Rocky Wirtz of Wirtz Corporation owns the Chicago Blackhawks. Rocky took over the ownership after his father Bill Wirtz passed away in 2007.
In addition to serving as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the NHL, Bill Wirtz was the team president of the Blackhawks for 41 years.
The franchise story for Chicago Blackhawks started in 1926 when they were announced as one of the "Original Six" NHL teams alongside the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Detroit Reg Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadiens.
Late Frederic McLaughlin, who became notorious for firing many coaches during his tenure, was the original owner of the Blackhawks. His era ran from 1926-44, whereby McLaughlin led the Hawks to two Stanley Cup titles in 1934 and 1938.
Then, James Norris ownership took over from 1944-66, followed by the Arthur Wirtz era from 1966-83 and the Bill Wirtz era from 1983-2007.
Chicago has won six Stanley Cup titles in their history, with the latest triumph coming in 2015. Likewise, they have 4 Conference championships, 2 Presidents' Trophy, and 16 Division championships to date.
Rockford Icehogs in the American Hockey League and the Indy Fuel in the ECHL are the minor league affiliates of the Blackhawks franchise.
Owner Of Chicago Blackhawks
William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz has been the Chicago Blackhawks owner since 2007. Rocky also serves as the president of Wirtz Corporation.
Rocky inherited the Hawks' ownership in 2007 upon the demise of his father. William Rockwell became only the 5th principal owner in the highly enriched history of the franchise. He also serves as alternate Governor to the National Hockey League.
Apart from serving as the chairman of the Blackhawks, Rocky also looks after commercial and real estate companies of the Wirtz Corporation.
Moreover, Writz is the co-chairman of Breakthru Beverage Group, the third-largest wine, spirits, and beer distributor in the US and Canada. He has received the Chicago Innovation Award, Wholesaler of the Year, and several other accolades.
Rocky also represents the family ownership of the United Center, the home arena for the Hawks alongside Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
The Blackhawks have won three Stanley Cup titles in his tenure, while the franchise had an estimated value of $1.5 billion on December 2022.
Chicago Blackhawks Coaching Staff
The Blackhawks coaching staff includes:
- Luke Richardson - Head Coach
- Kevin Dean - Assistant Coach
- Derek King - Assistant Coach
- Derek Plante - Assistant Coach
- Jimmy Waite - Goaltending Coach
- Adam Gill - Assistant Video Coach
- Matt Meacham - Assistant Video Coach
- Paul Goodman - Strength & Conditioning Coach
- Christian Burrus - Developmental Strength & Conditioning Coach
- Patrick Becker - Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach
- Dr. Michael Terry - Head Team Physician
- Mike Gapski - Head Athletic Trainer
- Jeffrey Allen Thomas - Assistant Athletic Trainer
- Dr. Peter Kadushin - Mental Performance Coach
- Samantha Leavens - Mental Performance Coach
Head Coach Luke Richardson
The former NHL defenseman Luke Richardson was announced as the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks on June 27, 2022.
Richardson is the 40th head coach in the franchise's history. In his first stint as the head coach, Luke replaced Derek King for the esteemed job.
Following a lengthy 21-season career in the National Hockey League, Richardson bid adieu to his professional playing career in 2008. He was picked 7th overall by Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft.
The 6 feet 4 inches tall defenseman later went on to play for Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators in the league.
Richardson then embarked on a coaching journey with Ottawa Senators during the 2009-10 season as an assistant coach to Cory Clouston.
After three seasons in the role with Ottawa, he joined the franchise's AHL affiliate Binghamton Senators as head coach. Luke was then hired by the New York Islanders as an assistant coach on May 18, 2017.
One year later, Richardson joined Montreal Canadiens as an assistant coach. He even temporarily served as the head coach during the Stanley Cup match against the Vegas Golden Knights, with Dominique Ducharme entering isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.
After serving four seasons with the Canadiens, Luke took over the head coach role for the Blackhawks. During the announcement ceremony, he expressed deep honor to coach an original six franchise like Chicago Blackhawks.
Chicago Blackhawks General Manager
Kyle Davidson was named the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks on March 1, 2022. Davidson is currently in his 13th season with the organization.
Actually, Kyle was previously named the interim general manager on October 2021 following the resignation of former GM Stan Bowman.
Having made some tough decisions trading away Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach during his first stint as the GM, dealing away Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers in February earlier this year made even bigger headlines.
With the 2023 draft scheduled to begin on June 28, Davidson would be looking to build the strong Chicago roster on the highly rated NHL prospect Connor Bedard. After winning the first overall lottery pick, Kyle did not shy away from expressing his happiness.
His career with the Blackhawks started in the summer of 2010 as a hockey operations intern and kept on gradually climbing up the ranks within the organization.
Career Timeline of Kyle Davidson
- Hockey Analytics/Video Analyst - 2010
- Hockey Administration Coordinator - 2011
- Hockey Operations Manager - 2015
- Senior Manager of Hockey Operations - 2017
- Assistant GM - 2018
- Interim General Manager - 2021
- Full-time General Manager - 2022
Chicago Blackhawks Roster 2023
The 2023 Chicago Blackhawks roster along with their playing position are listed below:
- Petr Mrazek - Goalie
- Alex Stalock - Goalie
- Caleb Jones - Defensemen
- Connor Murphy - Defensemen
- Jarred Tinordi - Defensemen
- Andreas Englund - Defensemen
- Wyatt Kaiser - Defensemen
- Seth Jones - Defensemen
- Nikita Zaitsev - Defensemen
- Andreas Athanasiou - Center
- Anders Bjork - Left Wing
- Colin Blackwell - Center
- Jason Dickinson - Center
- MacKenzie Entwistle - Right Wing
- Nick Foligno - Left Wing
- Cole Guttman - Center
- Taylor Hall - Left Wing
- Reese Johnson - Center
- Tyler Johnson - Center
- Boris Katchouk - Left Wing
- Jujhar Khaira - Left Wing
- Philipp Kurashev - Center
- Taylor Raddysh - Right Wing
- Jonathan Toews (C) - Center
- Austin Wagner - Left Wing
Captain Jonathan Toews spent 19 seasons with the Blackhawks since 2007-08. The ice hockey center was picked 3rd overall by Chicago in the 2006 NHL draft. Toews led the Hawks to three Stanley Cup championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
After signing a two-year extension contract with the franchise on 7 June 2023, Andreas Athanasiou will hope to build on from the last season. Athanasiou played the most games (81) for the Blackhawks in the 2022-23 season.
Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock are the registered goaltenders while Seth Jones will once again lead the defense line alongside Connor Murphy.
Possible Draft Additions For Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks have a total of 11 picks, including six in the first 55 selections in the upcoming 2023 NHL draft. While they have the first pick sorted on Connor Bedard, it will be quite interesting to see their remaining selections.
The picks available for the Hawks are listed below:
- Round 1, No. 1
- Round 1, No. 19
- Round 2, No. 35
- Round 2, No. 44
- Round 2, No. 51
- Round 2, No. 55
- Round 3, No. 67
- Round 3, No. 93
- Round 4, No. 99
- Round 5, No. 131
- Round 7, No. 195
