The Blackhawks wore this patch to honour their longtime owner William 'Bill' W. Wirtz who died on September 26th, 2008.
Still, Wirtz had a reputation for stubbornness and frugality - he was blamed by the fans for a lot of trades (Bobby Hull, Phil Esposito, Denis Savard, Jeremy Roenick, etc.) and for the Blackhawks Stanley Cup drought, which is the longest in the NHL and the longest in team history.
Otherwise he was considered by many (GM Dale Tallon, retired hockey star Stan Mikita and current Blackhawk Martin Lapointe) to be a generous and fiercely loyal man.
Wirtz was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977.