Chicago Blackhawks chairman and principal owner Rocky Wirtz has passed away suddenly after a brief illness, according to a statement from the team. Wirtz was 70 years old.
The Wirtz family has consistently left an indelible mark on the Blackhawks, for better or for worse, and Rocky was no different. Under his ownership, the team was revitalized, to say the least – his choices to get Blackhawks home games back on local television after the team selected Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in back-to-back drafts helped regenerate a dying interest in the team, and fans’ passions were soon rewarded with three Stanley Cups in a six-year span (2010, 2013, 2015).
He oversaw the longest sustained period of success for Chicago in recent memory. The team reached the playoffs in nine straight seasons from 2009 to 2017 after the team went over a decade without winning a playoff series. Things were rough for Chicago in the last few seasons, however, and not just on the ice.
As Pope notes, Wirtz’s last public appearance came over a year ago when the team introduced new general manager Kyle Davidson – a press conference that came just over a month after Wirtz was criticized heavily for comments made during a town-hall discussion regarding the team’s involvement in the 2010 sexual assault scandal involving former video coach Brad Aldrich. He shut down reporters inquiring about the team’s steps forward from the incident and how to rectify the organization’s culture, telling the media it was “none of your business” while his son, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz, was trying to answer a question from The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. Wirtz immediately apologized for his wording, releasing a statement that read, “I want to apologize to the fans and those reporters, and I regret that my response overshadowed the great work this organization is doing to move forward.”
It’s unclear what the immediate path forward is for Blackhawks ownership, but the team will surely stay in the hands of the Wirtz family as they continue a rich family legacy in the city.
PHR sends our condolences to the Blackhawks organization and the Wirtz family.
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope initially reported Wirtz had passed away.