CHICAGO (AP) – William W. Wirtz was a philanthropist and family man who owned the Chicago Blackhawks through years of sweeping changes in the NHL and was chairman of the league’s board of governors for nearly two decades.
Amassing a fortune in real estate, liquor distribution, banking and other enterprises, he was also a tough bargainer, given the nickname “Dollar Bill” for his tightfisted approach to contracts for big-name players.
Wirtz died Wednesday at age 77. The team’s Web site said he lost a battle with cancer in Evanston.
Wirtz was remembered for both his contributions to the sport and charity and for his stubborn management style that included a refusal to televise the team’s home games, infuriating fans, many of whom had stopped watching altogether the last several years.
Wirtz’s family purchased the team in 1954 and he became team president in 1966, a position he held for 41 years.
Asked in a 2005 TV interview about his legacy, Wirtz said:
“I have been remembered very nicely in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and the National Hockey League Hall of Fame. So I don’t need any more honors than them. The only way I want to be remembered is not by the public, but just by my family and friends. That I put more back on this earth than I took out. That’s my reputation and I’m gonna stick with it.”
Wirtz helped negotiate the merger of the NHL and the World Hockey Association in the late 1970’s.
“Bill Wirtz was a giant presence in a giant city his beloved Chicago and an even greater presence in the National Hockey League,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “His 41 years as President of the Blackhawks and 18 years as Chairman of the Board leave an incomparable legacy of contributions to the game and to the League.”
Together with Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Wirtz backed the construction of the United Center, which replaced the Chicago Stadium, the longtime home for Blackhawks.
When Chicago Stadium was knocked down by the wrecking ball, Wirtz came to the parking lot, stood, watched and wept because the building had been a part of his family for so long.
But the move across the street for the 1994-95 season has not been a transition of success for the once perennial playoff team – especially on the ice.
There has been constant shuffling in coaches and general managers, but still the Blackhawks have not won a Stanley Cup championship since 1961 and have missed the playoffs eight times in the last nine seasons. Attendance last season was 12,700 in the 20,500-seat United Center.
“In spite of the last decade, he was upbeat, and positive, and caring, the same way he was when we were successful,” general manager Dale Tallon said Wednesday. “He never changed, and that tells you what kind of a man he was. I loved him like a father.”
At the United Center, the retired numbers of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall and Denis Savard hang high above the ice.
One of the NHL’s greatest scorers, Hull left in 1972 and went to Winnipeg of the WHA for a big contract when the Blackhawks would not meet his salary demands.
In recent years, Chicago lost such high-caliber players as Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte, Ed Belfour and Chris Chelios.
Many fans were livid by his refusal to televise homes games and there were anti-Wirtz Web sites. Wirtz once said home games on TV weren’t fair to fans who actually went to the games.
“He took a lot of heat here over the years. But people don’t know him like I do. He’s just a family guy, and he loves his players, and loves the people that work for him,” said Savard, the Hall of Famer who is now the team’s coach.
Wirtz often said his goal was for the team to win another Stanley Cup, but he was not known to spend lavishly on players.
That image changed somewhat when the club signed goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to a four-year, $27 million contract in 2005.
“I think that was a great name, ‘Dollar Bill.’ But they forgot to put the 100,000 or million in front of it, because that’s what he gave out,” Mikita said Wednesday. “I can honestly say from my experience, because of the hockey camp that I run, every year I got a nice check from him.”
Despite his reputation for paying close attention to the bottom line, Wirtz was known for his philanthropy.
Since its establishment in 1993, Blackhawk Charities has donated millions of dollars to worthy causes in Chicago, including the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois.
“We have lost a great owner and a great steward of the sport,” said Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who is the chairman of the NHL Board of Govenors.
“No one did more for hockey on both the professional and amateur levels than he did. He will always be remembered as a dedicated leader in the sport and for the legacy he has left in his community, especially his humanitarian efforts through his foundation.”
Wirtz’s interest in sports extended beyond the NHL. He served on both the 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympic Committees. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 1976 and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985
Wirtz is survived by his wife, Alice, five children, Rocky, Gail, Karey, Peter and Alyson, and seven grandchildren.
Funeral services are scheduled Monday in Chicago.
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