Curse of Muldoon
Encyclopedia
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
(the team's name at the time) of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
from finishing in first place, either in their division or, from 1938 to 1967, in the single-division NHL. It may have been the first public example of the mainstream media
Mainstream media
Mainstream media are those media disseminated via the largest distribution channels, which therefore represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter...
publicizing a "curse" on a major-league sports franchise.
Supposed curse
The Hawks' first season, 1926–27, was a moderate success, with the forward line of Mickey MacKayMickey MacKay
Duncan McMillan "Mickey" MacKay was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League...
, Babe Dye
Babe Dye
Cecil Henry "Babe" Dye was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto St. Pats, Chicago Black Hawks, New York Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was the NHL's top goal scorer of the 1920s and is a member of the Hockey Hall of...
, and Dick Irvin
Dick Irvin
James Dickinson Irvin, Sr. was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League.Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Irvin was one of the greatest players of his day, balancing a torrid slapshot and tough style with gentlemanly play...
each finishing near the top of the league's scoring race. The Hawks lost their 1927 first-round playoff series to the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
. Following this series, team owner Frederic McLaughlin
Frederic McLaughlin
Frederic McLaughlin was the first owner of the Chicago Black Hawks.Born in Chicago, Illinois, McLaughlin inherited a successful coffee business from his father, who died in 1905. McLaughlin was a graduate of Harvard University and served in the United States Army during World War I...
fired head coach Pete Muldoon
Pete Muldoon
Pete Muldoon , born Linton Muldoon Treacy, was a Canadian ice hockey pioneer in the western United States, particularly known for bringing a Stanley Cup championship to Seattle, Washington...
.
Jim Coleman, a sportswriter for the Toronto Globe and Mail wrote in 1943 that the reason for Muldoon's firing boiled down to a heated end-of-season argument with McLaughlin. As the story goes, McLaughlin felt that the Black Hawks were good enough to finish first in the American Division. Muldoon disagreed, and McLaughlin fired him. Muldoon supposedly responded, "Fire me, Major, and you'll never finish first. I'll put a curse on this team that will hoodoo it until the end of time."
At the time, finishing in first place was considered to be as much of an achievement as winning the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
. While the team would win the Stanley Cup in 1934 (defeating the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
in the Finals), 1938 (defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
) and 1961 (again defeating the Red Wings), they would do so without having finished in first place either in a multi-division or a single-league format.
Effectiveness of curse
In 1967, the last season of the six-team NHL, the Hawks finished first, breaking the supposed Curse of Muldoon, 23 years after the death of McLaughlin. However, they lost the Stanley Cup Semifinals to the Maple Leafs. Afterward, sportswriter Jim Coleman, who first printed the story of the curse in 1943, admitted that he made the story up to break a writer's block he had as a column deadline approached.The Blackhawks were not completely shut out during the post-1961 period. Since their 1961 Stanley Cup, the Blackhawks finished first in their Division (single-Division NHL 1942–67, Western Division 1968–74, Norris Division 1975–93, Central Division since 1994) 14 times: 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993 and 2010. The team played in the Stanley Cup Finals five times, in 1962, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1992 and 2010.
Nevertheless, the team did not win the Cup from 1961 until 2010 -- when they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
-- which was the longest drought of any current NHL team. Until the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs
2009 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 15, 2009, after the 2008–09 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference , play a best-of-seven series for the conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and...
, they had not advanced beyond the first round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 1996, when they defeated the Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
in the opening round and the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
in the Conference Semi-Finals before falling to the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, in the Conference Finals. In addition, until the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
2010 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 14, 2010, after the 2009–10 NHL regular season. The Finals ended on June 9, 2010, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two to win their fourth championship and their first since 1961...
, the Blackhawks had not appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1992
1992 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1992 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Prince of Wales Conference and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Clarence Campbell Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks were making their first appearance in the Final since...
, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
.