(although his father, Arthur Wirtz, was actually responsible for that decision). Wirtz was further blamed for the loss of both Dominik Hašek and Ed Belfour, for trading Denis Savard in 1990, for the trade of Chris Chelios to Detroit (in actuality, Chelios had asked to be traded and gave approval to then-General Manager Bob Murray when told Detroit was the most interested team), for the trading of Jeremy Roenick, and for the 1967 trade of Phil Esposito. Wirtz was also blamed for the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup drought, which was the third longest in NHL history and the longest in team history. Under the ownership of Wirtz, the Chicago Blackhawks were named by ESPN in 2004 as the worst franchise in sports. In 2002, ESPN ranked Wirtz as the third greediest owner in all of sports. In spite of his vocal critics, Wirtz was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976 and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. He was considered by many (including former Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon, retired hockey star Stan Mikita, and former Blackhawk Martin Lapointe) to be a generous and fiercely loyal man. In 1993, he established Blackhawk Charities which has donated millions of dollars to the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois, among other groups. Wirtz also served on the Olympic Committees for both the 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympics. "The Wirtz Law" In 1999, the Illinois State Legislature passed the Wine and Spirits Fair Dealing Act, ("The Wirtz Law"). The bill was passed after more than $700,000 was contributed to politicians by liquor distributors according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. The law was on the books for less than three years before a U.S. district court judge struck it down on the grounds that it violated the commerce clause of the Constitution. Newspaper editorials at the time often called the Wirtz Law a corrupt document, and it has since become a case study for campaign finance reform. Personal life and death In 1950, Wirtz married Joan Roney. They had five children: two sons, Rocky Wirtz and Peter Wirtz; and three daughters, Gail Wirtz Costello, Karey Wirtz Fix, and Alyson Wirtz. Joan died in 1983, the same year his father died. In 1987, he married Alice Wirtz. Bill Wirtz died at Evanston Hospital on September 26, 2007, following a brief battle with cancer.