Chicago Blackhawks Archives - Page 11 of 13

Dominik Hasek’s Blackhawks Debut

Dominik Hasek’s final game with the Chicago Blackhawks was Game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals. But when was his Blackhawks debut?

True, Hasek played in his first official NHL game as a member of the Blackhawks on November 6, 1990. He may have even appeared in a preseason game before then. But Hasek’s debut with the Blackhawks came on September 15, 1990 — 25 years ago today — when he took part in the team’s annual Red-White Scrimmage.

This wasn’t an official game. No ticket stubs exist, as it was free to get in, and no newspapers recapped it the next day. All that we have is this roster that was typed out, photocopied and passed out to fans during the first period.

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Career In Cards: Al Arbour

Al Arbour, who passed away at age 82 on August 28, had a long career as a professional hockey player, and an even longer career as an NHL coach. Arbour broke into the NHL during the Original Six Era and played pro for 18 seasons between the NHL and the minor leagues. But he is best known for his success behind the bench: 22 seasons, one Jack Adams Award, second all-time in wins and four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships.

Here is a look at both of Arbour’s careers — as a player and as a coach — illustrated with various hockey cards and collectibles issued over six decades. Continue reading “Career In Cards: Al Arbour”

Remembering the 1990 Chicago Hockey Show

Twenty-five years ago today was the first — and last — Chicago Hockey Show. This two-day, noting-but-hockey event was truly ahead of its time, almost two decades before the Chicago Blackhawks started holding their own annual summertime convention. Held on August 25 and 26, 1990, the Chicago Hockey Show gave fans an opportunity to meet and get autographs from current and former ‘Hawks players. There was a dealer room that was focused almost exclusively on hockey memorabilia, from game-used jerseys to hockey cards.

And speaking of hockey cards, Pro Set was on-hand, giving out samples from their forthcoming 1990-91 hockey set several weeks before you could buy the cards.

As a young hockey fan in 1990, the Chicago Hockey Show was almost too good to be true.

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Who Will Be Named the Chicago Blackhawks’ Next Assistant Captain?

It lasted seven years, but to most Chicago Blackhawks fans, it felt like forever. Since 2008, the Blackhawks’ leadership core has consisted of the same three players: Jonathan Toews serving as the team captain, along with Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp as alternate captains.

But that will change now that Sharp has been traded to the Dallas Stars. This begs the question, who will assume the role of the second assistant captain for the Blackhawks? NHL rules stipulate that all teams have one captain and two assistant captains (or three assistant captains) in the lineup, so someone has to fill Sharp’s skates as Keith’s fellow A-bearer.

Until the team makes an announcement, here is a look at the leading candidates for this job opening.

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The 5 Worst Trades in Blackhawks History

Chicago Blackhawks’ General Manager Stan Bowman has had a busy summer, attempting to get the team under the salary cap before the start of the 2015-16 season. Some popular players were offloaded to create cap space: first, rising star Brandon Saad, followed by All-Star winger Patrick Sharp. These trades won’t be fondly remembered by ‘Hawks fans in the years to come, but they are from far the worst moves the team has ever made.

During the Blackhawks’ 89-year history, the team has made several trades that looked bad from the get-go. These moves were usually made because of personality conflicts with the coach or short-sightedness by management, with devastating effects in the years to come. Here are the five worst trades in Blackhawks’ history.

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Puck Junk Podcast #6 – July 1, 2015

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Podcast #6 is way overdue, but Tim (@TheRealDFG) and Sal (@PuckJunk) finally get around to talking about the end of the 2014-15 season. This week’s topics are:

The Chicago Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup Championship and Duncan Keith winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP (0:01 to 7:07)
The 2015 NHL Awards, including discussion about the Masterton, Lady Byng and Messier Award winners (7:08 to 22:30 — we reference this article here)
The 2015 NHL Draft — why it was (or wasn’t) worth watching (22:31 to 42:00)

Total time is 42 minutes, so hit play, make yourself a sandwich and enjoy!

PODCAST INTRO AND ENDING MUSIC CREDITS:

“Iron Bacon” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

7 Incredibly Stupid Blackhawks Items

Chicago Blackhawks’ merchandise has finally reached the tipping point, plummeting into absurdity. When I started watching hockey in 1989, it was nearly impossible to find a Blackhawks t-shirt in Chicago. Twenty-six years and three Stanley Cup Championships later, you can hardly walk ten feet without seeing Blackhawks t-shirts, towels or temporary tattoos for sale somewhere. One side effect of the team’s success is that the Blackhawks will now license ANY item, no matter how incredibly stupid it is. Here are seven officially-licensed ‘Hawks items that left me scratching my head, wondering why any team would be OK with their logo adorning these.

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Building the 2015 Chicago Blackhawks: An Interactive Timeline

*Click tbe above image to activate timeline. Not working? Click here or here.*

The Chicago Blackhawks are a modern-era dynasty, winning the Stanley Cup three times in six years. The journey started way back in 2002, when the team selected defenseman — and future Conn Smythe Trophy winner — Duncan Keith in the NHL Entry Draft.

Solid drafting has been the key to Chicago’s success. Of the 25 players who suited up for the Blackhawks in the 2015 playoffs, 12 were drafted between 2002 and 2013, while seven were acquired in trades and six others were signed as free agents.

For more detail on how this dynasty was crafted, plus a recap of how every player contributed to the ‘Hawks latest championship, check out this interactive timeline. ■

An interview with Michael Rigitano, creator of the Bottle Cap Stanley Cup

Blackhawks fans are a passionate bunch, so it takes something above and beyond your typical jersey or face paint to stand out in this sea of red. But lifelong ‘Hawks fan Michael Rigitano is anything but typical. After the team won the Stanley Cup in 2010, he exceeded the normal boundaries of fandom and descended into something much deeper. On a dare, he built a life-size replica of Lord Stanley’s Cup — using bottle caps. Many, many thousands of bottle caps.

Since then, the Bottle Cap Stanley Cup has had a life of its own. Rigitano — a college student who also teaches children and adults how to play hockey — and his trophy were guests at the United Center and have appeared on TV, on the radio and in newspapers around Chicago. His creation helped raise money for breast cancer research at a Chicago Steel (USHL) game. The NHL even arranged for the “Cap Cup,” as he calls it, to be photographed with the real deal.

I spoke with Rigitano to learn what drove him to undertake such a monumental task.

Sal Barry: I’m going to just cut right to it — why did you make a replica of the Stanley Cup out of bottle caps?

Michael Rigitano:. I was working in a bar in 2010. It all started with a ten dollar bet that I couldn’t make a Stanley Cup out of bottle caps. I ended up winning that money. Continue reading “An interview with Michael Rigitano, creator of the Bottle Cap Stanley Cup”

Free Hawks rally tickets hawked on eBay

The plan for this year’s Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup victory parade and subsequent rally was flawed from the get-go.

First, the parade is on a Thursday. A Thursday! Who wants to call in sick to work on Thursday, only to come back to work on Friday and pretend they’re still nursing a summer cold?

The other problem is that the rally afterward is a ticketed event at Soldier Field, home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears. The rally tickets were free through the Ticketmaster website at noon Wednesday. The 75,000 available tickets sold out in 20 minutes, and — to the disappointment of many Blackhawks fans — were being scalped on eBay moments later. Continue reading “Free Hawks rally tickets hawked on eBay”