Hockey fans can be an emotional bunch.
There’s a wide range of feelings endured by spectators during the 60 minutes of ice time (or more) that decides winners and losers in this sports, and the ground covered between those emotions covers even more ground when the Stanley Cup is on the line.
In the last few years, of course, frustration has been the prevailing emotion sweeping the Blackhawks fan base, as the team has failed to make the playoffs while playing through regular seasons that consistently produce infuriating defeats.
But in the first half of the 2010s, the Blackhawks were responsible for plenty of tears, primarily of the happy variety. Three Cup championships in six seasons will do that. There were back-to-back first-round exits in 2011 and 2012 along with a close-but-no-cigar playoff run in 2014. But winning it all in 2010, 2013 and 2015 put healthy smiles on those who follow the skate-wearing winter tenants of 1901 W. Madison St.
But the Hawks history stretches well beyond those teams of the 2010s. There were the teams from the 60s and 70s led by Stan Mikita, the 80s and 90s teams led by a wide range of characters which included, at various times Chris Chelios or Denis Savard or Steve Larmer or Ed Belfour or Jeremy Roenick and more, and then there were the Dark Ages of the late 90s and early 2000s when the Blackhawks faded into sports anonymity, once earning the dubious distinction of being named ESPN’s worst franchise in pro sports.
So we ask you, Blackhawks fans: what moments in this team’s lengthy history have made you cry?