2006 Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are back and working hard to give its fans a memorable season, and you’ll want tickets to the United Center to cheer them on! The Chicago Blackhawks had difficulty last season, finishing far behind the Detroit Red Wings, who dominated not just the Central Division but also the entire National Hockey League. This season brings with it exciting new talents like Jonathan Toews and Lasse Kukkonen, which may be just what the Blackhawks need to make a solid showing in 2006-2007.

The Blackhawks still have goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who helped take Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in the season before the NHL’s year-long absence, and Coach Trent Yawney and ’Hawks fans have hopes that he’ll reach that potential again. A couple of acquisitions from the Ottawa Senators, forwards Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski, should punch up the offense.

Will this be the year the youngsters on the team hit their stride? Get your Chicago Blackhawks tickets, see the lightning fast NHL action, and judge for yourself.

The Blackhawks were originally formed as the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Hockey League. In 1926, the year the NHL expanded from seven to ten teams and divided into two divisions--the American and the Canadian--Major Frederic McLaughlin purchased the club and moved it from Portland, Oregon, to Chicago. He renamed the team the Blackhawks after the 33rd Machine Gun Battalion of the United States Army's Blackhawk Division, which he had commanded during World War I (1914-1918).

The Blackhawks were a powerful team in the NHL in the 1930s, winning the Stanley Cup championship in 1934 and 1938. During the 1960s and early 1970s the team was led by Bobby Hull at left wing and Stan Mikita at center, and Chicago advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals five times. In the 1960s Hull and Mikita each earned two Hart Memorial Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player (MVP).

A team featuring four future Hall of Fame members skated its way to Chicago's third Stanley Cup title in 1961 under the direction of head coach Rudy Pilous. Goalie Glenn Hall and defenseman Pierre Pilote anchored the team's strong defense, and Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita directed the offense. Tony Esposito, another eventual Hall of Fame inductee, took over as goalie in 1969. The Blackhawks competed in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1962, losing to the Maple Leafs, and in 1965, 1971, and 1973, losing to the Canadiens.

Chicago was one of the NHL's steadiest teams in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, consistently qualifying for the playoffs. During the 1980s center Denis Savard was a top scorer, and Doug Wilson became one of the league's toughest defensemen. In both 1991 and 1993 Ed Belfour earned the Vezina Trophy as the league's outstanding goalie. In 1993 and 1996 Chris Chelios earned the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's outstanding defenseman. Also in the early 1990s, center Jeremy Roenick was an essential high-scoring member of the Blackhawks' offense.

In 1992 Chicago reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 19 years. Belfour backed the strongest defense in the conference. In the playoffs the Blackhawks set a single-season playoff record by winning 11 consecutive games. In the championship round, however, Chicago lost to the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.