By Chris Kuc/Chicago Tribune
In the aftermath of the Blackhawks’ third Stanley Cup in six seasons, team President John McDonough discusses the organization’s remarkable success in the eight years since he was hired by Chairman Rocky Wirtz.
Q: Three Stanley Cups in six seasons. Could you have imagined how far this team would come when you took this job?
A: You’d like to say you would have envisioned this, but realistically, this has exceeded even our lofty, grandiose expectations. Being in my eighth season, it was fun watching this team go to another level during the playoffs. We had home-ice (advantage) in one out of four series, and we were down 2-1 in two of the series and down 3-2 in another series. To win it, it was long, it was intense, it was grueling. And that’s just me. I can’t even manage what the guys were going through.
But it’s rewarding in that when Rocky and I came on the scene a few years ago, we talked about how critical it was to put the right people in the right places, recognizing there was a system and a process to making the best decisions they could. They’re not always going to be right, but I really like how we go about our business. But I want to dispel one thing: People sometimes like to reference us as the “Camelot Blackhawks” and that this is a seamless organization and the gold standard. But we fight like brothers. It’s intense there every day. My approach to all of this is, titles be damned, let’s get it right.
Q: How do you avoid taking all the winning for granted?
A: Due to the nature of the business that we’re in, you can never relax, you can never get caught napping and you recognize that when you’re successful the expectations are going to continue to get higher.
As happy as we are for the fans of Chicago and as happy as we are within the franchise and as proud as I am of our organization, we recognize the bar is pretty high here. I wouldn’t say we’re very good at celebrating. I give us an “F” as celebrators. We don’t get caught up in it. It’s good for us. There are reminders about that all of the time. I think we have the right leadership. Stan (Bowman) is stoic, understated, subdued, measured. Winning and losing looks the same. Stan has done a magnificent job reinventing this franchise.
Q: As a lifelong Chicagoan, are you proud of what you’ve helped bring to this city?
A: I have a great sense of pride because I think this was never supposed to happen. This was never in the cards to happen. If you would have said 10 years ago that the following was going to unfold: The Blackhawks are going to win three Stanley Cups in six years and, by the way, they’re going to lead the NHL in attendance for seven years in a row, their games are going to be broadcast on WGN-TV and WGN Radio and Comcast and at some point when they go national during the playoffs their ratings are going to peak over a 50, you wouldn’t have believed it.
I’m really, really happy for Rocky, who I think is the premier owner in professional sports because he allows people to do their jobs. He really understands people. He’s dynamic and gregarious and recognizes as I do that if you treat people well and you take it to another level and make them feel special, you’re going to get it back a hundredfold.
Q: Do you ever get tired of fans coming up to you and saying “thank you”?
A: That never gets old. I respect it and I appreciate it. When people say thank you, or they make observations about the organization, I really try to tune in as much as I can. I’m not cavalier about it. I don’t take it for granted. I try to ask everybody their name and where they’re from because I don’t want this to be about me. I congratulate them because they gave us a chance when maybe we didn’t deserve it. It’s important for me to make a connection because every single time you meet somebody, the impression is you want to be positive. Even sometimes if someone is critical about what you’re doing, you’ve got to listen and you have to turn that into a positive experience.
People ask, what are some of your highlights? Well, one highlight other than winning a Cup is early in the ‘08-09 season when a fan unfurled a huge banner -and I actually have it - and the banner just said, “The Pride is Back.” It kind of gave us a feeling of the vibration that we all feel because the changes were so extreme. There were so many changes. For me, the first four years, I’m not sure I remember it all. It was dizzying what had gone on. But I never get tired of it. I have so much respect for it. I’m so happy for our fans. They never thought they’d see this.
Q: You really have the banner?
A: I have the banner. It’s in my office. It’s too big to display, but it’s really the first time, and maybe the only time, I really did get emotional in the suite because we were trying so hard to turn this around. The task at hand was more dire than I thought, frankly. I had heard a lot. Rocky and I have had kind of a running joke that there were a period of years that I said, “I’m only going to tell you about five percent of what’s going on because I don’t really think you want to hear the rest.” It’s very, very rewarding.
Q: Is it difficult knowing the team is going to lose some key components soon due to the salary cap?
A: Yeah, it is because the players are so respectful and they have the highest get-it factor I’ve ever seen. But I learned 35 years ago that you can’t get too close to the players because of the nature of our industry that players come and players go. It’s unfortunate. From a fan’s perspective, in a perfect world you would win the Stanley Cup, players would never age, they’d make the same amount of money, the same players would come back and you’d win the Stanley Cup again next year, but it just doesn’t work that way. So our organization from day one is about change. That has defined the Blackhawks since Rocky and I came on the scene - and evolving. And we’re going to go through another process in the near future. But it’s hard to see some of these guys go.
Q: As the former president of the Cubs, what are your thoughts on the resurgence of that franchise?
A: It’s similar to what happened here in 2008, ‘09, ‘10. They’re building and doing everything right. I have so much respect for Theo (Epstein) and Jed (Hoyer) and the job that they’re doing. And what Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney have done with Wrigley Field and their renovation project and what that’s going to look like. But we talk all the time here, every decision we make has a big-picture focus, and I think that’s what they have. It’s fun for me to watch.
I’ve probably been back to Wrigley Field three times in eight years because it would be pretty emotional for me to go back there, really. I’ve been invited every year and they’re great.
For me, it was like Mayberry. It really was. It’s this beautiful ballpark nestled in the middle of a neighborhood and you knew all the ushers’ names and you hired the majority of the people and the broadcasters, but now it seems as if they have turned hope into optimism. And that is a huge leap, so I’m very, very happy for that franchise.
