The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. The Blackhawks are one of the "Original Six" NHL teams along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Since 1994, the club's home rink is the United Center, which they share with the NBA's Chicago Bulls. The club had previously played for 65 years at Chicago Stadium. The Blackhawks were the first NHL team to sound a horn whenever they scored a goal at home. Bill Wirtz (Long-time owner of the team) donated his yacht's horn to Chicago Stadium. The goal horn became a popular trend among other NHL teams after the Blackhawks played the Montreal Canadiens in the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals. The Blackhawks began playing "Chelsea Dagger" by The Fratellis as their official goal song during the 2008-09 NHL season.
On May 1, 1926, the NHL awarded an expansion franchise for Chicago to a syndicate headed by former football star Huntington Hardwick of Boston. At the same meeting, Hardwick arranged the purchase of the players of the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Hockey League for $100,000 from WHL President Frank Patrick in a deal brokered by Boston Bruins' owner Charles Adams. However, only one month later, Hardwick's group sold out to Chicago coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin. The Black Hawks began play in the 1926–27 season, along with new expansion franchises Detroit Cougars and New York Rangers. The team had to face immediate competition in Chicago from Eddie Livingstone's rival Chicago Cardinals, which played in the same building. McLaughlin took a very active role in running the team despite having no background in the sport. McLaughlin hired Bill Tobin, a former goaltender who had played in the Western league, as his assistant, but directed the team himself.
