Memories of Chicago Stadium 1929-1994?

[Mike Martin]

It is hard to believe that it will soon be 20 years since the Chicago Stadium was demolished in 1995. If you read enough interviews with players who were in their prime during the era when the Chicago Stadium was still around you will notice many of them say that to enter that unique building even as a visiting player was one of the highlights of their career. Former Blackhawks Enforcer Mike Peluso said he couldn't decide whether winning the Stanley Cup with the Devils or playing in the Chicago Stadium was the greater experience for him.

What are your memories of the Chicago Stadium? Are you old enough to have experienced it in person? Do you remember watching games on TV that were played in that building and you thought how electric the atmosphere was even if you were cheering for the visiting team?

Click to read more...

 

[ICM1970]

I can remember back when Chicago Stadium was basically the only place in the NHL that had a goal horn. I recall a story involving the late Pelle Lindbergh in net for the Flyers for a 1984 game in which he was sitting on something like a 5-0 Philadelphia lead late into the third period. A Chicago player scored and the horn caught Lindbergh off guard and they practically had to scrape him off the ceiling he was so startled by it, lol.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Al Melgard - Organist

Al Melgard the stadium organist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Melgard

 

[pvr]

The organ was piped through the ventilation shafts, and the sound was everywhere.

There wasn't a bad seat in the house (except perhaps in the back of the lower bowl, where you could get obscured views from support beams, pillars, or the upper deck). An upper deck last row corner seat felt like you were staring over the ice.

The ends of the stadium in the upper deck had plywood painted black, over what I believe would have been windows. Fans would stand at the plywood and pound on it with closed fists in the "Dum-dum-dum-dum, Dum-dum-dum-dum" rhythm to incite the crowd, as the organ played the same.

The total volume of The Stadium was very small in comparison to the current arenas. I think you could drop the old Stadium into the current United Center and still have room left over. The sound would well up and reverberate all around, amplified like a giant horn. Incredibly loud. Whenever I go into the United Center, it feels quiet compared to the Stadium.

If you think the National Anthem is loud in the United Center, you should have heard it in the Stadium. Wayne Mesmer was amazing. It was both deafening and inspiring, and without fail it would make the hairs on my neck stand up.

All of this is without mentioning Bobby Hull rushing up the ice, Mikitas passes, Esposito throwing his body around the ice to stop the puck, Al Secord bloodied and bloodying in a real heavyweight fight, Savard and Roenick darting around, etc... Fans going crazy.

I left every game I attended there hoarse and drained.

 

[ICM1970]

I have a copy of Red Storey's book and in it I recall him telling a story about how even if the game did not start until the evening, you'd have people coming into the Stadium in the afternoon to hang out and wait until the game started back in his days as a referee. Sometimes, they would bring decks of cards in to keep occupied and apparently a few got into the habit of tightly wrapping elastic bands around the deck and tossing them hard at officials or opposing players. Certainly did not tickle when you got hit by one of those. Needless to say to, they would sneak in beer and other alcohol under their coats and be pretty plastered by game time. Funny to read about how this sort of horseplay went on there even as far back as that time (and probably before then as well, lol).

 

[tjcurrie]

Watching North Stars playoff games on t.v. when I was a kid (1990, 1991)

Pretty intimidating. Not only because of how good the Hawks were, but the crowd, the dark lighting, and the organ. It was just hockey, in the truest sense.

Lou Nanne talks about how crazy the fans were in his book, North Stars History And Memories

Fans not being able to get tickets to North Stars vs Blackhawks games rushing the building, sitting in the aisles, climbing up fire escapes, hanging from the rafters.

One night the North Stars were late arriving so the game was delayed a little. By the time the game started, the building was completely sold out of alcohol.

Odd to think of a building having personality, but that building did. Several of the older ones did. You don't get that anymore, and it's a shame.

 

[ICM1970]

"Odd to think of a building having personality, but that building did. Several of the older ones did. You don't get that anymore, and it's a shame."

Agree totally, this is one reason why as somebody in Ottawa I have to laugh at the talk of the Senators possibly leaving the Canadian Tire Centre. It is not even twenty years old yet (I know this entire issue is being discussed on a thread unto its own somewhere else on this site) and it is being seen as obsolete. It really shows that many of these people really do not have recognition or respect for the history and lore and heart and character of the game in those areas.

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

Odd to think of a building having personality, but that building did. Several of the older ones did. You don't get that anymore, and it's a shame.

Baseball went through a time in the 60's, 70's and 80's where everyone was building cookie cutter ballparks with astroturf. Then, somebody woke up and they started to build parks with character again. Reminds of the NHL in the last 15+ years. Arenas are being built to make money first and foremost. In doing so, they've lost their style and character. Somebody will bring the character back soon. Hopefully they do, cause its getting boring watching every team play the same style. Those old rinks created some very unique teams. The fans miss it.

 

[tjcurrie]

"Odd to think of a building having personality, but that building did. Several of the older ones did. You don't get that anymore, and it's a shame."

Agree totally, this is one reason why as somebody in Ottawa I have to laugh at the talk of the Senators possibly leaving the Canadian Tire Centre. It is not even twenty years old yet (I know this entire issue is being discussed on a thread unto its own somewhere else on this site) and it is being seen as obsolete. It really shows that many of these people really do not have recognition or respect for the history and lore and heart and character of the game in those areas.

Baseball went through a time in the 60's, 70's and 80's where everyone was building cookie cutter ballparks with astroturf. Then, somebody woke up and they started to build parks with character again. Reminds of the NHL in the last 15+ years. Arenas are being built to make money first and foremost. In doing so, they've lost their style and character. Somebody will bring the character back soon. Hopefully they do, cause its getting boring watching every team play the same style. Those old rinks created some very unique teams. The fans miss it.

I agree, good posts fellas.

Some times I think, "Do I just like that older stuff because it was around in my childhood?" But no, it truly was better. I can't stand the cookie cutter, personality-lacking league we have now. It's not even just the rinks, it seems the players are being bred that way as well.

Gary's will, I suppose.

 

[ICM1970]

While I have long favoured the bigger rinks to accommodate for the bigger and faster players of today, even with the enlarged rinks you should still be able incorporate what made places like Chicago Stadium or the Olympia in Detroit, Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, etc great in character aspects as well. Am I wrong to think this?

 

[mbhhofr]

I was only in the Chicago Stadium once, back in 1959. It wasn't for a hockey game. It was for the Playboy Jazz Festival.

 

[Killion]

I was only in the Chicago Stadium once, back in 1959. It wasn't for a hockey game. It was for the Playboy Jazz Festival.

... isnt that interesting. That was the 1st one of course (and the first indoor Jazz Festival of its kind), meant to be an annual event then went on a 20yr hiatus and didnt happen again until 1979, Hollywood Bowl in LA. Been running ever since. The 1959 concerts were recorded of course, the 3 album sets, amongst the first ever recorded in "Stereophonic Sound" ravenously sought after by vinyl & jazz enthusiasts to this very day.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Baseball went through a time in the 60's, 70's and 80's where everyone was building cookie cutter ballparks with astroturf. Then, somebody woke up and they started to build parks with character again. Reminds of the NHL in the last 15+ years. Arenas are being built to make money first and foremost. In doing so, they've lost their style and character. Somebody will bring the character back soon. Hopefully they do, cause its getting boring watching every team play the same style. Those old rinks created some very unique teams. The fans miss it.

Absolutely. As per your last point, though...I really hope someone brings the character back soon, because soon enough the fans will be young enough that they don't know what they're missing.

 

[tjcurrie]

Not to derail this and start discussing other rinks, but I miss the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver and the Great West Forum in L.A.

Those were late games (typically 8 or 8:30 for me) and I recall the lighting in those rinks being very dim. Just something about staying up and watching those games later in the evening, and the lighting, especially during playoffs. I can hear Steve Armitage now....

You're right mrhockey193195, many fans nowadays have no idea. It's a shame.

 

[WaveRaven]

Here is my memory of the Chicago Stadium.

I was sent there for work suddenly. I was super excited I was there for a week. I've always wanted to go see a game there. So I get there the first thing I ask is are Hawks playing this week ? Nope. Darn, not NBA fan but what heck what about the Bulls ? Nope. What's in town then ? DISNEY on ICE ! I was so disappointed.

So when I get home and tell buddy he laughs and says well when I'm at The Boston Gardens in the next couple weeks I'll think of you. A few weeks go by and I finally see him and say how was the Gardens ? He gives me this look and says @#$%ing Disney on ICE was there. I laughed so hard, we still chuckle about it neither of us got see a game in buildings we both would have loved to see a game in.

 

[overg]

The playing surface was cramped, the crowd was so close it seemed like it'd just set up seats on the ice, and the organ invaded your very being . . .

and that was just watching it on tv.

Great, great, arena. "Chicago hockey" just had a unique presence, with the players and rink combining to create a different atmosphere than you'd find anywhere else. Being a fan of the Red Wings, it was just about the perfect "enemy turf." It felt like the very building was trying to crush the life out of Detroit.

It really is too bad that very, very few teams can create even a smidgeon of the same type of atmosphere these days.

 

[tjcurrie]

Here is my memory of the Chicago Stadium.

I was sent there for work suddenly. I was super excited I was there for a week. I've always wanted to go see a game there. So I get there the first thing I ask is are Hawks playing this week ? Nope. Darn, not NBA fan but what heck what about the Bulls ? Nope. What's in town then ? DISNEY on ICE ! I was so disappointed.

So when I get home and tell buddy he laughs and says well when I'm at The Boston Gardens in the next couple weeks I'll think of you. A few weeks go by and I finally see him and say how was the Gardens ? He gives me this look and says @#$%ing Disney on ICE was there. I laughed so hard, we still chuckle about it neither of us got see a game in buildings we both would have loved to see a game in.

The playing surface was cramped, the crowd was so close it seemed like it'd just set up seats on the ice, and the organ invaded your very being . . .

and that was just watching it on tv.

Great, great, arena. "Chicago hockey" just had a unique presence, with the players and rink combining to create a different atmosphere than you'd find anywhere else. Being a fan of the Red Wings, it was just about the perfect "enemy turf." It felt like the very building was trying to crush the life out of Detroit.

It really is too bad that very, very few teams can create even a smidgeon of the same type of atmosphere these days.

Agree. Hard to truly put it in to words, but this is close to the bulls eye.

 

[Martin Riggs]

I highly suggest the following site below. Many, many pictures of the old barn. 11 different folders in fact. Or you can view it as a slideshow. There isn't a place in the joint they didn't cover. The lobby, locker rooms, workout rooms, concourses, etc. After viewing all these pics the other night I felt like I was there again. Damn near cried in my beer.

http://www.ballparks.phanfare.com/2414020

 

[Big Phil]

Baseball went through a time in the 60's, 70's and 80's where everyone was building cookie cutter ballparks with astroturf. Then, somebody woke up and they started to build parks with character again. Reminds of the NHL in the last 15+ years. Arenas are being built to make money first and foremost. In doing so, they've lost their style and character. Somebody will bring the character back soon. Hopefully they do, cause its getting boring watching every team play the same style. Those old rinks created some very unique teams. The fans miss it.

That's right, and baseball finally got it right again. I remember the Skydome being built in 1989. The idea of a retractable roof was unheard of. It was almost like the 8th wonder of the World. But it faded. I have been at many a game in Toronto and it isn't the same to watch a game. Wrigley Field, Fenway, the Old Yankee Stadium, now THAT is where you literally feel baseball. They finally figured this out in the early 1990s again when Baltimore built Camden Yards. It had that old "Polo Grounds" type of feel to it. Other teams thankfully copied. Cleveland. Pittsburgh. Cincinnati and one of my favourites, Commerica Park in Detroit. With Commerica Park there is this modern-but-retro feel to it. They capture the atmosphere almost the way they do at Disneyland when you are walking down Main Street USA. There is a "feel" to it. I look in the outfield in Detroit and there is literally people from the streets that climb the fence high enough to watch the game. I mean, talk about a throwback era, and I love it.

Hockey isn't doing this right now and it's too bad. The Bell Centre has a bit of a "feel" to it in Montreal but you can't say that about many of the modern buildings. ACC does NOT have a good feel to it. It's pathetic. This is what we tore down Maple Leaf Gardens for? The thing is, you know a building was unique when you didn't even have to look at the teams on the ice, you knew where you were. Chicago Stadium had that feel to it. The Spectrum, the Forum, Boston Garden all had it. Nowadays just the Joe Louis Arena and MSG have it and the former is gone by 2017.

The organs were the thing in Chicago. You know, they were never the first team I cheered for but they always were a team to this day you couldn't hate. Then there was that goal horn, the anticipation of what Denis Savard was going to do to make it go off. It was unique. Even Bill Wirtz couldn't ruin that about Chicago Stadium.

One last thing, to have some nostalgia attached to it the thing I like about the old arenas were that the names never changed. How many times has Ottawa's arena name changed? Give me a break.

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

One last thing, to have some nostalgia attached to it the thing I like about the old arenas were that the names never changed. How many times has Ottawa's arena name changed? Give me a break.

A sad sign of our times I'm afraid. Can you imagine The Forum, Garden or MLG's ever allowing the name to be changed because of the $? I'm afraid that's here to stay in the NHL though because they don't get the massive TV contracts MLB or the NFL does. Stadiums and ball parks change names occasionally, but it appears that it doesn't hinge upon $ as much as it does in the NHL. I still can't believe Cleveland's ballpark is not called "The Jake" anymore. That was a forever name.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Even on TV you could clearly tell how the crowd went wild every time Denis Savard touched the puck! Because of the relatively small size of the building the noise was deafening!

 

[BobRouse]

One of my favorite games was on ESPN in 1987 on a Sunday night when the Caps went there. Darren Pang and Malarchuk were the goalies.

Gartner and Savard each had a goal and it was a rather boring 1-1 game going into the 3rd.

Savard scored. Gartner tied it up. The Hawks then scored 2 goals (Thomas and Graham) and the place errupted with like 5 minutes left and that organ...ughhh..my face was red with righteous anger.

The Caps then scored two quick goals to tie it somehow.

Then Savard scored one of the most mind blowing goals I'd seen at the time to get the hattrick with like a minute left. He skated and spinorammed around every single cap in their own zone and then whipped an insane no look backhander in for the winner.

I recorded that game as I did all Caps games and would usually erase the ones they lost but couldn't erase that one despite my anger..and that organ...

Doc Emmerick and Clemente called the game and I remember pretty much all the goal calls.

Intimidating place to play no matter how poor the Hawks were in the late 80s. Lots of teams just couldn't win there.


Another memory:

I believe it was near the end of the 89 season. Hawks had to WIN their last game to make it into the playoffs.

Trailing the Leafs by 2 with 10 minutes left. I believe they tied the game on a Bob Bassen goal and with time winding down in OT they got a goal by Troy Murray to win it and vault them into the playoffs. The noise was thru the roof that I could hardly hear that organ with the crowd being so loud.

 

[Big Phil]

One of my favorite games was on ESPN in 1987 on a Sunday night when the Caps went there. Darren Pang and Malarchuk were the goalies.

Gartner and Savard each had a goal and it was a rather boring 1-1 game going into the 3rd.

Savard scored. Gartner tied it up. The Hawks then scored 2 goals (Thomas and Graham) and the place errupted with like 5 minutes left and that organ...ughhh..my face was red with righteous anger.

The Caps then scored two quick goals to tie it somehow.

Then Savard scored one of the most mind blowing goals I'd seen at the time to get the hattrick with like a minute left. He skated and spinorammed around every single cap in their own zone and then whipped an insane no look backhander in for the winner.

I recorded that game as I did all Caps games and would usually erase the ones they lost but couldn't erase that one despite my anger..and that organ...

Doc Emmerick and Clemente called the game and I remember pretty much all the goal calls.

Intimidating place to play no matter how poor the Hawks were in the late 80s. Lots of teams just couldn't win there.


Another memory:

I believe it was near the end of the 89 season. Hawks had to WIN their last game to make it into the playoffs.

Trailing the Leafs by 2 with 10 minutes left. I believe they tied the game on a Bob Bassen goal and with time winding down in OT they got a goal by Troy Murray to win it and vault them into the playoffs. The noise was thru the roof that I could hardly hear that organ with the crowd being so loud.

I thought to myself, wow does that ever sound like a precise description. So I looked it up. Good call. It was on January 17, 1988. So 1987 was close enough.

 

[Flamer12]

When ever the Leafs played in Chicago it would be televised in Ontario so that is my only experience with it. However, when they were in Chicago, I couldn't wait to watch the game. You could tell even on tv that the crowd noise was insane in that building. The anthem started it off and when I heard those fans after that, I pretty much knew the Leafs were not going to win. And they seemed to lose way more in Chicago than they won. Even if they were up in the third, Chicago would get a goal, crowd would go nuts and Leafs would fall apart. The whole game was so unique.. the awesome crowd, the anthem, the organ and didn't the players have to walk up stairs to get to the ice?

 

[Canadiens1958]

On Ice Officials

I was only in the Chicago Stadium once, back in 1959. It wasn't for a hockey game. It was for the Playboy Jazz Festival.

A number of the on ice officials in Montréal knew how to let their hair down away from the rink. Explains why some only officiated in junior and the minors.