Which original 6 team has been the biggest failure?

Question

Throughout their history and over the last 40 years? In your opinions? Also, what would you say are the biggest reasons that have led to their inabilty to perform well over such a long period?

Answer 1

Chicago.....................................and I was employed by them for a LONG LONG time!

Answer 2

There are really only 2 original six franchises that can claim any sort of modern era success. Montreal has generational success for a variety of reasons and the Wings have established themselves as the NHL benchmark in the last decade.

The remaining 4 squads have not had much to be proud of in the league's post expansion era. Boston has made some finals appearances to go with their 70's cup victories, but Toronto and Chicago have suffered severely. The Rangers' fate has not been much rosier outside of one impressive run 13 years ago.

The luxury enjoyed by these teams is the fact that their arenas are generally packed regardless of their performance or record. As such, teams have no business-driven motivation to put the best possible team on ice. Only when threatened by the prospect of low attendance have these franchises invested in personnel.

Dollar Bill Wirtz, Harry Sinden, the continious stream of faceless corporate ownership in NY and the soap opera which passes for a front office in TO. They've all playeed into the original 6's demise.

Now, who's the worst of the worst? I have to give Toronto the nod over Chicago. The Leafs have actually been trying to win for the last 20 years, making their colossal failure more pronounced than Chicago's ambivalence towards contention during that same period.

Answer 3

I think two clubs battle for this honor.
1) Chicago - the Wirtz family is still trying to run the business from notes left over from the 30s when they told people their arena only had 14,500 seats when it really had 16,000. Honestly, ownership is the only issue here. The owners are idiots. And they treat people poorly which is why they never attract quality hockey people.
2) Toronto - the club has been a mess since Conn Smythe died. Stafford Smythe and Harold Ballard were criminals and both did jail time. After Pal Hal died there was one fight after another as different factions tried to gain control. Now the Teacher's Pension Fund owns controlling interest and all they want is to make money. They have no interest in giving anything back to their fans because they think the fans are dupes. Again, there hasn't been a decent hockey brain in the top flight of the orginization since they chased Punch Imlach out years ago. To be fair, it's the toughest hockey market in the world. A huge base of knowledgable fans and media attention like no other place. It's a cross between a cirucs and a zoo. And the future is not looking any brighter.

Answer 4

Matt from chicago, you couldn't of said it any better. Born and raised here in this beautiful major city (NY has nothing on us, not even alleys), been a Blackhawks fan since a boy. Loved hearing my dad tell stories of Bobby Hull shouting "Here it comes!" before he let a slapshot rip to get into the goalies heads. It is soo sad to see this team run by a not even gonna say it. When they got rid of Pat Foley was the last straw for me but I'm still hanging on by a thread. If they change the jerseys or something as stupid all that will be left are these newer yuppy fans where going to a hockey game at the United Center is trendy. Bill Wirtz made hockey DEAD here in chicago. More dead wings fans show up at the games! NY and Leafs fans, you obviously haven't been to a game here. No question the Blackhawks.

But I will say this. I was fortuante enough to experience the best hockey ever played in the NHL. Where fans drowned out the National Anthem with cheers sung by Wayne Messmer, listening to Pat Foley call the games and leaving the chicago stadium listening to your ears ringing because it was that LOUD! I can't wait for Wirtz to die, I'm throwing a party, you're invited Matt

Answer 5

Montreal: Not a chance...24 Stanley Cups...nuff said there.

Toronto: No, not for awhile...13 Cups, but the last coming in 1967.

Detroit: Hell no...a staple amongst the NHL elite. 10 Cups.

New York Rangers...They've almost always been competetive and they've won 4 Cups, the 4th after enduring a 53 year drought in between raising Lord Stanley, but no, not them.

Boston: 5 Cups, but they've been down since Ray Bourque was traded...last Division crown was in 2003-04.

Which leads us to...

...the Chicago Blackhawks.

They've won just 3 Cups, the last coming in 1960. Last division Championship was in 1992-93. They've been bottom dwellars the past 4 seasons played and attendance is horrible WITH A PALTRY 62.1% capacity last year.

The one thing that they do have going for them is that they have the best uniforms in all of professional sports.

They've just been mindnumbingly bad for a long time. Bad decisions by management which just p!ssed off their fanbase like raising ticket prices over $50 bucks and pricing out the loyals fans they had left. NOT allowing the Blackhawks to be on TV in the Chicago TV market is a freaking joke as well!!

They haven't been a big FA spending team either...and the ones they've made, like Khabibulin and Aucoin have been major disapointments.

That's my choice.

Answer 6

No question. The Rangers.

In the days of the original six the Rangers seldom made the playoffs, which involved finishing no better than fifth of six. Even with expansion they did nothing.

They did buy one Stanley Cup by bringing Mark Messier in to give the team some spine, but as a rule the Rangers have had a well paid, poorly motivated team. Not even a great coach/manager like Glen Sather can get them winning.

Why not? I think too much money for young guys who get too distracted by the big city glitz, plus occasionally stupid ownership. If anybody can make them win it will be Sather, but I am not holding my breath.

Answer 7

The Blackhawks are by far the worst Original 6 team out there.

Why? First off, look at the divison they play in. I mean they have to put up with the Wings, Preds, even the Blues and Jacketes are startin to get better.

Another reason, they've been going young (opposite of the wings haha--and look at there success), ever since they got rid of Chelios, they've been going young. (Which Chelios has made the playoffs 22 of his 23 years in his years in the league--the only year he didn't make it--was with the hawks).

Sure you can have a whole halfway decent team of young people. But they won't take you very far. All I got to say to the Hawks is get some veterans.

Answer 8

The Chicago Blackhawks. Born and raised in Chicago, I've passionately followed all our teams (except the Cubs but that's a different story. Go Sox!). I hate to say this, but I am no longer a Blackhawks fan. One reason: William W Wirtz. Now I know how Detroit Lions fans feel.

Where to begin.... First of all let me tell you that I have never watched a Blackhawks game on TV. Why? He forbids it because if he game the game away free, nobody would come to the stadium. So no games ever get shown on the air. But you know what? He's right. He tried giving away tickets... for free. 12 people showed up. Thats how much people are fed up with his crap and don't care about what SHOULD be one of the most respected amd honored franchises in the game.

Another reason fans bailed was the player moves. Hey fans, who do you love? Roenick? Kiss him goodbye. Chelios and Belfour? Nah, we don't need em. Amonte. Zhamnov. Any great player that comes along and has even a modest salary is committing highway robbery according to Mr Tightwad. And so now the team can't compete. No TV, no players... how the hell does he expect people to give him money to witness this crap?

So then the salary cap era came and one of the teams that was supposed to benefit the greatest out of all of this was the Hawks. But no, they still suck cause the owner and GMs are our of sync with the game. Tallon isnt that great but that's hardly the problem. Its Wirtz putting him there in the first place and backing up his calls. I loved it most when they hired Yawney to coach on the basis that his mentality and style fits in with the organization.... And then fired him (later that same year I believe) on the basis that his mentality and style DIDNT fit in with the team. WHAT?!?!

And after all that I begrudgingly remained loyal. Until. After 25 years of service to the Chicago Blackhawks, they decide to not rehire their play-by-play man, Pat Foley. Not only that, but they also managed to NOT inform him of this. He found out in the newspaper or radioshow or something like that. Not from his former employer. And without so much as a thanks for putting up with our crap for 25 years, they let him go. When I heard about this, I couldnt stand telling people I was a fan of the club that was owned by this horrible ***.

So the moral of the story is, if there's a way to disenfranchise fans even more, Willy Wirtz will find it.
Oh and a few years back ESPN rated the Blackhawks the number one worst franchise in all of sports.

The end.

Answer 9

If winning a Cup more than once can be considered a failure,then Chicago.I base this only on the fact that they haven't won the Cup since 1961.And even though they have three Cups,its the longest drought in Original 6 land.
They have one of the best sweaters in the league so we cant be
too hard on them.
They have had trouble competing , because the competition is better.Every year there are 29 losers.

Answer 10

Chicago beats Toronto because the Hawks have failed in more areas than the Leafs. Wirtz took the Hawks off television years ago an now several generations of young kids have grown up without ever seeing the team or knowing much about them. All because he wanted to make sure every seat in his building had a bum in it on game night. Short term, it worked. Long term, he killed the sport in Chicago by removing it from the public consciousness.

While the Leafs have been a zero on the ice for so many years, it's just the opposite in terms of interest and popularity. Think the Yankees, Manchester United, New Zealand All Blacks and the Lakers combined.

It's difficult to explain to hockey fans from other areas, especially in the U.S. how gigantic the Leafs are in their area. You can't buy Leaf tickets. Season's tickets are left in peoples' wills. There is a waiting list of more than 60,000. Anyone who wants to buy $200-a game season's tickets has to pay a $20,000 licensing fee on top.

In terms of cash, they're a major success story. They've only failed the fans, who seem not to mind.

Answer 11

The Chicago Blackhawks.

They haven't won a Stanley Cup since John Kennedy was President. They have made 3 Stanley Cup finals appearance since the 1967 expansion, and only one since 1973.

The reason for their failure is one word: Ownership.

William Wirtz simply does not care about winning or the fans. Profits are the only thing that matter to him.