About Chicago Blackhawks
Current NHL champions, Chicago Blackhawks were founded in 1926 and were part of the “Original Six” and the franchise has been quite successful through its life span winning 6 Stanley Cups, 15 divisional championships and winning the President’s Trophy twice along many other achievements and records that the team had set along their journey.
Blackhawks had some period of ups and downs when they first started that saw them being out of playoffs since mid-forties till late fifties with one exception and then having another lack of post season appearances since 1997-98 until 2007-08 with one exception but other than that the team was always in competition and their fans always showed their support in tickets sales where the Blackhawks have led since 2008-09 now.
The team are members of Central Division in Western Conference which produced 7 Stanley Cup winners since 1997, including three titles by the Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
The team’s colours are red, black and white and their official team mascot is children friendly Tommy Hawk.
The team is coached by well experienced ice hockey veteran Joel Quenneville, commonly known as coach Q. The former defenceman who retired from playing in 1991 became the Blackhawks coach in 2008 after having coached other teams and the tenure with the franchise elevated his career enormously as he became only third coach in NHL history with 700 wins in 2014 and cemented his name in history of the Chicago sports by winning three titles, after NFL’s George Halas and NBA’s Phil Jackson.
Goaltending duties belong to home grown talent, Corey Crawford who was drafted by the team in 2003 and started playing for them in 2006. Crawford had his ups and downs since his breakout rookie season but he seems to come out on top as he won two Stanley Cups with them as a starter. He was also awarded William M. Jennings Trophy twice for a goaltender that played for the team that allowed fewest goals. Once he earned it jointly with a teammate and the second one jointly with the Canadians goalie Price in 2014-15.
He is joined by another couple of home grown talents that make for a strong core of the team, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Nominated captain for the Blackhawks is center Toews who became the third youngest captain in NHL history when he was named the team’s captain after his outstanding rookie season 2007-08.
In 2010 he became the youngest member to join Triple Gold Club, which is a group for ice hockey players and coaches who won gold Olympic medal, a World Championship and the Stanley Cup. Toews who plays center has won many awards in his career for his extraordinary skills, one of them was the Conn Smythe Trophy (NHL MVP) in 2010.
Kane, who was drafted first overall in 2007 by the franchise and who plays as right wingman is another strong player who co-leads the team’s success as he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy three years after Toews when the franchise won its second title.
