The last remnant of the Sixties for the NHL died this morning. Old William “Dollar Bill” Wirtz is being revised a la Soviet sytle by the NHL website about all he did.
To Chicago fans, he’ll be remembered as the tightwad who let Roenick, Amonte, Chelios, Belfour and countless other talented players leave; usually he traded them out of spite. As a hockey fan in general, I will always recall him as being one of the seven owners who drove the last lockout with a salary cap being the primary demand. Not like he spent much on the team when there wasn’t one and the Blackhawks have remained unimpressive after two seasons in this allegedly “new” NHL.
Despite my razzing of Chicago over Da’ Bears, Da’ Bulls, ChiSox and Cubbies, the fans of the Windy City deserve better ownership in general from their professional franchises, especially in the NHL. Maybe his successor will get the point and the Blackhawks may make more frequent appearances in the playoffs.