The Rebuilding Blackhawks Are Trying to "Remember the Roar"

The current, rebuilding rendition of the Chicago Blackhawks is at the bottom of the NHL standings, even as rookie phenom Connor Bedard and other prospects provide some goals and hope. With a few exceptions, there hasn't been a lot on United Center ice for fans to get consistently loud about.

But when the Blackhawks were winning, they usually had a distinct home-ice advantage. That dates back with the rabid fans and thunderous vibe at the Chicago Stadium. Remember the roar? It was there even before cheering during the national anthem became a Chicago hockey trademark.

It can still get loud at the United Center, but it's a little more artificial these days. The Blackhawks don't overpower opponents with waves of rushes, forechecking pressure or sick stick-handling by the likes of Patrick Kane or Denis Savard. The volume on the pregame and game presentation over the arena speakers is ginned up like a pair of cheap headphones on an unfocused teenager with self-inflicted "ADD."

But the Blackhawks used to channel a natural, full-throated, fully-engaged fan energy at home.

The following The Hockey News story from Dec. 2, 1988 by Karlo Berkovich explains what it was like. 

We pulled it from THN Archive, an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 stories for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com

Readers also can gain access to the entire archive by subscribing to THN at thn.com/free and get free special edition. THN Money & Power is coming up: We have exclusive coverage with Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz in the edition.

Chicago Blackhawks will do almost anything to win on the road.

They’ll even import some of that raucous Chicago Stadium atmosphere.

“Last year,” said Chicago goalie Darren Pang, “Bob Murdoch tried taping the national anthem at home to try to get us intense in the locker room on the road. He played it in L.A., but we lost anyway. It was a great effort on his part, though.”

There was method to head coach Murdoch’s music.

Chicago was decent (21-17-2) at home last season and has not had a losing season before the rabid Stadium crowds since 1957-58, Bobby Hull’s rookie season. But in that same 30-season span, the Hawks were above .500 on the road only seven times.

Last year, the Hawks were 9-24-7 away from home—the 11th time in 12 years they finished under .500—and Murdoch was fired after Chicago lost to St. Louis in a five-game Norris Division semi-final playoff series.

Chicago reached a new road low against the Blues. Murdoch and assistant coaches Darryl Sutter and Wayne Thomas were planning strategy in a room adjoining the dressing room between the second and third periods of game five in St. Louis. They closed the door for privacy and were imprisoned when the lock jammed. Arena officials had to call in a forklift to break the door down and free the captives…er, coaches.

NOTE: Former NHL defenseman and coach Bob Murdoch died on Aug. 3, 2023 in Calgary. See the obit from Monte Stewart at https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nhl-defenceman-bob-murdoch-won-two-stanley-cups-then-went-on-to-a/

Naturally, the Hawks lost and were eliminated.

In their 62-year history, the Hawks have been above .500 on the road just eight times. Their road difficulties are not unique.

Almost every team in the league suffers away from home. Only Boston. Calgary and Montreal were better than .500 away from home last season. And since the last NHL expansion in 197980, only Edmonton, Philadelphia, Boston and the New York Islanders have cumulative plus-.500 records on the road, (see Home and Away box.)

The Oilers are the only team in NHL history to have more winning seasons (five) than losing (four) on the road. New Jersey, Minnesota and Vancouver have never been above .500 on the road. (This year, the hapless North Stars didn’t win away from the Met Center until their ninth road game—Nov. 14 against Toronto Maple Leafs.)

Of course, those teams haven’t won much anywhere. At least Chicago can win at home.

Yet, some things never change. Murdoch may be gone, but the Blackhawks’ road woes have continued under new coach Mike Keenan. Chicago was 3-7-1 after 11 road games.

“We haven’t had success on the road,” Keenan said, “but we’ve played hard and played well, with the same intensity.”

Since 1979-80 expansion

Keenan, like Murdoch before him, has tried psychology.

“Before a game in Hartford.” said Pang, “he told us that there were millions watching on SportsChannel instead of just 15,000 in Chicago Stadium. He said we should be trying to impress all those people.”

The Hawks lost 7-5.

What gives? Can home ice possibly mean that much in the NHL?

The easy answer is that good teams win no matter where they play, and vice-versa for bad teams. And when you look at last season’s good road teams, or those since the last expansion, that appears true.

But as the Home and Away box shows, even good teams win less on the road than they do at home. The same often applies to good players.

Jimmy Carson of the Oilers, for instance, had 34 goals and 35 assists in 40 games for the Los Angeles Kings in the Fabulous Forum last season. In 40 road games, he dropped to 21 goals and 17 assists—a3l-pointdifference. That’s the biggest disparity between home and road points earned by last season’s top 25 NHL scorers (See box).

“I thought it was about the same,” said a surprised Carson. “That’s hard for me to believe.”

Believe it. Of 1987-88’s top 25 point-getters, only five—Winnipeg’s Dale Hawerchuk, Quebec’s Peter Stastny. Calgary’s Mike Bullard (now of St. Louis). New York Islanders’ Pat LaFontaine, and Edmonton’s Craig Simpson—had more points on the road than at home.

Yes, even Mario Lemieux performed better at home. Lemieux went 42-49-91 in 39 games at Pittsburgh, 28-49-77 in 38 road games. Wayne Gretzky went 26-59-85 in 36 home games and 14-50-64 in 28 road contests. But Gretzky would have had 82 points, based on his 2.3 point-per-road-game average, had he played an equal number of games away from home.

Islander Bryan Trottier, who went 15-28-43 at home and 15-24-39 on the road last season, prefers to play at Nassau Coliseum.

Listed below is the ‘Jinx Rink” for each team in the NHL and the team’s overall regular-season record there.

“I’d like to play 80 home games a season.” he said, though statistics show he doesn’t suffer on the road. “I’d rather play at home because you don’t have to travel and the crowd is behind you.”

That depends where you’re playing.

Montreal Canadien Claude Lemieux (39-1516-31 at home, 39-16-14-30 on the road), likes to get away from the Forum audience.

“I have a hard time accepting people booing us at home,” he said. “You don’t have to deal with that on the road. I deal with the other team and their fans. I like playing in Chicago, New York or Boston, where there’s a good atmosphere. You get insulted, sure, but I can understand that. If people hate you, you’ve got to be doing something right. It’s not your face or the way you skate, they hate you because you’re doing it to their team. When I’m hated by a road crowd, I know I’m doing a good job.”

Hockey legend Gordie Howe said he took it as a compliment when he was booed. Ditto for Los Angeles King center Bernie Nicholls, one of today’s best roadies. He went 22-21-43 in 32 away games last season, 10-25-35 in 33 home contests.

“I enjoy the road.” said Nicholls. Los Angeles’ King of the Road. “I guess it goes back to when we’d hardly get any fans here (before the Gretzky trade). We’d go on the road, the place would be sold out, and the big crowd would get me going. It’s kind of like you’re beating the (home) crowd.”

The Kings have rarely accomplished that in the past. In its first 21 NHL seasons, Los Angeles was above .500 just twice, in 1974-75 and 1980-81. After eight road games this season, the Kings were 4-4-0. They were 7-2-0 at home.

Calgary was the best road team in the NHL last season with a 22-12-1 record, followed by Montreal (19-14-7) and Boston (20-17-3). On Nov. 21. the Flames, helped by a five-game road winning streak, were 6-4-1 away from home. Boston was 5-3-3 and Montreal 4-5-2 on the road. Toronto, the worst road team in the league (7-29-4) in 1987-88, Edmonton, Detroit and the Rangers were the only other plus-.500 road teams. Calgary could thank an 8-0-2 home record for its first-place overall standing.

“We have more confidence at home.” explained Calgary center Doug Gilmour. “I know I have to be comfortable to play well and I don’t feel that way on the road. It’s a whole different atmosphere.”

Unfamiliar, to say the least.

“The game itself is no problem,” said Howe, who saw his share of road trips in a 32-year pro career. “But it’s the little things…You’re hanging around airports…It puts you off balance. Hotel rooms are nice, you know, but it’s not the same as at home.”

But waging, and winning, war on the road is not impossible. He who shoots first gains the early advantage. And that, the experts say. is the key to success.

“When I was coaching the Bruins, the Canadiens were unbelievable at home,” said Don Cherry. “When we went in there, we’d shoot our bolt in the first 10 minutes, because the crowd was very fickle if Montreal fell behind. II you didn’t get ’em in the first 10 minutes, you didn’t get ’em.”

Pittsburgh’s Dan Quinn, whose team is 0-383 in its last 41 visits to Philadelphia (see Jinx Rinks box), said “on the road, if you can put it back in the other team’s lap…if you can get a lead,” you can win.

Provided you play good defense. Not by going into a shell, mind you, but by playing a solid, disciplined game. Leave the entertaining to the home side. Most players say they feel a need to put on a show for the home fans. Let ’em. The home crowd hates you, anyway.

“I don’t think we realize the importance of playing boring hockey,” said Pang. “You have to do the little things, like icing the puck.”

“A good defensive team plays well on the road,” said Scott Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history. “You have to be disciplined as a road club.”

Bowman should know. His Montreal and Buffalo teams set road records for winning. Bowman’s 1977-78 Canadiens tied an NHL record of eight straight road wins. The mark was broken by the Bowman-coached Sabres, who won 10 consecutive road games in 1983-84.

The Sabres were a true rarity: A perfect 10 on the road.