The Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years on Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. From the start of these Stanley Cup playoffs (granted I’m no Barry Melrose who called it at the beginning of the season), I said that the Blackhawks would reign victorious — and they did. There was no looting last night (Yup, I’m looking at you Montreal), but there were tears shed by Jeremy Roenick and there was a whole lot of cheering in the streets of Chicago.
The last time Chicago had a reason to celebrate was when the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, but only half the baseball fans in the city were happy. Last night however was different; hockey truly unified the city. There was no gloating by Sox fans nor any jealousy by Cubs fans — it was just one huge crowd of happy hockey fans who couldn’t believe what had just happened. No one cared about bandwaggoners or hugging complete strangers. All in all it was a beautiful site.
This team has given Chicago a ray of hope in an otherwise disappointing sports season. There’s nothing to cheer about on either side of town baseball-wise, the Chicago Bears were a bust, and the Bulls …well you all know my feelings about that. I’m glad I don’t have to give a broadcast today because quite honestly I barely have a voice. There was nothing better than watching this team win last night even though there was some confusion over Patrick Kane’s overtime goal.
The Blackhawks’ slogan has been “One Goal” for quite a while. Who would have known that would be all it took to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup? Just one goal and it was all over for the Philadelphia Flyers. Just one goal and a team whose captain, Jonathan Toews, can barely get into a bar would win MVP and make the fans of the Indian head proud. Just one goal and a city became one. So I say thank you Chicago Blackhawks for an amazing season and for bringing hockey back to Chicago. Thank you for giving us a reason to smile and even cry like JR (I cried last night too, don’t feel so badly).
