The Chicago Blackhawks, an American professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, were founded in 1926 and have been a fixture in the city's sports scene ever since. Originally known as the Black Hawks (two words), the team is one of the NHL’s Original Six, and currently, the only one of the six to play in the Western Conference. Local fans often refer to them as simply “the Hawks.”
Early Years and Stanley Cup Success
The team came to Chicago in 1926 when Major Frederick McLaughlin, a local coffee millionaire, purchased the Western Canadian Hockey League's Portland (Oregon) Rosebuds and moved the team to Chicago, renaming them the Blackhawks after his former army division. Army, was the original owner of the team. Army, officially the 86th Infantry. The Blackhawks won Stanley Cups in 1934 and 1938.
For most of the Chicago Blackhawks history, home games were played in the Chicago Stadium on Chicago’s West Side. In 1929 the team moved into Chicago Stadium, which was then the largest indoor sporting venue in the world, and it would serve as the team’s home until 1994. The Stadium was torn down in 1994 and replaced by the United Center, where the Blackhawks (and Chicago Bulls) have played since.
Originally known as the Black Hawks (the spelling was changed to “Blackhawks” in 1986 to match the original NHL paperwork), the team had some early success, with Stanley Cup wins in the 1933-34 and 1937-38 seasons. The Black Hawks returned to the Stanley Cup finals in 1943-44 but were swept in four games by the Montreal Canadiens.
Because McLaughlin was obsessed with the idea of an all-American team, many of the Blackhawks' players during the 1930s were Americans from Minnesota, which outraged some Canadians. Despite the presence of many talented players, the 1940s and 1950s were dismal years for the Blackhawks, who finished in last place nearly every season and made the playoffs only once.
Read also: Features of Custom Hockey Gloves
Renaissance in the 1960s and Beyond
As part of a rebuilding effort, team ownership brought General Manager Tommy Ivan to Chicago from the Detroit Red Wings in the 1950s. The 1960s was a period of renaissance for Chicago as squads featuring future Hall of Famers Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Glen Hall, and Pierre Pilote advanced to three Stanley Cup finals and won the franchise’s third title with an underdog win over the Detroit Red Wings to cap off the 1960-61 season. The Blackhawks developed into a formidable force during the 1960s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1961, finishing first in 1967, and reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1961-62 and 1964-65.
In the 1969-70 season the Black Hawks acquired goaltender Tony Esposito, who would go on to set the franchise record with 418 wins and be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 1969-70 season also marked the beginning of 28 consecutive playoff berths for the franchise, the second longest streak of postseason play in NHL history. They soon entered into the worst stretch of play in team history, finishing every season but two between 1946-47 and 1956-57 at the bottom of the NHL standings.
Despite the team’s failure to capture the Stanley Cup, the streak featured a number of high points. Over the course of those 28 years, however, the team advanced to just three Stanley Cup finals, losing on each occasion. Notably, Mikita, Hull, Esposito, and Keith Magnuson anchored a Black Hawk team that lost a dramatic seven-game Stanley Cup final to a dominant Canadiens team in 1970-71. The Black Hawks returned to the finals two years later, but again they were defeated by Montreal. The team finished atop their division seven times in the 1970s.
Led by longtime coach Billy Reay, the Blackhawks enjoyed first-place finishes in 1969-70 and 1970-71 and made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1970-71 and 1972-73. After a gradual rebuilding process during the 1980s, the team enjoyed a resurgence during the 1990s, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1991-92 and finishing first in the NHL in 1992-93.
Chicago added popular players Jeremy Roenick and Ed Belfour in 1988, who then guided the (now single-named) Blackhawks to the Presidents’ Trophy (as the team with the best regular-season record) in 1990-91 and to the Stanley Cup finals in 1991-92, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games.
Read also: The story of Craig Needham
The Blackhawks continued their decades-long playoff streak through the 1996-97 season, when the team finished fifth (of six) in their division and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Starting in 1997-98, the Blackhawks would fail to reach the playoffs for 10 seasons, with one exception: 2001-02, when the team fell to the St. Louis Blues in the conference quarterfinals.
Toews, Kane, Quenneville, and three Stanley Cups
Patrick Kane And Jonathan Toews Go After Sebastian Aho For Hit From Behind At Conclusion Of Game
 skating toward Andrew Ference of the Boston Bruins during the Stanley Cup finals in Boston, June 2013)
The team struggled through most of the first decade of the 21st century, as the Blackhawks’ ownership made personnel decisions that did not translate into success on the ice and alienated a large swath of its fan base. But changes to team management-including the hiring of Joel Quenneville as head coach a few games into the 2008-09 season-and roster moves that focused on young talent-notably center Jonathan Toews and right wing Patrick Kane-resulted in the Blackhawks’ returning to the playoffs in 2008-09 after a five-season absence.
The team advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the 2009-10 season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games to end a 49-year championship drought. But the team followed this Stanley Cup win with two straight first-round playoff losses. In 2012-13 the Blackhawks won another Presidents’ Trophy by posting the best record in the league during a lockout-shortened campaign, which included an NHL-record 24 consecutive games without a regulation loss to start the season. They advanced to the Stanley Cup finals during the postseason, notably defeating the rival Red Wings along the way in a seven-game conference semifinals series that Chicago trailed three games to one.
In the particularly dramatic finals, the Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in six games. Three games went into overtime-including a triple-overtime game one-and the Blackhawks won game six by scoring two goals in the final 1:16 of play to overcome a one-goal deficit. The following season the Blackhawks again advanced to the conference finals, where the team faced the Los Angeles Kings in that best-of-seven series for the second consecutive year.
However, Chicago’s run of late-in-the-series heroics (the team was undefeated in its previous 13 games five, six, and seven) ended, and the Kings eliminated the Blackhawks in overtime of game seven. The Blackhawks made it to the conference finals for the third consecutive year during the 2014-15 season and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals by winning a seven-game series against the Anaheim Ducks. Chicago then won a third Stanley Cup in six years, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in a six-game series in which no team had more than a one-goal lead until the final period of play.
Read also: Inside Aaron Ness's Career
A Slump and Struggles in the 2020s
 and Dylan DeMelo of the San Jose Sharks pursuing the puck during a game in Chicago, February 2016.)
Despite the generally strong postseason play by the Chicago teams of this era, the Blackhawks were on the losing side of the first sweep of a top-seeded team by an eighth-seeded team in NHL history when they fell to the Nashville Predators in four straight games during the opening round of the 2016-17 playoffs. The team’s play fell off precipitously in 2017-18, as the Blackhawks posted a losing record and failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2007-08. Quenneville was fired as head coach early in the 2018-19 season.
The team returned to playoffs in the 2019-20 season, which was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but lost in the first round. In December 2020 Toews was sidelined due to health issues; he struggled to return in following years, suggesting long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome were contributing factors, and left the NHL in 2023. For the next three seasons, the Blackhawks finished at or near the bottom of their division.
The team’s poor performance helped to put them into position to secure the first pick in the 2023 draft, and they selected Connor Bedard, considered the most promising young player to enter the NHL in years. During the 2023-24 season, Bedard was Chicago’s top scorer and led all NHL rookies in points when he was sidelined with a broken jaw; a few weeks later the team broke the franchise record of 19 consecutive road-game losses.
Controversies
In 2021 the Blackhawks were sued by a former player who, in 2010, had accused the team’s video coach of sexual assault. An independent investigation subsequently concluded that team officials, including head coach Joel Quenneville, had mishandled the claims, and the general manager resigned before the start of the 2021-22 season.
Activists and others have criticized the team’s name and logos as racist caricatures that harm Native people by reinforcing stereotypes. The team’s primary logo, which depicts a head in profile with feathers in the person’s hair, has been used on its jerseys, with minimal changes, since it began play in 1926. The Blackhawks’ alternate logo includes a pair of crossed tomahawks.
Chief Black Hawk was honored with an enduring legacy by the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during WWI, which was nicknamed the Blackhawk Division. The battalion’s Major Frederick McLaughlin went on to start the professional hockey team of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1926 in honor of the men he served with in WWI. Army’s 86th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Blackhawk Division, of which the team’s founder was a member.
For many years there was a lack of engagement with the Native community surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks team’s logo and name. Discussions with the Native community finally began 2010 between William Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz, the principal owner and chairman of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, and Trickster Cultural Center’s CEO, staff, and advisors. The American Indian Center of Chicago broke with the team in the 2010s, stating that it would “have no professional ties with the Blackhawks or any other organization that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.” Protesters painted “LAND BACK” on a sculpture topped by a representation of the logo outside the United Center in 2020.
Discussions held with the Blackhawks included talks about the stories of Native people, how to respect the culture, and the importance of the eagle feather staff. Also discussed was how to use cultural education by featuring Native Veterans, and the importance of discouraging the more than 300 fans that would dress up in inappropriate costumes for the games before the education process started. The partnership between the Trickster Cultural Center and the Chicago Blackhawks continues today, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2020.
With the support of our programs and services to the community, as well as continued cultural education from the Trickster Cultural Center, this partnership’s success continues to grow and develop in a careful and strategic method of moving forward together. The Chicago Blackhawks Charities supports programming at Trickster Cultural Center, including cultural education programs that showcase the history of Native Americans with interactive workshops, programming for all ages, cultural music and dance, and economic development for Native cultural art and artists. The Chicago Blackhawks have not requested endorsements or acknowledgment in exchange for their partnership with Trickster Cultural Center. Although we write this for educational purposes, this is not a formal endorsement; it is an offer to share cultural education and work together closely. We proudly share their logo, but more importantly, we share our tremendous progress together as a people and through our history.
The Chicago Blackhawks are different from other sports teams with Native American themed logos. For one, they do not have a mascot depicting anything Native. Setting the team apart further from other sports imagery controversies, the Blackhawks have been willing to engage with the Native community. When the Blackhawks were first contacted by Sally Wagoner, (then grant writer and nurse working with Joseph Podlasek), the team sent upper management to meet with them, taking the chance to have a dialogue with Native people seriously. In the second meeting, Trickster representatives had the honor of directly talking with the President as well as the Vice President of the team to discuss the challenges and positive relationship that could be built over time between this sports team and Native peoples.
The Chicago Blackhawks franchise has never misrepresented the image of Chief Black Hawk, nor have they ever used Native American mascots or disrespected Native American culture through the improper use of or presentation of regalia.
Who Was Black Hawk?
Despite objections, the team’s primary logo has proved enduringly popular within the sport. The Hockey News named it the NHL’s top-ranked logo in 2008 and 2014, and fans voted the team’s jersey the greatest ever in a 2018 online poll organized by the NHL. The Blackhawks jersey was also named the most popular in a 2024 poll of NHL players by The Athletic.
Black Hawk, or Mà-ka-tai-me-she-kià-kiàk, was a respected dignitary and proud leader for the Sauk tribe (present-day Sac & Fox). He committed his life to the preservation and protection of his people, his family and the land they were connected to. Born in 1767 in the village of Saukenuk, near present-day Rock Island, Illinois where the Rock River and Mississippi River meet, he was raised in then the largest village known along the Upper Mississippi, consisting of more than 100 lodges and some 5,000 residents.
Born near Rock Island, Illinois in 1767, Black Hawk was a leader and a warrior of the Sauk and Fox tribe. Though not a chief by birth, Black Hawk was the recognized leader of the political faction within the Sauk nation that believed in the old ways of life that existed before the Europeans came to America. Black Hawk, or Black Sparrow Hawk in direct translation from the Sauk language, was born into to the tribe's Thunder Clan, the warriors of the tribe related to the rain, the water, the birds and other entities of the Thunder Beings.
In 1804, a group of Sauk chiefs signed a treaty with the U.S. government, ceding large swaths of Sauk land along the Mississippi River - including Saukenuk. Black Hawk and other tribal members protested the treaty, arguing the chief was not in a position to sign it. Bureau for Indian Affairs cited the 1804 Treaty and ordered the Sauk people across the Mississippi River.
By this time, much of the Sauk tribespeople followed the leadership of Black Hawk's younger opponent, Keokuk, who was recognized for his moderation and cooperation as more of an ally for the relocation of the Sauk people. Believing the tribe could not possibly resist the United States by force, Keokuk and other likeminded chiefs agreed and moved out of Saukenuk. In 1831, Black Hawk and his followers crossed back across the Mississippi to reclaim their home in Illinois.
Local officials responded by sending troops to remove Black Hawk and the remaining Sauk people from Saukenuk. government's request, the Sauk continued to face discrimination in Iowa. Settlers violently harassed tribe members, shooting their livestock and disturbing gravesites. The next year, after a particularly harsh winter, Black Hawk led 400 warriors and their families back across the Mississippi River into Illinois, where they would plant corn for the coming year.
On Aug. 1, under a flag of truce, Black Hawk made an attempt to surrender to the forces aboard the steamboat "Warrior." The soldiers upon the boat opened fire, killing many of his followers. Black Hawk pleaded with his people to retreat with him north, convinced that safety lay among the Ho-Chunk and Ojibwe people. On Aug. forces massacred the remnants of Black Hawk's band with no discrimination for men, women or children. Soldiers killed most of the 400 remaining members of the group, scalping many of their bodies. After this massacre, only a few survivors remained to share their history. government held Black Hawk in captivity for several months.
While in custody, Black Hawk met with a government interpreter and dictated his life's story for publication. Published in 1833 as Life of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak or Black Hawk, Black Hawk's memoir was one of the first Native American autobiographies published in the United States. Among his many life accomplishments, Black Hawk earned the esteemed Eagle Feather - originally awarded to Sauk warriors for their heroics on the battlefield - for his efforts in defending his people.
After his release from captivity, Black Hawk lived the remainder of his life on tribal lands in Iowa until his death in 1838.
Additional Facts
- The team has 39 players and 10 builders of the sport in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- The biggest win for the Hawks was 12-0 over the Philadelphia Flyers in 1969.