Skokie Man Has Attended Every Blackhawks Home Game Since 1966

It has been quite easy to be a Chicago Blackhawks fan over the last seven years. Tonight’s Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 in Tampa Bay will mark the third time the team will compete in the finals during that span, which includes two Stanley Cup championships, five conference finals appearances and a playoff appearance every year.

But this recent run of success is even more sweet to the fans who were there year in and year out, through the bad, sometimes really bad, ones.

Like Skokie resident Bob Gertenrich, who has attended an amazing streak of more than 2,200 Blackhawks home games dating back to 1966, CBS Chicago reports.

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Gertenrich started when he was 19 during the days of Bobby Hull, stuck around through the mediocre days of Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios and Tony Amonte and even the dark years just prior to the death of owner Bill Wirtz. He didn’t miss the game the day his mom died, nor any during an entire year when he was recovering from foot surgery.

“I went to 47 games that one year, with the foot surgery,” he told CBS. “At 31 of them, I was in a wheelchair. My friends had to … push me across Damen Avenue, and some of those nights, it was a little dicey out there, with the weather.”

Since Gertenrich has had season tickets, the price has inflated from $100 in 1966 to more than $13,000 for three seats now.

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But even through the 2,261 games he’s been in attendance, Gertenrich could have a chance to see something memorable for the very first time very soon. If the Blackhawks beat the Lightning in either four or six games, the clincher will be held in Chicago for the first time since the 1930s. Even before Gertenrich became a fan.

more via CBS-2-Chicago

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