Above are two old hockey magazines. The first, a Hockey Pictorial mag from 1964, features the "high powered Hawk scalping crew" of Glenn Hall, Pierre Pilote, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita.
The second is a 1967 Sports Illustrated lauding "Chicago's winning Black Hawks," specifically featuring Mikita and his Scooter Line mates Kenny Wharram and Doug Mohns.
It has been a long time since the Blackhawks have been the talk of the NHL. True, there were a couple of long playoff runs in the early 1990s with Mike Keenan's band of not always merry men like Ed Belfour, Chris Chelios and Jeremy Roenick. But really the Hawks have not been hockey power houses since the 1960s.
That has started to change, with the Hawks comfortably in the upper echelon of the Western Conference, notching an impressive win over might San Jose on the weekend. They have accumulated a nice core of young players, with the best yet to come from all of them. And there's more in the system too.
I really believe that a major key to Chicago's renaissance is their embracing of their history. They have welcomed back Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita and especially Bobby Hull.
It is far more than great public relations. It is karma.
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