Original Six Heritage

Lore & Background

The Stadium was built by Paddy Harmon, who sank his entire fortune into the project, only to lose control to the Stadium shareholders. After exiting receivership in 1935, the Stadium was owned by the Norris and Wirtz families until its closure in 1994 and demolition in 1995. It was replaced by the United Center built across the street, also owned substantially by the Wirtz family. The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks from 1929 to 1994 and the Chicago Bulls from 1967 to 1994. It was the site of the first NFL playoff game in 1932; the 1932, 1940, and 1944 Democratic National Conventions; and the 1932 and 1944 Republican National Conventions.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Chicago Stadium was thick with cigar smoke and the roar of twenty thousand fans pressing against the glass. It was February 1961, and the ice crackled under the skates of Bobby Hull as he wound up for a slap shot that would echo through history. The crowd didn't just watch; they leaned in, their breath fogging the plexiglass, united by the red-and-black jerseys of the only team they had known since the war ended.

Reader's Guide

The Stadium sat 17,317 for hockey at the time of closure, though standing room pushed the 'actual' attendance beyond that figure. The largest recorded crowd for an NHL game at the stadium was 20,960 for a playoff game between the Blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars on April 10, 1982.

Did You Know?

• When it was built, it was the largest indoor arena in the world with a maximum seating capacity of 26,000.
• The Stadium gained the nickname the 'Madhouse on Madison' due to the loud, ringing noise of the fans and the fabled 3,663-pipe Barton organ.
• The organ was considered to have the world's largest theater organ console with six manuals and over 800 stops.
• During the 1973 Stanley Cup Final, Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz had the horn of his yacht installed in the building, sounding it after Blackhawks goals, a practice that became commonplace in professional hockey as a 'goal