The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blackhawks were founded on September 25, 1926, as the Ottawa Senators, a charter member of the NHL. The team moved to Chicago in 1930.

The club was originally owned by Frederic McLaughlin, who named it after his military unit, the Blackhawk Squadron from World War I. The team has won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding (1934, 1938, 1961, 2010, 2013, 2015), second only to the Boston Bruins in NHL history. The Blackhawks are one of the “Original Six” NHL teams along with the Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Since 1994, the team has played their home games at the United Center. The club had previously played for 65 years at Chicago Stadium. The Blackhawks have a long-standing rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings, and an intense rivalry with the St. Louis Blues.

The Blackhawks began play as an expansion franchise in 1926 in Ottawa, Canada, home of their original owner, Ambrose O’Brien. O’Brien had been a successful businessman who made his fortune in the railroad industry and was an active member of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). He needed a new challenge and saw professional hockey as it was growing in popularity in North America as the perfect opportunity. On August 14, 1926, he paid $160 000 to purchase two expansion franchises in the NHL, one for Ottawa and the other for Detroit.