Hawks stir up old rivary, trolling Red Wings in video

Anyone who has watched a game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings knows the familiar “Detroit sucks” chant dating to the days of Chicago Stadium.

Now the Hawks marketing department has taken the taunting to another level, trolling the Red Wings by using the phrase in a video promoting the weekend series at the United Center.

The 30-second spot begins with an elderly woman sitting by the fire doing needlepointing as a country song plays in the background with lyrics about building “a nest like lovebirds do.” A photo of her grandchildren is on the wall, near a sign that reads: “Grandma is busy, take a number.”

After she finishes, the grandmother slowly gets up from her chair and puts the finished product on the mantle of the fireplace. The needlepoint design reads “Detroit Sucks,” and the video ends with a flashcard: “New Divisions. Old Traditions.”

The video aired during Thursday’s telecast and was tweeted by the Hawks on Saturday morning. The Hawks and Wings, two of the Original Six teams, reunited in the Central Division this season because of realignment forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was no immediate response from the Red Wings’ Twitter feed, which promoted the weekend series — games Saturday and Sunday evening — with a more old-school approach: “Original 6 matchup!”

The Wings are in the middle of a rebuild and are last in the division with 15 points. The Hawks are also in a rebuild but have been one of the bigger surprises in the NHL in the early going, ranked third in the Central with 25 points. After going winless in their first four games, they beat the Red Wings in a two-game series at the United Center and have been on a roll since.

There weren’t any fans at the United Center on Saturday, nor will there be any Sunday to renew the old chant, but now that the Hawks have thrown down the gauntlet, it’ll be interesting to see how the Red Wings respond.