“Dad, can we go to Chicago Stadium to see the Black Hawks…it’s only 500 miles?”

In his book Hockey and Chicago: One Canadian’s Undying Passion, Cameron Cassidy takes you on a journey spanning over fifty years of being an avid Black Hawk fan and explains how a game, a team, and a city became such an important part of his life. Growing up in his native Ayr, Ontario in the late sixties, Cameron refused to conform and become a Maple Leaf fan like most of his friends. The allure of Bobby Hull and the Chicago Stadium were too strong; so he continued to root for the Hawks despite having virtually no one to share his enthusiasm with. Finally, in high school, Cameron meets another kindred spirit who also loves the Black Hawks. They quickly become friends and soon find themselves making annual trips to Chicago to watch their team at the venerable Chicago Stadium. Cameron’s recollections of these hockey road trips will remind long time Hawk fans of how great it was watching games at the Stadium, a building that the author is as passionate about as the team that played there. As Cameron becomes a young adult and goes off to university, his passion for the Hawks remains strong despite competition from the Rolling Stones, girls, parties, and occasional school work. He takes you with him on college road trips to see the Hawks in Chicago that are no longer a family affair and take on a slightly more adult theme. Following graduation, as he enters the real world, Cameron discovers new interests and new places. Golf becomes his sport of passion and Las Vegas his new Stadium. Not until, a move to the “Sunshine State” does Cameron rediscover his team and begin to follow them just like when he was a kid growing up in Ontario. His life has come full circle; the Blackhawks are once again one of the most important things in his life.

Cameron Cassidy graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario with a BA in Economics and later earned a BBA in Accounting from the University of Michigan-Flint. While he is a licensed CPA, he currently works in the gaming industry. Cameron started to play hockey at the age of five and became a Blackhawk fan at the age of seven. He currently resides in Florida with his wife and continues to attend Blackhawk games in Chicago.