No idea where the discussion began, but I'll join in. Regarding Blackhawk fans.
My dad's been a die-hard since coming to Chicago as a kid in the 60's. He raised my brother and myself to play hockey, which we both loved. But when it came to the Blackhawks, I never quite understood it. He told stories of such legendary players and a team he loved, but I only knew their logo and the players he'd talk about (Secord-Savard-Larmer line for instance).
But to see a game, we had to go to the city and watch a bunch of scrubs play, and we'd have an entire section to ourselves. It wasn't really fun, and I didn't see the mystique around the Blackhawks. I remember having a Joe Sakic jersey and being an Avalanche fan as a kid, though I followed Martin Havlat via the internet and was a big fan.
Then Bill died and a dynasty was formed. As soon as the games came on, I've watched at least 90% and embraced them with all my heart. Hockey returning in Chicago is the greatest thing to happen in sports for me.
Even being raised by a hockey father and as a hockey fan as a kid, the Blackhawks weren't accessible. I was born in 91, and vaguely remember Roenick and Chelios, but by the time I really got into sports they were elsewhere and the Hawks were irrelevant. Looking back, I have no idea why the Hawks ever got rid of Roenick. To save money you let go of a legend? That's the wrong way of running a franchise. How they run it now is literally perfect. Even all year, being pissed at the money they gave Crawford and Bickell, they're playoff aces. So the money's not wasted.
My two cents.
... I can relate -plus if your Dad wanted to catch home games -and was a kid and not able to go in to the Stadium - you had the option of Pat Foley and Dale Tallon on the radio - I was far out from town enough to not quite be in cable tv range - so basically it was radio and then .... well radio... going to a game was about like going to a concert - it was about that frequent too - one or two games a year if possible. Usually one against Minnesota.... Dino Ciccarelli did suck -and he had to be told that... 
