A proud, patriotic American, McLaughlin was a strong-willed visionary not unlike Canada’s Conn Smythe, a contemporary of the day who built the Toronto Maple Leafs. And like Smythe, McLaughlin had a strong military background, bringing discipline and focus to his business and hockey interests.
Born in Chicago in 1877, McLaughlin stepped into the family’s coffee business in 1905 as the company’s secretary-treasurer following his father’s death. That empire ultimately would be the foundation for hockey in Chicago when Lester and Frank Patrick sold a handful of Western Hockey League franchises in 1926.
McLaughlin took a leave from the coffee business to serve as a sergeant with the 1st Illinois Field Artillery on the border of Mexico in 1917, promoted to the rank of Major while serving overseas during the World War I.
Commanding the U.S. Army’s 86th, or Black Hawk, Division in Europe, McLaughlin would return home with a name for a franchise that he never dreamed of owning.
Back in the family business, he seized the opportunity in 1926 to relocate the WHL Portland Rosebuds to Chicago, heading a consortium of businessmen to bankroll the move and the team’s operation. Established on May 1, 1926, the new NHL team would be known as the Black Hawks.
