Blackhawks failed to win it all for 28 years but then built a dynasty from nothing

At some point between the 1969-70 season and 1996-97, you'd have thought the Chicago Blackhawks would've hoisted the Stanley Cup. But it wasn't meant to be, And they'd come close in so many instances, earning trips to the Conference and even the Stanley Cup Final, only to have nothing to show for it but disappointment.

Then, one of the most storied franchises in NHL history went from one of the league's most relevant teams for nearly three decades to one of the least relevant, and they only made the playoffs once between 1997-98 and 2007-08, which was a loss in the Quarter-Final to the St. Louis Blues in 2002.

Yeah, you'd have thought the Stanley Cup ship had sailed, but as it turns out, things have a strange way of coming together. The Hawks nailed a few draft picks like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and in 2009, they made it back to the Conference Final, but lost to the Detroit Red Wings.

It was at that moment that I remembered a team called the Blackhawks existed, since I'd barely noticed them since I was in grade school, given how bad they'd been. Then 2010 happened and Patrick Kane made sure the Hawks weren't going on another annual playoff odyssey without hoisting the Stanley Cup.

The Chicago Blackhawks turned irrelevance into a dynasty following decade of frustration

If you were an outsider who knew nothing about hockey except for how the playoff system worked, you'd have most likely assumed the Hawks won their three Stanley Cups in that 28-year period. Not in 2010, 2013, and 2015, with that 2012-13 team looking like arguably the most dominant team of the 2010s and maybe the 21st century.

And it showed just how quickly one can flip the script in the world of sports. Even if few fans, Hawks fans or those who casually follow the NHL, missed this one. Because let's face it: unless you're explicitly looking for this kind of stuff, it's very easy to miss.

I mean, 28 seasons of success and no Stanley Cup between 1969-70 and 1996-97. Then, hardly anything to cheer for except for the outlier in 2002, before, finally, getting enough firepower to earn another trip to the postseason in 2009, losing in the Conference Final, then winning three Cups in one decade - assuming you start the 2010s with the year 2010.

A good omen for the Blackhawks teams of the 2020s?

It seems like a tried-and-true formula for the Hawks. Have no success whatsoever except for a fluke season, then go on and win a few Cups before fading back into irrelevancy.

Then, have a terrible team for a while, one that's so bad they're an eyesore to watch and write about, grow into something that's somewhat relevant, then take over the league. Hey, it worked in the latter part of the 1990s and into the 2000s before the Hawks dominated the league for half a decade.

And with so much young talent in town and coming to town these days, one must look to and learn from history, right? Sometimes if we don't learn from history, we're doomed to repeat it. But if we look back on history and see what worked, maybe all this recent decay will unleash a new dawn? Just something to think about.

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