2008 Chicago Blackhawks

Ok, so maybe the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t have quite the 2007-08 season everyone was hoping for, but that’s old news. The Blackhawks are starting the 2008-09 season with plenty of excitement about their resurgence. One writer actually used the word “renaissance” to describe the team – now how often is that word used when talking about sports? The Blackhawks have a lot to be excited about: right winger Patrick Kane recently won the Calder Trophy, new team captain Jonathan Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith are developing into bona-fide superstars and the team scored big with the additions of Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet, the most coveted defenseman and goalie of the unrestricted free agents. It looks like the Hawks are finally back in contention for the Stanley Cup, which they haven’t won since 1961. Blackhawks' fans have been waiting for this for decades, and with all the buzz the team’s “renaissance” is generating, tickets to United Center are sure to go in record time. Get your tickets now and watch the Chicago Blackhawks return to glory in the 2008-09 season!

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.