“When I was young, we didn’t travel much. I didn’t travel hardly at all until I went to college in Colorado. Then I came to Chicago.

“Chicago was a big city for me. I had two young children at the time, and I had a wife from the prairies. Naturally, Chicago’s size and its pace frightened us a little bit. “We didn’t know any people in the city, so we became very close with teammates and their families. Most of the Hawks and their families lived in the western suburbs, in areas like Bellwood where we would rent homes. They were mostly old bungalows and apartments, and we lived close to each other.

“We didn’t live in the Loop because most of us were married with young, growing families, and we seldom even went downtown. Monday night was the only time we had off, and that was a family night. When the season ended, we all went back to our homes in Canada. I had a job in the oil industry. I got there the day after the season ended, and I was anxious to get to work. Most of the players had to work during the summer, and I’m glad I did. It really groomed me for my career after retirement from hockey.

“As for my first impressions of the Chicago Stadium and the city after I got here, it was really quite exciting. We would train in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, in a little rink with a capacity of around 2,500 people. Then we moved into the stadium, which was bigger than anything I had ever seen in my life. I remember we would sort of stare up at it when it was empty, and then, when it was full we got a thrill because all of the fans were on our side. We really wanted to perform for them. The Chicago Stadium was an old building, but an exciting place.

“Chicago fans were special because they weren’t self-centered. We had a fan club, and we visited with them. We didn’t wear helmets in those days, and we didn’t drive into the basement of the rink in a dark, tinted bus. We were with the fans, and they enjoyed that. “Chicago people still remember the Blackhawks of the ’60s as I travel around the world. They loved the six-team structure of hockey in those days and the ‘Million Dollar Line.’ They loved our stars, like Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Glenn Hall, who were just coming into their own. We were an exciting team, and the fans came along with us.”

— Bill “Red” Hay, Chicago Blackhawks center

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