Bleacher Report · May 8, 2015
Blackhawks Leaving No Doubt over Stanley Cup Favorite Status After Sweeping Wild
The United Center used to be such a dark, lonely and, frankly, scary place after hockey games. Any hockey reporter who covered the NHL from the mid-1990s to the early aughts can tell you how impossible it was to get a cab on deserted Madison Street even 10 minutes after a Chicago Blackhawks game.
Most of the small crowd had quickly dispersed by then, so it could be a long wait before any cab ventured down the dark street in one of the toughest parts of the city. Inside the building, the franchise suffered from the intransigence of longtime former owner Bill Wirtz, who alienated fans by an unwillingness to spend on players or lift the blackouts for local TV.