How Chelsea Dagger became the NHL's most iconic goal song

The Chicago Blackhawks have one of the catchiest and best known goal songs in NHL history. You either love it if you're a Blackhawks fan or hate hearing it blasted over the speakers at the United Center when your team gets scored on.

But how did a song by a Scottish rock band become one of the most iconic goal songs in NHL history?

The beginning: 2008-2009

The Chicago Blackhawks were going through a period of being terrible when they drafted Jonathan Toews third-overall in 2006, and then Patrick Kane first overall the following season. When Rocky Wirtz took over the team from his late father, Bill Wirtz, he set about changing numerous things on and off the ice. First, he planned to rebuild the team around Kane and Toews, and then invest around building a stronger fan base.

Among these plans was the addition of a new goal song, one that would apply to every player when they scored. The Hawks brass determined the need after going to a game where the New York Rangers played the same song for every goal. After testing a few songs like Song 2 by Blur, the team settled on Chelsea Dagger.

"We noticed about two months into the season that people were doing their own dance to it," Blackhawks spokesperson Pete Hassen told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2015, "And now you're seeing as the team is taking off, the song is really taking off."

As the team started to score more goals, it became synonymous with a tough Blackhawks team.

The middle: Winning three Stanley Cups

The Blackhawks, now rebuilt and thriving under the leadership of Jonathan Toews, became a Stanley Cup contender. They won their first Stanley Cup since 1961 in the 2009-2010 season. As they kept winning, they kept torturing visitors to the United Center with the dulcet tones of Chelsea Dagger.

Soon, the Blackhawks dynasty and Chelsea Dagger were etched in history together. Fans and team personnel alike would say "Cue Chelsea Dagger" to represent a big win or goal from the team. Non-Blackhawks fans associated the song only with the Blackhawks and detested the playing of Chelsea Dagger anywhere outside of the United Center.

The end? Not yet

All good dynasties must come to an end, and the Blackhawks roster went through many changes after they'd won their third Cup of the 2010s. Big-name players were traded, injured, or left in free agency, leaving the team back in a rebuilding phase like they were when Chelsea Dagger began being played in the United Center.

However, one of the things that has made Chelsea Dagger the most iconic goal song in the NHL is that the Blackhawks never changed the song. Whether it was Patrick Kane or Connor Bedard, a Blackhawks goal has led to the sound of Chelsea Dagger for nearly 20 years. In 2024, the Blackhawks said they had no plans to change the goal song, even if the prime Cup-winning years are behind them.

Until they do, it's safe to say that Chelsea Dagger is one of the most iconic goal songs in NHL history, and one that will get Blackhawks fans pumped up no matter where they are.

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