Rocky Wirtz, owner of NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, dies at age 70
Rocky Wirtz, who after taking over the main owner of the Chicago Blackhawks his father won three Stanley Cup championships in the 2010s — a stellar run that faded a few years later after an investigation into the sexual assault of one of the franchise’s minor league players by a coach — died Tuesday in Evanston, Ill., at the age of 70.
His death in hospital was confirmed by John Steinmiller, a team spokesman.
Under Mr. Wirtz’s father, William, the Blackhawks, one of the original six franchises in the National Hockey League, had become a downtrodden, money-losing franchise. The team had not won the Stanley Cup since 1961. Attendance at the United Center was among the worst in the league, and home games were not televised.
“I would say, ‘Dad, we’re losing generations of fans by not televising home games,’” Mr. Wirtz said in a 2010 interview with The New York Times. “He said it wouldn’t be fair to our season-ticket fans. But we were down to 3,400 season-ticket holders, which meant maybe 1,500 to 1,700 fans. So we weren’t televising home games to 1,700 people? Why beat your head against the wall?”
Shortly after his father died in 2007, Mr. Wirtz, who became the team’s president, struck a deal to televise home games (initially seven, but a full season in 2008-09) and changed the team’s ticket sales policy to a more dynamic and lucrative one. Under his father, all seats on one level, regardless of location, were sold for the same price, a policy that reduced revenues.
Mr. Wirtz also hired a veteran marketer, John McDonough, from the Chicago Cubs as team president; lured back as team ambassadors former Blackhawks superstars Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita; and, unlike his impoverished father, pursued free agents like Marian Hossa, who signed in 2009 for $62.8 million over 12 years, the team’s largest contract. history.
Mr. Wirtz made it clear that his team’s priority was winning the Stanley Cup.
“I think maybe the fans didn’t hear enough about what our goal was,” Mr. Wirtz told Chicago magazine in 2008.
The 2008-09 season — featuring young stars like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane — kicked off a nearly decade-long playoff streak that resulted in Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
“I have never felt this excitement in my life,” Mr. Wirtz told The Chicago Tribune after the Blackhawks won the finals. Stanley Cup in six games against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010. “We put the right people in place, and anything can happen when you dream big.”
William Rockwell Wirtz was born on October 5, 1952. His father, William Wadsworth Wirtz, oversaw the Wirtz Corporation’s liquor distribution, banking, insurance and real estate operations. Rocky’s grandfather, Arthur, had taken control of the Blackhawks in 1954. Both his father and grandfather are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
His mother, Joan (Roney) Wirtz, was active in charities, including an organization that raised money for a home for underprivileged children in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Rocky attended Boston University for two years and then transferred to Northwestern University. He graduated in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and soon joined the family business, focusing on the beverage business.
“Working at the docks and getting to know the rank and file – and taking field trips with Bill when he was younger – fueled his love of building relationships,” wrote Bryan Smith in “The Breakaway: The Inside Story of the Wirtz Family Business and the Chicago Blackhawks” (2018).
When his father died, Mr. Wirtz became president of the Wirtz Corporation.
The Blackhawks began to stumble after winning the Stanley Cup in 2015 — they have made just one playoff appearance in the past six seasons — and subsequently became the subject of an independent research commissioned by the teamwhich revealed that several executives failed to report an allegation that a minor league player had been sexually abused by the team’s video coach during the 2010 playoffs.
The investigation found that executives were concerned about distracting the team and failed to properly investigate or discipline coach Brad Aldrich, who later made a sexual advance toward a team intern. Mr. Aldrich later worked in several other hockey jobs and pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a minor while coaching a high school in Michigan, where he was required to register as a sex offender.
During a 2022 town hall event, Rocky Wirtz confronted reporters abruptly and refused to answer questions about the player who made the 2010 accusation, Kyle Beach, or what the team would do to protect players in the future.
He later apologized, saying that “my answers to two questions crossed the line.” He added: “I regret that my answers overshadowed the great work this organization is doing moving forward.”
The NHL fined the team $2 million, and two executives who were among those informed of the allegation in 2010 resigned from their positions. Fans and members of the news media have criticized the league for not imposing harsher penalties. Chicago didn’t lose its 2023 first-round draft pick and won the lottery, giving it the opportunity to select Connor Bedard, a prospect considered a generational talent.
In addition to his son Danny, the Blackhawks’ CEO, Mr. Wirtz’s survivors include his wife, Marilyn (Queen) Wirtz; two daughters, Kendall Murphy and Hillary Wirtz; a stepdaughter, Elizabeth Queen; and six grandchildren. His marriage to Kathleen Whiston ended in divorce.
Long before leading the Blackhawks, Mr. Wirtz regularly attended home games, but he left what he called the “bad” games after the second period.
“My father had a private office next to the roundabout, and he always had his door closed,” he told The Times, “so I would sneak out without him knowing.”
