It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to overstate what a joke the Chicago Blackhawks were when John McDonough arrived on the scene in 2007. The same would go for the success the Blackhawks have had on and off the ice since then. In fact, aside the Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, name a team in the NHL that wouldn’t trade its lot with the Blackhawks over the past decade-and-a-half. We’ll wait.
Think of it this way, the Blackhawks have been members of the NHL for the past 93 years. The teams John McDonough ran won as many Stanley Cups (three) in 13 years as all the others did in the previous 80.