Spellman: Ball got rolling for Hawks on Wrigley ice

Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith aren't old-timers by any stretch, but they are the last link to the bad old days when only a few thousand Blackhawks fans would bother to show up to a United Center so cavernously empty that you actually could hear players talking on the ice all the way up in the 300 level.

After the last half-dozen years of consistent sellouts, deep playoff runs and a couple of Stanley Cups, it's difficult to imagine, isn't it?

Not for Sharp.

“Duncs, Seabs and I — we were here from the beginning — and once in awhile we tell a story of what it used to be like and some of these young guys like Shawzie and Krugs and Smitty, they kind of look at us in disbelief,” Sharp said with a laugh. “But it's always fun to look back at those days because it was fun for us, too.

“We were just getting started. We were young players; we didn't care if there were 10 people or 10,000 people in the stands — we were just happy to be in the league.”

But with the ascension of Rocky Wirtz, the hiring of John McDonough and the drafting of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, things were beginning to change for an organization perpetually stuck in neutral.

And a frigid Wrigley Field on New Year's Day in 2009 served as the setting for the continued evolution of the Hawks.

Taking on the big, bad Detroit Red Wings in the nationally televised Winter Classic? Well, that just took things to the next level.

“That was really like the first big game that the Hawks played in with this core group of players,” Sharp said. “We were just on the upswing, we were starting to win games, the building was selling out, and that seemed like the first prime-time game we were playing in.

“All the young guys were kind of taking the next step in their careers, and it seemed like everything snowballed at the right time. Just the whole experience of being outdoors, playing our rival Detroit, all our friends and family at the game, the TV cameras following us all around … it was just a great experience overall.

“You can look back to that Wrigley game as the kickoff of it all.”

That the Red Wings — the team and organization the Hawks were seeking to emulate — ended up winning that afternoon was a tough hit, sure, but in the big picture it was far from the end of the world.

In fact, it was just the beginning of a new world for the Hawks, who, whether they realized it or not, were on their way to becoming one of the NHL's premier franchises.

“It woke people up to the fact that the Blackhawks were an organization that was around,” Wirtz said. “It piqued their interest.

“Obviously, Wrigley Field with its storied history and the natural rivalry between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings … it helped legitimize us that we could be on the big stage.”

The Hawks, who had gone from 71 points in 2006-07 to 88 points in 2007-08, would go on to a 104-point season and their first conference final appearance in 14 years following their first “Classic” appearance.

And every Blackhawks fan knows what happened the next season.

“If you remember, that first year in 2007 we didn't make the playoffs, but people started looking at us differently,” Wirtz said. “We said we're putting home games on TV and people were like, ‘Really? We heard that 30 years ago.'

“Then when '09 came in, it was really something. It helped us a lot to increase our fan base, and like in a soap opera, the more people that are engaged — whether in the building or on television or radio — they can't wait for the next episode.”

Well, the next big cliffhanger comes at noon (NBC) on New Year's Day when the Hawks take on the Capitals in the Winter Classic at Nationals Park in Washington. It's the second straight season the Hawks have been selected to play in an outdoor game. Few will forget the snow globe game last March at Soldier Field.

My how things have changed for the franchise.

“Now we're spoiled,” Sharp said. “We're almost used to that kind of stuff.

“We're fortunate to be in such a good organization that we've gotten to play in a few of those games. We don't take it for granted, but it's definitely a little more normal for us now.”

But still a thrill for the organization, from the top on down.

“I'm quite proud that the NHL would want us to play another outdoor game,” Wirtz said. “Anytime we're on the big stage it's a compliment to the organization.”

• Follow Mike on Twitter @dhspellman.