Did You Know
The '''Chicago Blackhawks''' are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They have won three Stanley Cup Championships and thirteen division titles since their founding in 1926. The Blackhawks are one of the Original Six NHL teams, along with the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings. Since 1994, the Blackhawks have played their home games at the United Center after having spent over 60 years playing at Chicago Stadium.
Franchise history
Founding
The Chicago Blackhawks joined the NHL in 1926 as part of the league's first wave of expansion into the United States. They were one of three American teams added that year, along with the Detroit Cougars (now the Detroit Red Wings) and New York Rangers. Most of the Hawks' original players came from the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Canada Hockey League, which had folded the previous season.[Diamond, Dan (1992). ''The Official National Hockey League Stanley Cup Centennial Book''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. 71.]
The Blackhawks' first owner was coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin. He had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I. This Division was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division", after a Native American of the Sauk nation, Chief Black Hawk, who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin evidently named the hockey team in honor of the military unit, making it one of many sports team names using Native Americans as icons. For many years, the name was spelled primarily "Black Hawks", but sometimes "Blackhawks", even by the club itself. This ambiguity was finally settled in the summer of 1986 when the club officially decided on the one-word version based on the spelling found in the original franchise documents.[Diamond, Dan (1991). ''The Official National Hockey League 75th anniversary commemorative book''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. 291. ISBN 0771067275]
McLaughlin took a very active role in running the team despite knowing very little about hockey. For most of his tenure as owner, he served as his own general manager. He was also very interested in promoting American hockey players, then very rare in professional hockey. Several of them, including Doc Romnes, Taffy Abel, Alex Levinsky, Mike Karakas, Cully Dahlstrom and numerous others, become staples with the club, and under McLaughlin, the Blackhawks were the first NHL team to field an all-American-born lineup.
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