The Chicago Blackhawks have been a professional hockey franchise for 100 years. Since 1950, one family has been front and center with the team.
The Wirtz family was given the keys after Arthur Wirtz bought a stake in the Hawks in 1950 and acquired ownership 16 years later via the Wirtz Corp. Bill Wirtz took over the team in 1983 upon Arthur’s death and remained in control until his death in 2007, when Rocky Wirtz became chairman.
Rocky was responsible for turning around an Original Six franchise that had become the punching bag of the NHL. And under his leadership, the Hawks won three Stanley Cup titles behind two certain Hall of Famers in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
His son, Danny, was the next man up in the Wirtz legacy after Rocky’s death in 2023. The inheritance of the franchise was sudden, but Danny has settled into his role.
“I’ve been growing up alongside this for so long that it feels very natural,” he said this week in an interview with the Tribune. “The specifics of the job, you learn as you go. (The) dust is settling now, so there is a little bit of comfort that comes to being in the seat for a few years, and we can now focus on continuing to get this ship on the right track.”
Just as Rocky had Kane and Toews to lead the rebuild, Danny finds himself in a similar scenario with Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, and Frank Nazar as budding stars. Danny wants to be himself, but his father looms large in his decision-making.
“My dad’s influence is pretty deep with me, and it’s a way of operating that I continue to be influenced by,” he said. “It’s as much about how he treats people, the relationships he builds, the time he spent with people, and those are the things that I try to emulate and try to do in my own way every day.”
The centennial celebration is the latest task for the team chairman and CEO, reliving 100 years of history and recognizing all of the players who skated through the ups and downs of the franchise’s storied past.
It started before the home opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Current and retired players walked the red carpet in front of hundreds of fans, and retired Hawks broadcaster Pat Foley unveiled the centennial banner before it was lifted to the United Center rafters.
Despite the last-second loss, Wirtz was proud of the event.
“I was well aware of all the plans but purposely did not get all the details,” he said. “I wanted to be surprised because I knew it was going to be great. I was so impressed from start to finish. It was a great way to start the season.”
While he has been around the team his whole life, Wirtz said helping with the centennial celebration has made him appreciate the Hawks and their history that much more.
“Our team has been talking a lot about the originality and the contributions the Blackhawks have made,” he said. “From the very first curved stick to the goal horn, these are all things that are now commonplace across the sport. The fact that they started with the Blackhawks or with the Chicago Stadium or whatever it might be is something I’m very proud of and is a great attribute to think about how we’ve contributed not just to Chicago, but to the sport of hockey.
“The perspective is an overwhelming sense of pride to think that our family’s been doing this for years. You think about the world and how much the world changed in all that period of time and that the Blackhawks remain this consistent part of the culture of Chicago and the culture of sports in people’s lives, (it’s) something I’m very proud of.”
Despite the team’s success under Rocky — the Hawks made the playoffs nine straight seasons from 2008-09 to 2016-17 and won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015 — they now have missed the postseason in seven of the last eight seasons, including five straight.
The downturn has affected attendance the last few years — the Hawks’ sellout streak ended in 2021 at 535 games. That held true in the home opener, which drew a crowd of 19,334, a few hundred short of United Center capacity despite the pomp.
Wirtz is hoping the 100-year celebration will help reverse the trend.
“There’s no question that anytime we do a celebration or a special event, those have all been well-attended.” he said. “At the same time, we also have a very exciting young team that’s on the ice every night.
“On one hand, we’re having this great retrospective celebration that gets people very excited. At the same time, the game that they’re coming to see is also quite exciting. We’re trying to balance both the historical and legacy piece with the current moment that we’re in, which we think is writing the next chapter of the Blackhawks.”
However the chapter unfolds, Wirtz knows he’s not alone.
“(Rocky’s) influence still looms very large over me every day, and I think about him often and try to channel all those great attributes he had while still trying to be my own person too,” Wirtz said. “I know he’s with me.”