Rocky Wirtz, the Chicago Blackhawks owner who helped turn the franchise into an NHL power, dies at 70

Rocky Wirtz, the team chairman who oversaw the revitalization of the Chicago Blackhawks from a laughingstock into a Stanley Cup power, died Tuesday, the team announced. He was 70.

“It is with deep sadness that the Chicago Blackhawks organization joins the Wirtz Family in mourning the sudden passing of our Chairman W. Rockwell ‘Rocky’ Wirtz today,” the Hawks said in a statement.

Wirtz took over the team after his father, Bill, died in September 2007. It came as a surprise that Rocky took over the Hawks instead of his brother Peter, who had served as team vice president and worked for the franchise for about two decades.

But after Bill Wirtz’s death, Peter, who was in deep mourning over his father, announced he was leaving the team and Rocky would take control — even though Rocky had shown little interest before Bill’s death.

He wasted little time in remaking the Hawks on and off the ice.

“Rocky almost immediately restored the passion and following of this storied Original Six franchise,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement Tuesday. “Rocky’s focus on connecting with the club’s fans and improving the team’s performance on the ice rekindled Chicago fans’ love affair with their hockey team and built a modern dynasty.

“On a personal level, Rocky was a dear friend whose counsel I consistently sought. He was a highly respected member of the Executive Committee of the League’s Board of Governors whose wisdom and camaraderie were valued by his fellow owners.”

Bulls and White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement that he was “personally devastated” by the “shocking news.”

“We were far more than partners at the United Center,” Reinsdorf said. “He was a dear friend and our trust, our bond, was unbreakable. We never had a disagreement or argument during all of our many years together.

“Everyone liked Rocky. He was smart, passionate, generous, personable and friendly. ... He was so very proud of the Stanley Cup championships and what those trophies meant to the organization, the city and the fans.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson in a statement called Wirtz “a champion in every sense of the word.”

“He exemplified class and excellence at every turn,” said Johnson, who said Wirtz would give “a United Center security officer or parking attendant the same amount of respect he would offer a fellow magnate or CEO.”

Bill Wirtz, known derisively as “Dollar Bill” for his penny-pinching ways, did not allow Hawks games to be broadcast on local television and attendance plummeted, resulting in the team having the second-lowest average ticket price in the league upon his death. In 2004, ESPN named the Hawks “The Worst Franchise in Professional Sports,” and Bill Wirtz, who inherited the team from his father, Arthur, was even booed — loudly — at the United Center after his death.

But Rocky Wirtz changed the franchise’s image in a hurry.

“We had to be decisive,” Wirtz told Chicago Magazine in 2008. “We had to be quick. And we had to do things that were dramatic.”

Wirtz inherited a team that was bleeding money — Bill Wirtz told the Toronto Star in 2007 the team had lost $191 million over 10 years — so change had to happen quickly.

“I couldn’t understand it,” Rocky Wirtz told Chicago Magazine. “If I could ask (my father) one question, I’d ask him, Why? He was a superb businessman, and other stuff wasn’t this way.”

Wirtz lured John McDonough away from the Cubs to become president and CEO and overhaul the Hawks’ marketing efforts to help increase attendance. Wirtz also reached out to several Hawks alumni who had been out of touch with the organization during Bill Wirtz’s tenure, including Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita.

Wirtz and McDonough immediately put Hawks games on local television, and McDonough also secured radio broadcasting rights.

Those moves coincided with a rejuvenation of the Hawks on the ice. They used high draft picks to select Jonathan Toews (the No. 3 pick in 2006) and Patrick Kane (the No. 1 pick in 2007). Their emergence alongside winger Patrick Sharp, acquired in 2005 in a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers, and defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook ushered in a new age of hockey on the West Side.

By 2009, just a year and a half after Bill Wirtz’s death, the Hawks were back in the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Forbes Magazine dubbed the Hawks’ revitalization the “Greatest Sports-Business Turnaround Ever” in 2009.

“I am not familiar with this kind of massive turnaround that occurred in a blink of an eye,” Marc Ganis, then president of Sportscorp, a sports-business consultancy, told Forbes in 2009. “It’s arguably the most remarkable turnaround in the history of sports in the United States.”

The Hawks’ season-ticket base jumped from 3,400 to 14,000 by that year and they led the league in attendance.

That offseason, Wirtz made one of the biggest moves of his tenure and gave the go-ahead to sign free agent Marian Hossa to a 12-year, $63.3 million contract, a deal that might never have happened under Wirtz’s frugal father. It signaled that the Hawks and Wirtz would spare no expense in the effort to bring a Stanley Cup back to Chicago.

In 2010, the Hawks captured their first Stanley Cup since 1961 when they beat the Flyers in six games. It would be the first of three Stanley Cups they would win in six seasons during that decade. They boasted hundreds of consecutive sellouts at the United Center and enjoyed surging TV ratings.

But behind the scenes, the Hawks were not the model franchise depicted during their 2010 Stanley Cup run.

In May 2021, former prospect Kyle Beach sued the team, alleging negligence over a claim former video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted him. In October of that year, law firm Jenner & Block released its finding after investigating Beach’s claims. The firm found that Hawks upper management — including McDonough, Stan Bowman, Kevin Cheveldayoff and coach Joel Quenneville — failed to act on Beach’s sexual assault claim until after the championship was secured.

Wirtz said he was unaware of the 2010 allegations until the lawsuit was filed in 2021.

“If we had, we certainly wouldn’t be standing here today,” he said.

During a February 2022 town hall, Wirtz bristled at questions about the incident that were directed at Danny Wirtz, Rocky’s son and Blackhawks CEO.

“I’m going to answer the question, not him,” Rocky Wirtz interjected. “I think the report speaks for itself. The people that were involved are no longer here. We’re not looking back at 2010, we’re looking forward and we’re not going to talk about 2010.”

Wirtz also sparred with Tribune reporter Phil Thompson over the outlet’s sports section.

“I didn’t realize you were in our ticket department,” Wirtz said when asked about how the scandal impacted ticket sales. “Come on, come on. Let’s talk about all the negative stuff. Let’s talk about the paper and what the sports page looks like. Should I do that? And you can’t even get our late scores?”

Wirtz later apologized for his outburst, but not after it drew plenty of attention and criticism.

In 2017, the Hawks completed construction on a new practice facility Wirtz and the team funded near the United Center. The facility cost $55 million and features two NHL-size rinks. Wirtz wanted the facility for use by players and youth leagues around the Chicago area along with serving as an updated state-of-the-art practice facility for the Hawks, who formerly practiced at Johnny’s IceHouse West.

Before taking control of the Hawks, Wirtz ran the family’s beverage business, Wirtz Beverage Group. In 2016, the Wirtz Beverage Group merged with New-York based Charmer Sunbelt to form Breakthru Beverage Group, which at one time was the third-largest alcohol distributor in the U.S.

“To be honest, (Rocky) is very deferential,” Danny Wirtz told the Tribune in 2016. “This is his approach with the executives who work for him. … He does not believe in micromanagement. He hires good people and lets them run.”

During his tenure with the Hawks, Wirtz largely maintained a low profile in the public eye.

“Club presidents aren’t in the business of being loved by fans,” Wirtz told Chicago Magazine. “I learned that from my father.”

Wirtz is survived by his wife, Marilyn; children Danny Wirtz (Anne), Hillary Wirtz (Erin Quaglia), Kendall Murphy (Brendan) and Elizabeth Queen (Joe Barley); and six grandchildren, the Hawks said.