Bring Me My Cup

I watched a vast majority of last night's Game 6 from my fiancée Kristen's house in Naperville last night and was facing the difficult decision: when do I head for home? Ultimately there was a stoppage in play about halfway through the third period when I decided I needed to head home, what with having to work this morning.

Of course, I found a way to regret that decision. It's a 20 minute drive from her house to mine which I hoped would be enough, given media timeouts and what have you, and boy, that 20 minute drive was a roller coaster ride. Disappointment hit me when Lucic scored that go ahead goal, and I was mentally going so far as to try and figure out Wednesday plans for watching the game.

Of course, I was still driving when everything turned. I was a couple minutes away from home, about to turn into my neighborhood when Bryan Bickell saved the day. Yelling and fist pumping ensued as I drove on. I was down the street from my house when Dave Bolland put home the winning tally as I felt pure elation. More fist pumps, more happy yelling ensued. Needless to say, I made sure I was going to get in my house for the final minute. I wasn't going to miss that.

Photo by Greg Cooper, USA Today Sports

Chicagoans undoubtedly know by now the history of this storied franchise and the dark era the team went through for much of my formative years under Dollar Bill Wirtz and the subsequent resurgence since his passing and the takeover by his son. Changes were promptly made and suddenly the Blackhawks were a draw again. Long lost fans made their way back to join the die-hards and brought a new generation of fans with them, and it all culminated in that 2010 Cup win.

For me though, this Cup win is different. I was a late bloomer on the Blackhawks, joining the ranks of the fanbase during the rebirth, and I was thrilled about that first Cup win, but that one might have been more about exorcising old demons than anything else. But it also brought passion and joy to a title-starved city, and hooked a lot of us who were newer fans to the sport and the team.

After that Cup win, we really cared. We followed the team through a fire sale of key pieces they could no longer afford then watching them squeak into the playoffs and nearly make a glorious comeback to end all glorious comebacks against Vancouver with nowhere near as good a team as was constructed the year before. We suffered through Mike Smith being a scumbag and Raffi Torres forever sealing his fate as one of the most hated athletes in Chicago history. We suffered through that lockout, not knowing if we'd even see any hockey this year while I offered my fiancée's cousin Gary Bettman's head on a silver platter.

This year's Hawks team made everyone seemingly forget about all of that. They tore through the first half of the season while I made jokes about not knowing what a regulation loss was. Kristen and I finally got to experience the best draw in the city in person, joining her cousin for a late regular season game at the Madhouse. Suddenly Kristen, who was never much of a sports fan, cared. She caught onto the rules and flow of hockey and was hooked. I was happy to be hooked back in with her.

Obligatory billboard shot on my way into work

All the emotions we went through on this run made winning the Stanley Cup this year more meaningful for me. Watching Bryan Bickell backhand home the overtime winner against Minnesota to start the run. The dark, somber mood at Kristen's cousin's house as Detroit took a commanding lead giving way to me cutting off a conversation on the phone with my brother with screams of joy as Brent Seabrook banished Detroit to the East days later. Resisting the urge to trash talk to KTLA's traffic reporter as the Hawks made Jonathan Quick look human and Hatrick Kane sent the team back to the Finals. Staying up late into the night to see why Andrew Shaw loves shin pads. And last night: enjoying the rewards of sticking with this team as they hoist the best trophy in all of sports.

I'm wearing a Hawks shirt to work today. Given the party that this city is probably still going through, I think it's fitting. My Hawks are Cup champions. Fellow Hawks fans, let's enjoy this one.