Chicago Blackhawks Totally Explained

Everything about Chicago Black Hawks totally explained

Denis Savard |general_manager = Dale Tallon |owner = Rocky Wirtz |president = John McDonough |captain = Vacant |minor_league_affiliates = Rockford IceHogs (AHL)
Pensacola Ice Pilots (ECHL) |stanley_cups = 1933–34, 1937–38, 1960–61 |presidents_trophy = 1990–91 |conf_titles = 1991–92 |division_titles = 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93 }}
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They have won three Stanley Cup Championships and thirteen division titles since their foundation in 1926. The Blackhawks are one of the Original Six NHL teams along with the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings. Since 1994, the Blackhawks have played in the United Center in Chicago after over 60 years in Chicago Stadium.

Franchise history

Founding

The Chicago Black Hawks joined the NHL in 1926 as part of the league's successful foray into United States-based teams. They were founded by coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin. Most of the Hawks' original players came from the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Canada Hockey League, which had folded the previous season.
McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I. This Division was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division", after a Native American of the Sauk nation, Chief Black Hawk, who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin evidently named the hockey team in honour of the military unit, making it one of many sports team names using Native Americans as icons. For many years, the name was spelled primarily "Black Hawks", but sometimes "Blackhawks", even by the club itself. This ambiguity was finally settled in the summer of 1986 when the club officially decided on the one-word version based on the spelling found in the original franchise documents.
McLaughlin took a very active role in running the team despite knowing very little about hockey. For most of his tenure as owner, he served as his own general manager.

1926–1938

The Hawks' first season was a moderate success, with the forward line of Mickey MacKay, Babe Dye, and Dick Irvin each finishing near the top of the league's scoring race. The Black Hawks lost their 1927 first-round playoff series to the Boston Bruins, who had made the playoffs for the first time ever. The Blackhawks were considered the worst team in the NHL at that time.
   Following the series, McLaughlin fired head coach Pete Muldoon. According to Jim Coleman, sportswriter for the Toronto Globe and Mail, McLaughlin felt the 'Hawks were good enough to finish first. Muldoon disagreed, and in a fit of pique, McLaughlin fired him. At the time, finishing in first place was considered to be as much of an achievement as winning the greatly coveted Stanley Cup. According to Coleman, Muldoon responded by yelling, "Fire me, Major, and you'll never finish first. I'll put a curse on this team that will hoodoo it until the end of time." The Curse of Muldoon was born, and became one of the first widely-known sports "curses". While the team would win three Stanley Cups, they'd do so without having finished in first place either in a multi- or single-division format.
   The 'Hawks proceeded to have the worst record in the league in 1927–28. By 1931, the 'Hawks reached their first Stanley Cup Final, with goal-scorer Johnny Gottselig, Cy Wentworth on defence, and Charlie Gardiner in goal, but fizzled in the final two games against the Montreal Canadiens. Chicago had another stellar season in 1932, but that didn't translate into playoff success.
   [...]

1938 Cup Win

In 1938 the Black Hawks had a record of 14–25, and only barely made the playoffs. They stunned the Canadiens and New York Americans on overtime goals in the deciding games of both series, advancing to the Final against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Black Hawks goalie Mike Karakas was injured and couldn't play. This forced a desperate Chicago team to pull minor-leaguer Alfie Moore out of a Toronto bar and onto the ice. Moore played one game and won it. When the Black Hawks attempted to repeat this with another goalie, that didn't work and they lost. However, for Games 3 and 4, Karakas was fitted with a special skate to protect his injured toe, and won both games. It was too late for Toronto, as the Hawks won their second championship. The 1938 Black Hawks Cup champions remain the team with the poorest regular season record ever to win the Stanley Cup. � see 1938 Stanley Cup Finals

The Original Six era

The Black Hawks got back to the Final in 1944 behind Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley's 30-goal seasons and their linemate Clint Smith leading the league in assists. After upsetting the Red Wings in the semifinals, they were promptly dispatched by the dominant Canadiens in four games. Mosienko still holds the record for quickest hat trick, 21 seconds, in the NHL, but Habs star Maurice "The Rocket" Richard proved to be Mosienko's better.
   Owner and founder Frederic McLaughlin died in 1944. His estate sold the team to a syndicate headed by longtime team president Bill Tobin. However, Tobin was only a puppet for Red Wings owner James E. Norris, who had been the Black Hawks' landlord since his 1936 purchase of Chicago Stadium. For the next eight years, the Norris-Tobin ownership, as a rule, paid almost no attention to the Black Hawks. Nearly every trade between Detroit and Chicago ended up being Red Wing heists. As a result, for the next several years, Chicago was the model of futility in the NHL. Between 1945 and 1958, they only made the playoffs twice.
   Upon the death of James E. Norris, Norris' eldest son, James D. Norris, and Red Wings minority owner Arthur Wirtz (the senior Norris's original partner in buying the Red Wings 23 years earlier) took over the floundering club. They guided it through financial reverses, and rebuilt the team from there. One of their first moves was to hire Tommy Ivan, former Detroit coach and GM, as general manager.
   In the late 1950s, the Hawks struck gold, picking up three young prospects, forwards Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, and defenceman Pierre Pilote, as well as obtaining star goaltender Glenn Hall and veteran forward Ted Lindsay, co-organizer of the original NHL Players Association, who'd just had a career season (30 goals-55 assists), from Detroit. Hull, Mikita, Pilote, and Hall would become preeminent stars, and all would eventually make the Hockey Hall of Fame.
   After two first-round exits at the hands of the eventual champions from Montreal in 1959 and 1960, it was expected that the Canadiens would once again beat the Hawks when they met in the semifinals in 1961. A defensive plan that completely wore down Montreal's superstars did the trick though, as Chicago won the series in six games. They then bested the Wings to win their third (and, as of 2008, most recent) Stanley Cup championship. In the 25 years of the Original Six era, this was the only time a team other than Montreal, Toronto or Detroit won the Cup.
   The Hawks made the Cup finals twice more in the 1960s, losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962 and the Habs in 1965. Chicago remained a force to be reckoned with throughout the decade, with Hull's four 50-goal seasons, Mikita winning back-to-back scoring titles and MVP accolades, Pilote winning three consecutive Norris Trophies, and Hall being named the First or Second All-Star goaltender eight out of nine seasons. Hull and Mikita especially were widely regarded as the most feared one-two punch in the league. However, despite a strong supporting cast which included Bill Hay, Ken Wharram, Phil Esposito, Moose Vasko, Doug Mohns and Pat Stapleton, the Hawks never quite put it all together.
   In 1967, the last season of the six-team NHL, the Hawks finished first, breaking the supposed Curse of Muldoon, 23 years after the death of Frederic McLaughlin. However, they lost in the semifinals to Toronto, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. Afterward, Coleman, who first printed the story of the curse in 1943, admitted that he made the story up to break a writer's block he'd as a column deadline approached.

The expansion era

Hall left for the expansion St. Louis Blues for the 1967–68 season. Pilote left for the Maple Leafs for the 1968–69 season. In that season, despite Hull breaking his own previous record of 54 goals in a season with 58, the Black Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 1958—and the last time before 1998.
   In 1967, the Black Hawks made a trade with the Boston Bruins that turned out to be one of the most one-sided in the history of the sport. Chicago sent young forwards Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to Boston in exchange for Pit Martin, Jack Norris and Gilles Marotte. While Martin would star for the Hawks for many seasons, Esposito, Hodge, and Stanfield would lead the Bruins to the top of the league for several years and capture two Stanley Cups. In Boston, Phil Esposito set numerous scoring records en route to a career as one of the NHL's all-time greats.
   Nonetheless, in 1971, life was made easier for Chicago, as in an attempt to better balance the divisions, the expansion Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks were both placed in the East Division, while the Hawks moved into the West Division. They became the class of the West overnight, rampaging to a 46–17–15 record and an easy first-place finish. With second-year goalie Tony Esposito (Phil's younger brother and winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year the previous season), Hull, his younger brother Dennis, Mikita, and sterling defencemen Stapleton and Bill White, the Hawks reached the Stanley Cup final before bowing out to the Canadiens. Montreal veteran Henri Richard admitted later, "I could have been a bum, and instead, I was a hero."
A critical blow to the franchise came in 1972, though, with the start of the World Hockey Association. Long dissatisfied with how little he was paid as the league's marquee star, Bobby Hull jumped to the upstart Winnipeg Jets for a million-dollar contract. Former Philadelphia Flyers star Andre Lacroix, who received very little ice time in his single season in Chicago, joined Hull, and the pair became two of the WHA's great stars. The Hawks repeated their appearance in Cup Final that year, however, again losing to Montreal. Stapleton left for the WHA too after that year, depleting the team further. While the team led or was second in the West Division for four straight seasons, for the rest of the 1970s, the Black Hawks made the playoffs each year but were never a successful Stanley Cup contender, losing 16 straight playoff games at one point. The team acquired legendary blueliner Bobby Orr from the Boston Bruins in 1976, but ill health forced him to sit out for most of the season, and he eventually retired in 1979. Stan Mikita did the same the following year after playing 22 years in Chicago, the third-longest career for a single team in league history.
   By 1982, the Black Hawks squeaked into the playoffs as the 4th seed in the Norris Division (at the time the top four teams in each division automatically made the playoffs), and were one of the league's Cinderella teams that year. Led by second-year Denis Savard's 32 goals and 119 points and Doug Wilson's 39 goals, the Hawks stunned the Minnesota North Stars and Blues in the playoffs before losing to another surprise team, the Vancouver Canucks, who made the Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago proved they were no fluke the next season, also making the third round before losing to the eventual runner-up Edmonton Oilers. After an off-year in 1984, the Hawks again faced a now fresh-off-a-ring Edmonton offensive juggernaut of a team and lost in the third round in 1985.
   In 1986, while going through the team's records, someone discovered the team's original NHL contract, and found that the name "Blackhawks" was printed as a compound word as opposed to two separate words ("Black Hawks") which was the way most sources had been printing it and as the team had always officially listed it. The name officially became "Chicago Blackhawks" from that point on.
   In the late 1980s, Chicago still made the playoffs on an annual basis, but made early-round exits each time.
   In 1989, after three straight first-round defeats, and despite a fourth-place finish in their division in the regular season, Chicago made it to the Conference Final in the rookie seasons of both goalie Ed Belfour and center Jeremy Roenick. Once again though, they'd fail to make the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the eventual champion Calgary Flames.
   The following season the Hawks did prove they were late-round playoff material, running away with the Norris Division title, but, yet again, the third round continued to stymie them, this time against the Oilers, despite 1970s Soviet star goaltender Vladislav Tretiak coming to Chicago to become the Blackhawks' goaltender coach.
   In 1991, Chicago was poised to fare even better in the playoffs, winning the Presidents' Trophy for best regular-season record, but the Cinderella Minnesota North Stars stunned them in six games in the first-round en route to an improbable Stanley Cup Final appearance.
   In 1992 the Blackhawks, with Roenick scoring 53 goals, Chris Chelios (acquired from Montreal two years previously) on defence, and Belfour in goal, finally reached the Final after 19 years out of such status. However, they were swept four games to none by the Mario Lemieux-led defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Although the 4–0 sweep would normally indicate Pittsburgh dominance, it was actually a close series that could have gone either way. Game 1 saw the Blackhawks squander leads of 3–0 and 4–1, and would eventually be beaten 5–4 after a Lemieux power-play goal with 9 seconds remaining in regulation. The Blackhawks most lackluster game was Game 2, losing 3–1. A frustrating loss of 1–0 followed in game 3, and a natural hat trick from Dirk Graham and stellar play from Dominik Hasek (who showed indications of the goaltender he'd later become) couldn't secure a win in game 4, which ended in 6–5 final in favor of Pittsburgh.
   Belfour posted a 40-win season in 1993 as the Hawks looked to go deep yet again, and Chelios accumulated career-high penalty time with 282 minutes in the box, but St. Louis stunned Chicago with a first-round sweep.
   After a near-.500 season in 1994, the Blackhawks moved out of the old Chicago Stadium and into the new United Center in the lockout-shortened 1995 season. Bernie Nicholls and Joe Murphy both scored 20 goals over 48 games, and Chicago once again made it to the Western Conference Final, losing to the rival Detroit Red Wings.
   Roenick, Belfour, and Chelios were all traded away as the Blackhawks faltered through the late 1990s until they missed the playoffs in 1998 for the first time in 29 years, one season short of tying the Boston Bruins' record for the longest such streak in North American professional sports history.

The 21st century

The millennium has largely been a disappointing time for the Hawks thus far. Éric Dazé, Alexei Zhamnov, and Tony Amonte emerged as some of the team's leading stars by this time. However, aside from a quick first-round exit in 2002, the team hasn't returned to the playoffs, in most years finishing well out of contention. Amonte left for the Phoenix Coyotes in the summer of 2002.
   A somber note was struck in February of 2004, when ESPN named the Blackhawks the worst franchise in professional sports. Indeed, the Blackhawks were viewed with much indifference by Chicagoans for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, due to anger over several policies instituted by late owner Bill Wirtz (derisively known as "Dollar Bill"). For example, Wirtz raised ticket prices to an average of $50, and didn't allow home games to be televised in the Chicago area. Many hockey fans in Chicago prefer the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves to the Hawks, who have advertised themselves by saying "We Play Hockey the Old-Fashioned Way: We Actually Win." The club under Wirtz was then subject of a highly critical book, Career Misconduct, sold outside games until Wirtz had its author and publisher arrested.
   Following the lockout of the 2004–05 season, new GM Dale Tallon set about restructuring the team in the hopes of making a playoff run. Tallon made several moves in the summer of 2005, most notably the signing of Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup-winning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and All-Star defenceman Adrian Aucoin. However, injuries plagued Khabibulin and Aucoin (among others), and the Blackhawks again finished with one of the worst records in the league (26–43–13) — next-to-last in the Western Conference and twenty seventh in the league.
   The Blackhawks reached another low point on May 16, 2006, when they announced

that popular TV/radio play-by-play announcer Pat Foley wasn't going to be brought back after 25 years with the team, a move unpopular

amongst most Blackhawks fans. Foley then became the television/radio voice of the Wolves.
   With the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, the team selected Jonathan Toews, who led the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team to the 2006 NCAA Frozen Four.
   The Blackhawks were eager to make a splash in the free-agent market, and offered big money to many of the top free agents. They were, however, denied, only being able to acquire two backup goalies in Patrick Lalime and Sebastien Caron. Chicago was one of the biggest buyers in the trade market, though, acquiring a future franchise player in left-winger Martin Havlat, as well as center Bryan Smolinski from the Ottawa Senators in a three-way deal that also involved the San Jose Sharks. The 'Hawks dealt mean forward Mark Bell to the Sharks, Michal Barinka and a 2008 second-round draft pick to the Senators, while Ottawa also received defenceman Tom Preissing and center Josh Hennessy from San Jose. Havlat gave the Blackhawks the talented, first-line caliber gamebreaker they so desperately needed. The Havlat trade was soon followed by another major trade — winger and key Blackhawk player, another left wing, Kyle Calder, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for grinding defensive center Michal Handzus. The move caused a stir in Chicago. Calder had won an increase in his contract through arbitration, which was accepted by the Hawks, but rather than ink their leading scorer, the Blackhawks decided to address their need for a proven center by acquiring Handzus. Injuries to both Havlat and Handzus hurt the Blackhawks, and Smolinski was eventually traded at the trade deadline to the Vancouver Canucks. On November 26, 2006 Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon fired Head Coach Trent Yawney and appointed assistant coach Denis Savard as head coach. Savard had been the Assistant Coach of the Blackhawks since 1997, the year after he retired as one of the most popular and successful Blackhawks of all time. The Blackhawks continued to struggle, and finished last in the Central Division, 12 games out of the playoffs.
   They finished with the fourth worst record in the league, and in the Draft Lottery, won the opportunity to select first overall in the draft, whereas the team had never had a draft pick higher than 3rd overall. They used the pick to draft center Patrick Kane from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.
   On 26 September 2007 after a brief battle with cancer, longtime owner Wirtz died at age 77. During a tribute and moment of silence for him during the Blackhawks home opener on 8 October 2007, the Chicago crowd displayed their displeasure with Wirtz's operation of the organization by booing the proceedings. He was succeeded by his younger son, Rocky.
   Soon after taking over, Rocky Wirtz reversed several of his father's longstanding policies. For example, the Blackhawks began airing select home games on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, of which Rocky is part-owner. Announced in March 2008, all Blackhawks games will be televised starting the 2008–09 season,with WGN-TV aring 20 games, this is the first time the team's games aired on WGN-TV since the end of the 1974–75 season, and the first free TV outlet for the team since the 1979–80 season, when WSNS-TV (Channel 44) aired the Hawks road games. He has also named Chicago Cubs president John McDonough as the new Blackhawks president. McDonough was the architect of the Cubs' incredible marketing machine established in the 1980s and 1990's. Former greats Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, who had wanted nothing to do with the team under Bill Wirtz, have returned as "ambassadors" for the franchise, as has Tony Esposito, all of them Hall of Famers with a deep love for the Blackhawks, Chicago, and, especially, their fans. After a slow start, the Hawks rallied to finish with their first winning record since 2002. Unfortunately, playing in the tough Western Conference, it wasn't enough to make the playoffs; they finished three points behind the Nashville Predators for the last spot.
   On February 13th, 2008, the Blackhawks announced they'd hold their first annual fan convention. A move many suspected when McDonough came over from the Cubs.
   On February 26th, 2008, the Blackhawks traded their longest tenured player, Tuomo Ruutu, to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Andrew Ladd. Ruutu was a former 1st round (9th overall) pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. That same day, the Hawks traded Alternate Captain Martin Lapointe to the Ottawa Senators for a 6th round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Team information

Jerseys

Like all NHL teams for the 2007–08 NHL season, the Chicago Blackhawks unveiled Rbk Edge jerseys from the Reebok Company. Unlike other clubs, Chicago didn't deviate much from previous jerseys with small exceptions:

new collar with NHL logo
a "baseball-style" cut along the bottom

Logo

McLaughlin's wife, Irene Castle, designed the original version of the team's logo, which survived, with only minor changes, until 1955. The circle around the head was removed that season, and the basic logo and jersey design has remained fairly constant since then. The striping has changed over the years and a shoulder patch logo was added.

Mascot

The Blackhawks mascot is Tommy Hawk, a hawk, as in a bird, who wears the Blackhawks' 4 feathers on his head, along with a Blackhawks jersey and hockey pants. Tommy Hawk often participates in the T-shirt toss and puck chuck at the United Center. He walks around the concourse greeting fans before and during the game. The Hawks introduced Tommy in the 2001–02 season. He replaced Tony Zamboni as the team's official mascot. His oversized jersey has "WWW" William Wadsworth Wirtz and American flag patch on it. The Hawks have had two giveaways featuring Tommy Hawk items. The first was a bobble-head doll and the second was a Mountain Dew sponsored Tommy Hawk water bottle.

Cup drought

The team hasn't won the Cup since 1961. This is the longest drought of any current NHL team. It is shorter than all-time drought of 54 seasons of the New York Rangers, which was ended in 1994.(External Link

)

Media and Announcers

For the first time in team history, all 82 games plus playoffs will be broadcast on Television. At least 20 of which will be on WGN Channel 9. The others will air on Comcast Sports Net Chicago. For the last 8 seasons, the teams radio affiliate was WSCR 670 The Score. On April 30th, 2008, the team signed a three year deal with WGN 720 AM. Dan Kelly TV Play-by-Play
Eddie Olczyk TV Analyst
John Wiedeman Radio Play-by-Play
Troy Murray Radio Analyst

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Blackhawks. For the full season-by-season history, see Chicago Blackhawks seasons Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes 2002–03

82	30	33	13	6	79	207	226	1189	3rd, Central	Did not qualify
2003–04	82	20	43	11	8	59	188	259	1318	5th, Central	Did not qualify
2004–05	Season canceled due to 2004–05 NHL lockout
2005–06¹	82	26	43	—	13	65	211	285	1518	4th, Central	Did not qualify
2006–07	82	31	42	—	9	71	201	258	1330	5th, Central	Did not qualify
2007–08	82	40	34	-	8	88	239	235	1292	3rd, Central	Did not qualify

� ¹ As of the 2005–06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Players

Current roster As of April 2, 2008. (External Link

)

Goaltenders
#	align=left	Player	Catches	Acquired/Drafted	Place of Birth
39	Nikolai Khabibulin	L	2005	Sverdlovsk, U.S.S.R.
40	Patrick Lalime	L	2006	St Bonaventure, Quebec
50	Corey Crawford	L	2003	Châteauguay, Quebec

Defensemen
#	align=left	Player	Shoots	Acquired/Drafted	Place of Birth
2	Duncan Keith	L	2002	Winnipeg, Manitoba
5	Brent Sopel – A	R	2007	Calgary, Alberta
7	Brent Seabrook	R	2003	Richmond, British Columbia
25	Cam Barker	L	2004	Winnipeg, Manitoba
27	Andrei Zyuzin	L	2007	Ufa, U.S.S.R.
42	Jordan Hendry	L	2005	Nokomis, Saskatchewan
41	Niklas Hjalmarsson	L	2005	Eksjö, Sweden

Forwards
#	align=left	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired/Drafted	Place of Birth
10	Patrick Sharp – A	C	R	2005	Thunder Bay, Ontario
12	Rene Bourque	LW	L	2004	Lac La Biche, Alberta
16	Andrew Ladd	LW	L	2008	Maple Ridge, British Columbia
17	Kevyn Adams	C	R	2007	Washington, D.C.
19	Jonathan Toews	C	L	2006	Winnipeg, Manitoba
20	Robert Lang – A	C	R	2007	Teplice, Czechoslovakia
24	Martin Havlat	RW	L	2006	Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
28	Craig Adams	RW	R	2008	Seria, Brunei
29	Jason Williams	C	R	2007	London, Ontario
34	Petri Kontiola	C	R	2004	Seinäjoki, Finland
36	Dave Bolland	C	R	2004	Mimico, Ontario
37	Adam Burish	RW	R	2002	Madison, Wisconsin
38	Bryan Bickell	LW	L	2004	Bowmanville, Ontario
52	Dustin Byfuglien	RW	R	2003	Minneapolis, Minnesota
55	Ben Eager	LW	L	2007	Ottawa, Ontario
88	Patrick Kane – A	RW	L	2007	Buffalo, New York
94	Yanic Perreault	C	L	2007	Sherbrooke, Quebec

Team captains

Dick Irvin, 1926–29

Duke Dukowski, 1929–30

Ty Arbour, 1930–31

Cy Wentworth, 1931–32

Helge Bostrom, 1932–33

Chuck Gardiner, 1933–34

No captain, 1934–35

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, 1954–57

No captain, 1957–58

Ed Litzenberger, 1958–61

Pierre Pilote, 1961–68

No captain, 1968–69

Pat Stapleton, 1969–70

No captain, 1970–75

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

No captain, 1987–88

Denis Savard, 1988–89

Dirk Graham, 1989–95

Chris Chelios, 1995–99

Doug Gilmour, 1999–2000

Tony Amonte, 2000–02

Alexei Zhamnov, 2002–04

No captain, 2004–05 (Lockout)

Adrian Aucoin, 2005–07

Martin Lapointe, 2006

Hall of Famers

Doug Bentley, LW, 1939–52, inducted 1964

Max Bentley, C, 1940–48, inducted 1966

Paul Coffey, D, 1998, inducted 2004

Roy Conacher, LW, 1947–52, inducted 1998

Art Coulter, D, 1931–36, inducted 1974

Babe Dye, C, 1926–28, inducted 1970

Phil Esposito, C, 1963–67, inducted 1984

Tony Esposito, G, 1969–84, inducted 1988

Bill Gadsby, D, 1946–55, inducted 1970

Charlie Gardiner, G, 1927–34, inducted 1945

Glenn Hall, G, 1957–67, inducted 1975

Bobby Hull, LW, 1957–72, inducted 1983

Stan Mikita, C, 1958–80, inducted 1983

Howie Morenz, C, 1934–36, inducted 1945

Bill Mosienko, RW, 1941–55, inducted 1965

Bobby Orr, D, 1976–79, inducted 1979

Pierre Pilote, D, 1955–68, inducted 1975

Denis Savard, C, 1980–90 & 1995–97, inducted 2000

Earl Seibert, D, 1935–45, inducted 1963

Clint Smith, C, 1943–47, inducted 1991

Retired numbers

1 Glenn Hall, G, 1957–67, number retired November 20, 1988

9 Bobby Hull, LW, 1957–72, number retired December 18, 1983

18 Denis Savard, C, 1980–90 & 1995–97, number retired March 19, 1998

21 Stan Mikita, C, 1958–80, number retired October 19, 1980

35 Tony Esposito, G, 1969–84, number retired November 20, 1988

Keith Magnuson, D, 1969–80, hasn't had his number officially retired, but his #3 has been out of circulation since his death in 2003.

Wayne Gretzky's #99 is retired throughout the league, though Gretzky never played for Chicago.

First-round draft picks

1963: Art Hampson (5th overall)

1964: Richie Bayes (4th overall)

1965: Andy Culligan (2nd overall)

1966: Terry Caffery (3rd overall)

1967: Bob Tombari (7th overall)

1968: John Marks (9th overall)

1969: J. P. Bordeleau (13th overall)

1970: Dan Maloney (14th overall)

1971: Dan Spring (12th overall)

1972: Phil Russell (13th overall)

1973: Darcy Rota (13th overall)

1974: Grant Mulvey (16th overall)

1975: Greg Vaydik (7th overall)

1976: Real Cloutier (9th overall)

1977: Doug Wilson (6th overall)

1978: Tim Higgins (10th overall)

1979: Keith Brown (7th overall)

1980: Denis Savard (3rd overall)

1981: Tony Tanti (12th overall)

1982: Ken Yaremchuk (7th overall)

1983: Bruce Cassidy (18th overall)

1984: Ed Olczyk (3rd overall)

1985: Dave Manson (11th overall)

1986: Everett Sanipass (14th overall)