NYT: When Ownership Changed in 2007, So Did the Blackhawks

Improving a franchise can be tough work.

Now imagine your franchise is barreling down some ice with blades strapped to its feet and sweaty men missing teeth doing their best to slam it into a wall. Welcome to the Blackhawks franchise.

Chicago’s pro hockey team just won its third Stanley Cup in six years, and many are wondering just what turned the team around from its less-than-glorious recent past. While new players and coaching staff were vital factors, The New York Times made the case that change in ownership was the true catalyst.

Once ownership passed from Bill Wirtz – the roundly disliked longtime owner – to his son Rocky Wirtz, it represented a changing of the guard. The younger Wirtz went to work reversing many of the unpopular policies his father had enacted while also focusing on modernizing the franchise’s marketing efforts.

From fans booing the previous owner when he would attend games to the club becoming one of the most popular in the NHL, it’s clear that shaking things up played a major role in the Blackhawks’ reversal of fortune.

It’s also a solid reminder that any franchise can be improved by making the right changes, whether that includes a change of ownership, increased marketing or simply revisiting policies that may be unpopular.