chicago won the Stanley Cup in 1961 and remained a top team into the early 1990s although they wouldn’t win the cup again until 2010 Bobby Hull left and Jack Evans flank the Stanley Cup in their dressing room in Detroit after defeating the Detroit Red Wings to win the cup 5
