chicago blackhawks history
chicago blackhawks history
Chicago Blackhawks tickets and seats in the United Center will give Blackhawks fans a view of a rebuilding team in the 2005-2006 season. The Blackhawks, coming off one of their poorest seasons of all time, finishing dead last with a 20-43-11 record, look to rebuild to the heydays of the mid 70’s, when the likes of Bobby Hull, and Tony Esposito wore the Blackhawks jerseys. The Blackhawks started their rebuilding efforts with a few trades before the deadline, shipping off veteran Steve Sullivan and team captain Alexi Zhamnov. Now with new team captain Adrian Aucion and right defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, The Hawks will look to up the defensive intensity and put Chicago hockey back on the map.
For a span of 28 years, the Chicago Blackhawks were a playoff- caliber team. From 1970 to 1997, the Chicago Blackhawks were in the playoff hunt and always in the race for the Stanley Cup. Although always a possibility, the Cup has eluded this well-decorated franchise since 1961. Five trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, with the most recent coming back in 1992, have failed to give the Blackhawks another title.
Leading the list of top Blackhawks players is Bobby Hull. Hull led the 1961 team to the Stanley Cup and was the first player to score 50 goals in a season in 1966. Nicknamed the “Golden Jet” for his incredible speed and accuracy of his feared 120-mph slapshot, Hull achieved this feat when he and teammate Stan Mikita were the first players to curve their hockey sticks. The curved stick allowed the player to keep in contact with the puck for a longer time and increase the velocity behind the shot.
Hull won the Art Ross Memorial Trophy in 1960, 1962, and 1966 for being the NHL’s scoring champion. He also won the Hart Trophy for being the league MVP in 1965, and 1966. Among Hull’s other honors were the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1965 for outstanding sportsmanship and the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1969 for outstanding service to American hockey. To honor one of the greatest players to lace up hockey skates, the Golden Jet was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.
During the latter part of Hull’s career, the Blackhawks brought in rookie goaltender Tony Esposito. As a member of the Blackhawks, Esposito won the Calder Trophy for being the most outstanding rookie in 1970 and also won the Vezina Trophy for being the top goaltender in the league in 1970, 1972, and 1974. In his first year guarding the net, Esposito posted a modern-day record of 15 shutouts. Playing in the summit series against the Soviets, Esposito was the first American to earn a victory against the high-powered Soviet team. Esposito retired from the game in 1985 and was enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.
Chicago Blackhawks tickets, rich in history with the likes of Esposito and Hull, offer NHL fans a chance to witness a new history of success. Bolstered by the addition of Adrian Aucoin and Jarosov Spacek, a new roster means a new chapter in Blackhawks history and another season of excitement for NHL fans with Chicago Blackhawks tickets.
