Never in the history of the NHL has there been a more misunderstood man than William Wadsworth Wirtz.

He took control of the Chicago Blackhawks upon the death of his father, Arthur M. Wirtz, another misunderstood man, and lovingly nurtured both the Blackhawks and the NHL until his untimely demise in 2007.

There was nothing more important to Mr. Wirtz than family. He felt that time at home was to be spent with father and mother helping the children with their homework, spending time doing fun family activities like singalongs and sack races, and generally seeing the values of one generation being instilled in the next.

He felt that certain things would be a distraction, such as hockey games on television. So, for the sake of families across the Greater Chicagoland Area, he steadfastly refused to televise Blackhawks home games. He also felt that alcoholism was tearing apart families across the area, so did everything in his power to see to it that less scotch and gin made its way to the public, selflessly consuming it himself, and enlisting his star player, Bobby Hull, to the cause.

He also felt he was a guardian of the NHL. He felt it was unfair for single teams to have too great a stockpile of talent. So, to this end, he charged his faithful lieutenant Bob Pulford (Never before or since has there been an owner and GM so philosophically compatible) with taking the Blackhawks' best players and dispersing them leaguewide, so teams other than the Hawks would have better talent, and those players could then make more money. Such selflessness no longer exists in Chicago hockey.

He also felt that it was crucial to the NHL that they have a champion in a major media market. To acieve this, Pulford fired Mike Keenan, who almost commited the sin of winning a Stanley Cup in Chicago. Keenan was then hired by the New York Rangers. Pulford then sent many players to New York to play with Keenan, such as Steve Larmer, Brian Noonan and Stephane Matteau. These players then won the Stanley Cup in New York, which was to the benefit of the NHL.

I'm sure if he were alive today, he would feel sadness over the Blackhawks televising every game, as well as the over 20,000 that attend every game. He used to see empty seats and think of all the fathers who were home playing catch with their boys.

On this day, we at HOCKEENIGHT would like to thank Mr. Wirtz, for his devotion to the Blackhawks, the NHL, and the family.

He is sorely missed.