CHICAGO — This season, Chicago Blackhawks followers will lastly get what they’ve been wanting for years: Stanley Cup anniversary celebrations and bobbleheads.
Within the Blackhawks’ second round of centennial bulletins on Tuesday, they launched their 2025-26 season plans, starting from giveaways — together with seven bobblehead video games — to alumni returns to their greatest a hundredth anniversary celebrations.
The Blackhawks’ centennial celebration will include tales instructed over 4 chapters. Every chapter will deal with a particular theme for six video games and can embrace giveaways, alumni and a featured recreation.
“I feel we discovered that the majority groups take a chronological strategy to celebrating their hundred years, and most of that strategy is concentrated on the unimaginable on-ice moments that these golf equipment or groups had,” Blackhawks president of enterprise Jaime Faulkner mentioned. “We’re taking a little bit of a unique strategy. So along with celebrating all of the unimaginable on-ice and fan-favorite components of our historical past, we additionally wished to rejoice the Blackhawks’ contribution to the sport of hockey and to town of Chicago as a result of there are such a lot of, and we all know that our followers take a lot satisfaction in being a Blackhawks fan and we wish to make it possible for we’re capable of rejoice all the good issues that make the Chicago Blackhawks who they’re, whereas on the identical time guaranteeing that we’re additionally celebrating and getting our followers excited for the longer term. That’s why we determined to interrupt the season up into these 4 chapters — three that look again, the fourth that appears ahead.”
Earlier than these chapters formally start, the Blackhawks will kick off their anniversary with their dwelling opener towards the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11. Apart from their annual red-carpet occasion, they’ve prolonged an open invitation to all former Blackhawks gamers to attend the sport.
“We stay up for welcoming again dozens of alumni for our dwelling opener, with many others additionally returning to be celebrated at our Centennial Celebration capstone video games,” Faulkner mentioned. “It is a 12 months to not solely honor and rejoice anybody who has worn our sweater, however create ongoing packages to deliver them along with one another and our followers for years to return.”
Their first chapter, which known as “The Originals,” will start quickly after the house opener. That chapter will deal with how the Blackhawks gamers and group influenced the sport of hockey. The primary recreation of that chapter will come Oct. 17 towards the Vancouver Canucks, and a Stan Mikita bobblehead might be given away earlier than that recreation. The ultimate recreation of the chapter might be on Nov. 15 towards the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the sport will embrace a Tony Esposito bobblehead giveaway and have previous alumni and their households.
The Blackhawks’ second chapter known as “The Mad Home” and can revolve across the tales of Chicago Stadium. That chapter will start with the sport towards the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 23 and can embrace a Denis Savard bobblehead giveaway. The chapter’s last recreation will come towards the Detroit Pink Wings on Dec. 13 and can have a Chris Chelios bobblehead giveaway and extra alumni appearances.
The third chapter known as the “Banner Years” and would be the tales of the Blackhawks’ six Stanley Cup championships. The chapter will start towards the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 4 and can embrace a Brent Seabrook bobblehead giveaway. The chapter will conclude towards the Boston Bruins on Jan. 17 and can embrace a Duncan Keith bobblehead giveaway. That last recreation is when the Blackhawks count on to have gamers from their 2010, 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup groups on the United Middle. Keith, Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, Marián Hossa and Niklas Hjalmarsson, 5 of the seven gamers who had been on all three groups, are anticipated to be in attendance. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who’re each taking part in this season, are usually not anticipated to attend.
The ultimate chapter known as “The Subsequent Originals” and appears to the longer term. That chapter will start on March 6 towards the Canucks and can embrace a Tommy Hawk bobblehead giveaway.
The group additionally beforehand introduced the creation of a Blackhawks Hall of Fame.
“We began the method by asking ourselves, what will we wish to rejoice?” Faulkner mentioned. “What’s the story we wish to inform? What’s the story our followers wish to hear? How do our alumni wish to be celebrated? So, we began off asking ourselves a bunch of questions that, if we may reply these, would give us path on how we deliberate, how the 12 months would unfold. We additionally knew two different groups (Pink Wings and New York Rangers) could be celebrating their 100 years, so what had been the alternatives to collaborate with the 2 different Authentic Six groups, and the way will we stand out as nicely?”
(Photograph of Duncan Keith: Bruce Bennett / Getty Pictures)
