Bill Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks Team President Dies at 77

Bill Wirtz, team President for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, passed away on Wednesday morning following his recent battle with cancer. Wirtz was 77.

While Wirtz never won favor with Blackhawks fans he was highly respected for his contributions to the hockey world. He was largely responsible for the merger that brought the NHL and World Hockey League together in the late 1970’s as well as the recent expansion of the NHL. In 1976 Wirtz was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Wirtz was one of four individuals awarded the Lester Patrick Award in 1978.

Wirtz was a member of the Winter Olympics Committee in 1980 and 1984 and was instrumental in the development of U.S. hockey at the amateur level. For all of his contributions Wirtz was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

In 1993 Wirtz helped establish Chicago Blackhawks Charities, an organization that has donated several million dollars to community outreach programs throughout Chicago.

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