Why is a Chicago Blackhawks jersey at every NHL game?

No matter where a game is, there will almost always be a Chicago Blackhawks jersey somewhere in the crowd.

There are a few guarantees when attending a live NHL game no matter what teams are facing off against each other. The game will be played on ice. There will be sticks, ice skates and pucks. There will be at least one goaltender in each net for each team. And there will be at least one fan in attendance wearing a Chicago Blackhawks jersey.

No matter what teams are playing in any NHL arena, there will be at least one fan who shows up with a Blackhawks jersey on. Common in Chicago or any time the Blackhawks play a road game of course.

Whether it’s the New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden, Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center or Arizona Coyotes vs. Florida Panthers at the BT&T Center, literally any of the regular season games, plus preseason and postseason games, played in the NHL will have a Blackhawks fan in attendance.

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There is no official stat to track this proclamation. Anyone who goes to NHL games with any kind of regularity in any arena across the continent already knows exactly what I am talking about.

I didn’t even notice myself until a few seasons ago when a St. Louis Blues fan named Stephanie Chitwood posted in a Facebook hockey group named NHL TALK, an active group that I help run.

Stephanie has been to over 20 NHL arenas for Blues games and made the observation. Over time, other members of the group would take pictures of Blackhawks fans in the games they attended without the Blackhawks playing in that City.

I have also been to over 20 NHL arenas for New York Rangers games, including a fair share of games at MSG yearly. There has been at least one fan wearing a Blackhawks jersey at every game ever since.

The Original Six teams have the deepest rooted fanbases because they have been around the longest. Huge hockey cities where the tradition of following the hometown team or closest regional team is passed off from generation to generation. Out of the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago, no one represents as much as Blackhawks fans.

Chicago is the third largest city by population in the United States and in the top five in North America overall. Like every other big city, a lot of people were born in Chicago or surrounding areas in Illinois. Whether it was Blackhawks fans that moved from Illinois to different states or their parents or grandparents moved while passing on the family tradition, Chicago’s stamp is all over North America.

The Blackhawks logo is widely considered one of the top logos in the NHL, if not number one, depending on your favorite team bias. The Blackhawks name has military meaning to it and the logo itself is a likeness of a Native American Chief. The logo itself has seven different colors in it with the jerseys main three colors of red, black and white. A rich historical meaning coupled with widely popular color combinations certainly makes it a popular jersey.

I even own a Blackhawks jersey while not being a Blackhawks fan. The color combination matches my hockey gear and it’s a Kane jersey. Easy for me since they are not a rival of my favorite team.

The Blackhawks have won three Stanley Cups in a six-season period from 2009-15. Nothing builds a fanbase like winning champions. The younger generation of hockey fans could have become Blackhawks fans from growing up in their era of dominance and top contention. Championship teams lead by Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and many others gained fans across the nation that have no ties to Chicago itself, only adding on to the deep rooted fanbase.

According to a recent poll from Twitter, the Chicago Blackhawks have the most followers of any NHL team at almost 2.5 million. Certainly not the most concrete gauge but more evidence of how popular the team is globally. The Blackhawks logo was also voted number one in the NHL by The Hockey News in 2008, before their surge of recent Stanley Cups.

It is very common for fans of any team to show up at an arena when their team isn’t playing. Some fans travel for business or leisure that isn’t tied into their favorite team’s schedule and just want to visit the arena while in town. Some fans are transplanted from other states and want to go to the local area more than just when their team is in town for the love of the game.

Whatever the case, these fans usually stick out because it would seem they have no business being there. “What are they doing here?” would be the prevailing thought. And the jersey that is worn more in these cases than any other team is a Blackhawks jersey.

For many reasons, the Chicago Blackhawks fanbase is one of if not the strongest fanbase in the NHL. Depending on your fan bias, you can argue they are not number one, but no one can deny they are in the top tier of 31 NHL teams.

If and when NHL games resume and they play the games with no fans due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, that would be the only way a Blackhawks jersey wouldn’t be in attendance. Once life returns back to normal with thousands of fans packing an NHL arena, there will be at least one Blackhawks jersey in attendance at every game in every arena regardless of opponents.