Memories of Chicago Stadium 1929-1994?

[The Panther]

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.

Damn, I remember that. Awesome moment.

As an Oilers-kid, my main memories of the old Stadium are Edmonton's visits there, especially in the '85 , '90, and '92 playoffs. In 1985 the Stadium basically won two games for Chicago, and for 48 hours or so it looked like the Hawks might take down Edmonton. In 1990, the Hawks got a lead on Edmonton, two games to one, but Messier silenced the crowd in game 4. In 1992, the Hawks were clearly a top-team and handled Edmonton easily.

I just remember the national anthem being spine-tingling. Especially when compared with Edmonton and Calgary's super-quiet rinks.

And who can forget the best call ever.... "BANNERMAN!!!"

 

[nutbar]

 

[BobRouse]

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.

haha...guess my memory isn't quite as good as I thought. But yeah...I'd use to record the games and watch them a over and over again and look for all kinds of details. Clearly I had issues as a kid.

Also I'm pretty sure thats the best game Darren Pang every played. The Caps had well over 40 shots and tons of high quality chances.

Damn, I remember that. Awesome moment.

As an Oilers-kid, my main memories of the old Stadium are Edmonton's visits there, especially in the '85 , '90, and '92 playoffs. In 1985 the Stadium basically won two games for Chicago, and for 48 hours or so it looked like the Hawks might take down Edmonton. In 1990, the Hawks got a lead on Edmonton, two games to one, but Messier silenced the crowd in game 4. In 1992, the Hawks were clearly a top-team and handled Edmonton easily.

I just remember the national anthem being spine-tingling. Especially when compared with Edmonton and Calgary's super-quiet rinks.

And who can forget the best call ever.... "BANNERMAN!!!"

Yeah it was. Poor Leafs. All they had to do was hold on for a tie.

The 92 series was insane. I maybe wrong but I remember a ton of high scoring games in Chicago so therefore lots of Organ.

 

[The Panther]

My bad. The "BANNERMAN!" call occurred in Minnesota. Still a classic though:

 

[sharkhawk]

First game in 1971 as a 6 year old. Season tickets with Dad from 88 til the last roar in 1994. Went to maybe 300+ games there.

Memories

The horn, from the first time I heard it, it was magical.

The guy a couple of rows over with the Wirtz jersey, and $$ for the number.

The guy by us with the Hawks tattoo on his rump, who would moon the Red Wings fans.

120 or so stairs to get to our seats, 2nd balcony second row aisle behind the organ. Beer guy waiting at top of the stairs to revive us.

The old bathrooms with the lines, the troughs and the inch of water? on the floor.

Yelling Guy everytime he touched the puck on his return to the league.

1989 Hawks Stars pregrame brawl, Game lasts 4 hours +, people waiting in line at payphones to call wife to explain they were really still at the game.

1991 all star game. Couldn't hear for a week.

1992 playoffs, Hawks sweep Red Wings, Brent Sutter scores winning goal in last minute of game 4, couldn't talk for a week, couldn't hear for a month. Hawks go on to sweep Edmonton and make Stanley Cup Finals. Watching Mario Lemieux skating around the rink with the cup. Best and worst season as a Hawks fan at that time.

The last game in 94, people took everything that wasn't nailed down, and some stuff that was, my Dad unscrewed our seat numbers (I still have them), people took tiles from the bathroom, I saw someone walking out with some seats. Crazy and sad night.

The first time there were demolition crews at the old barn, and I could see our seats as we were walking to the UC, really broke me up. We snatched a couple of bricks on the way out.

It's too bad there are no more stadiums with the history and character of the old barns.

 

[DJ Man]

As a kid in the 1960s, I used to go to games at Chicago Stadium with my uncles or cousins whenever they had a spare ticket, which was not often. I was a standby or a backup, you might say.
I’ve noted a lot of this in earlier posts, but …

Smoking was allowed. Hell, I figured it was mandatory for anybody over 12. To my eyes, The Stadium was a big cathedral, and by the time the third period rolled around, the overhead lights were wreathed in clouds of nicotine incense.

If there was a sellout, they sold standing room. I once stood through a game and don’t recall any ill effects. I can’t imagine doing that now.

The crowd would erupt in “moose calls†whenever Elmer “Moose†Vasko touched the puck. Of course, the biggest excitement was whenever Bobby Hull moved in and wound up for a slap shot.

In those days, when a team had two goalies available, they both wore number 1 – I remember seeing Detroit’s Terry Sawchuk and Hank Bassen in the pre-game skate with matching jerseys. Of course, the Black Hawks didn’t need a backup, as Glenn Hall was in the midst of his 500+ game playing streak.

The old-fashioned scoreboard mounted atop the center of the rink was notoriously unreadable. More on that in a recent topic.

As I recall, Toronto and Montreal seemed to have different national anthems! The former had “The Maple Leaf Forever,†and the Canadiens had some French number that incorporated “God Save the Queen.â€

We saw one game on Christmas Eve. The crowd was asked to stand and join in singing “Silent Night.†Couldn’t happen today. You wouldn’t expect any harmony, but it was unforgettable.

 

[Killion]

Al Melgard the stadium organist.

First game in 1971 as a 6 year old.... It's too bad there are no more stadiums with the history and character of the old barns.

As a kid in the 1960s, I used to go to games at Chicago Stadium with my uncles or cousins whenever they had a spare ticket, which was not often. I was a standby or a backup, you might say.... The old-fashioned scoreboard mounted atop the center of the rink was notoriously unreadable....

Some fabulous memories guys. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Langdon Alger]

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?

I remember that too, although I can't recall if it was both teams or just one that had to do that. I have the same memories you do about that arena it seems. The crowd was so loud, it just seemed like such an intimidating place to play in for the visiting team.

 

[FireDJ]

What's the deal with that brawl in 1982?

 

[nutbar]

What's the deal with that brawl in 1982?

Chicago was losing 7-1, fans started throwing crap on the ice and police and security reacted.

 

[Mike Martin]

I remember that too, although I can't recall if it was both teams or just one that had to do that.

It was both teams. I remember how cool it looked when a player who had just gotten a Game Misconduct was shown on TV going down the stairs to the locker room, it was like he had been sent to the basement.