Chicago Way w/John Kass: Remembering our friend Rocky Wirtz

Chicago Way w/John Kass (07/27/23): Summer break is over, John Kass and Jeff Carlin are back to catch you up on where they’ve been and remember their friend, the late Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz. Plus, Kasso shares a bear encounter story made for TV. Check out more Kasso at JohnKassNews.com

Comments 7

  1. They had a serial abuser working for them. He abused one of their players. The man wasn’t disciplined, or fired, no one beat his ass. Instead the organization ignored it, and the 18 y/o was ridiculed by teammates.

    When questioned in a press conference later, Mr. Wirtz was rude, obstinate, insensitive, condescending. He’s a brilliant businessman, hired McDonough to market the team. These were masterstokes.

    But when the time came to step up and lead, he was absent. Thus is how I will remember him.

    1. IN 2005, the spirit company that I worked for was sold and the distribution rights to a number of very large brands were pulled from the Wirtz family business, a loss of $80M in sales revenue. As devestating as that would be to the Wirtz Corporation, Rocky Wirtz did not put one person on the unemployement line, he didn’t even give any one of them to be laid off. They worked their way through the tough times and rebuilt their business, when many in the industry would be forced to shut their doors.

      In the next year, while on vacation in Southern California, my young daughter suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. We were told that she had a brain tumor and exploratory surgery was planned the very next morning. Late that evening, one of the top neurosurgeons in the country, who happened to be a resident at this hospital, walked into the room where my daughter was laying and told her that “you have some very powerful friends that really love you. They told us that whatever is needed for her to get through this ordeal, do it and don’t worry about the cost.” The hospital got a personal call from Rocky Wirtz who reached out to the hospital management to tell them that cost was not an issue, do what needs to be done for my daughter. THE COMPANY THAT I WAS EMPLOYED AT JUST PULLED $80M OF BUSINESS FROM THIS FAMILY AND ONE YEAR LATER, ROCKY WIRTZ IS DOING THIS FOR MY FAMILY.

      My daughter goes through the operation and went on chemo. She was a huge Hawks fan and for her birthday, I called the Wirtz Beverage company to buy 5 seats for my family to celebrate her birthday. All tickets for employees had to go through his personal secretary with a credit card paying for the tickets up front. The tickets arrive at my home, with an invoice showing that my credit card was not charged – I find out that Rocky picked up the tab. At the game, a staff member in the BlackHawks office delivers my daughter a signed puck as she sits in center ice seats, 5 rows off the ice.

      The next day, my young daughter writes Rocky a thank you letter. I have her put it in the envelope, I do not read the letter. One week later, Mr. Wirtz’s secretary calls my phone, verifying my home address – Rocky is sending her a gift. I told her that this is not necessary to do, he has already done a ton! His secretary tells me that my daughter wrote something in the letter that really moved him (she is 11 at that time). One week later, when she was coming home wiht my wife from Children;s Memorial Hospital, a Fedex package is on our front step. Inside is a handwritten letter from Rocky, telling her that he is very happy that she is doing better, and that he is very grateful that she is a Black Hawks fan. “Tell all of your friends about us as we are trying hard to turn this team around and we need all the young fans we can get”. Rocky signs the letter and finishes it this way: “P.S. I was telling Patrick Kane about everything you are going through and he has something for you.” It was a Patrick Kane signed jersey! WOW.

      I have known this man for a long time and I have seen the charity work that he does. He never flaunted his wealth, for a long time, driving a run of the mill car and parking back in the lot at his properties. He was a pivotal figure inside Maryville Academy, a home for abused children and raised significant funding for them to help young children from broken homes – wards of the state. A majority of what he gave back was not known – the family didn’t do it for the accolades.

      He ran his businesses as an owner that let his employees do the job that they were hired for, he did not micro manage – not his style. Sometimes, that would hurt him as you find out that employees have done or hidden things that were not good for the business, he would get involved and do his best to rectify the issues. I can tell you that he did not have knowledge of the Kyle Beach situation until he ordered an internal investigation and found out what happened. He immediately fired John McDonaugh, never announcing to the press what the reason for his firing was for. The organization was not about to deal with the aftermath in the media, they did their best to deal with this situation from a financial settlement. It doesn’t take away the pain that everyone dealt with and that does to show that we all are not perfect – once the Wirtz family found out about this, they were dealing with how to handle this difficult and horrific situation the best they could. Those who knew were released of their managerial positions.

      He did his best to treat everyone as if they were special. You could talk to him about anything – he had a great sense of humor. For the people who are attacking this man for something that happened to his organization, where he did his best to address it, you don’t have an idea of who this man is. As we go through life, we find out that none of us are perfect. All you can do is to be the best person you can be and I know Rocky did his best at doing that.

      Rocky Wirtz – to my family, leaves this world with gratitude from us – we will never forget him. RIP – and thank you.

    2. The usual from Maitano. If this guy hit the Powerball for ten million he’d complain he didn’t win twenty! Ole Mr. Miserable. Blah, blah, blah…

  2. A Detroiter’s Blackhawk story…
    Some time during the early 2000’s (while Bill Wirtz was still the owner), I’m on a motorcycle ride. Traveling through New Mexico, I come to a construction zone where I’m stopped by a flagman wearing a Hawks cap, there to wait for a pilot car to come and escort me through the construction. We talk, I ask him about the hat and I discover that he’s local, but a lifelong Hawk fan. We talk hockey for a bit, and to cheer him up (the Hawks were, as Orval Tessier might say, “Less than bad”), I noted that if the Hawks were anything like the Red Wings, the Hawks wouldn’t get better unless and until they had an ownership change. The Wings had their ownership change in 1982, and it still took them until 1996 to win their first Stanley Cup in over 40 years. The Hawks under Rocky did it in what, three? Impressive indeed.
    One more trivia tidbit. Fully half of the Original Six era NHL teams were effectively owned by the same guy – James E. Norris actually owned the Wings, was the unofficial “power behind the throne” of the Hawks and had a stake in the N.Y. Rangers – but not enough to violate the NHL bylaw against owning multiple franchises. Those of a certain age will remember the old joke that “N.H.L.” stood for “Norris House League”.

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