from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
History is always part of the lure – and the lore – of the Stanley Cup chase and the Chicago Blackhawks were of a mind to make a little history Monday night.
It had been 77 years since the Blackhawks last won the Stanley Cup on home ice. Bill Stewart coached the ’38 Hawks and the circumstances of the victory were utterly peculiar – a below .500 team catching fire at the right time, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the best-of-five final, Carl Voss scoring the game-winning goal. Anachronistically/intelligently, the playoffs ended on Apr. 3.
But on a rainy night in Illinois, when the weather made the streets so impassable that the Stanley Cup barely arrived in time for the ceremony, the Blackhawks rewarded their revived, energized fan base at the United Center (aka The Madhouse on Madison) Monday night, shutting out the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to capture their third Stanley Cup in six years.
After previously winning as the visiting team in Philadelphia (2010) and Boston (2013), Chicago eked out a close, hard-fought six-game series win in statistically, the closest Stanley Cup final in history.
It wasn’t always entertaining, and the goals were especially hard to come by in the latter stages of the series, but in the end, the Blackhawks weren’t looking to make an aesthetic statement.
Greedily, they were just looking for another ring.
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Little Madelyn Sharp sat upright in her father’s arms in a manner that suggested she had been there before.
After politely asking permission, she looked straight into the television camera and hollered: “THREEEEEEEE!!!!”
Family. That is what I’ll remember most about the latest Stanley Cup triumph by these impressive Chicago Blackhawks.
Locally this was being billed as a city’s Cup — the first won here in 77 years — but the madness on the streets stood in contrast to the celebration on the United Center ice. Once the trophy was handed over and the Zamboni gate opened, it resembled a daycare as much as a party.
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from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
When the Stanley Cup finally made it onto the ice at the United Center, its arrival was accompanied by the strains of "Fanfare for the Common Man."
But while the majestic entrance was made for such a moment, make no mistake there is nothing common whatsoever about the Chicago Blackhawks.
In fact, as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman strode onto the red carpet next to the great silver trophy, the United Center's sellout crowd still standing as it had been since the final moments ticked away in the Blackhawks’ 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, he told the fans in the stands and the players and coaches on the ice what most already knew.
“I’d say you have a dynasty,” Bettman said.
Dynasty or not -- Patrick Kane would later admit he wasn’t even sure what the term actually means but figured winning three championships in six years was defining -- all of that winning puts the Blackhawks in a unique position among NHL teams.
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added 8:30am, from Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star,
There is something extra there. Something. The Chicago Blackhawks don’t always win, because in this game the NHL is designed to pull down great teams the same way the league is designed to pull at great players, in every way. The Blackhawks may not run away from you. But they beat you. There’s something there.
“When we’re down, we don’t panic,” said Chicago winger Marian Hossa, after the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning four games to two to win their third Stanley Cup in six seasons. “We always believe in ourselves. (There is) just such a strong character in this dressing room, starting with Jonathan Toews. He’s a true leader, and he was born like that. You have to be born like that, and he is.”
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