from Bob Verdi of ChicagoBlackhawks.com,

You know the Blackhawks are on a roll when you can jog your short-term memory and actually compare their parades.

Grant Park was swell in 2013, but when did they paint all the seats at Soldier Field red? In 2010, were there this many helicopters following the caravan? If it was sunnier at the other two, didn’t Thursday’s celebration seem busier, louder?

These galas don’t get old, they just get better. Once, for the sake of convenience, critics insisted there were maybe 18,000 or so hockey enthusiasts in Chicago. Now, even the most curmudgeonly souls must upgrade that to maybe 3 or 4 million.

From mid-morning takeoff at the United Center, through streets of a region galvanized by this championship team, a procession of buses and trolleys drew roars of appreciation from masses of humanity that grew thicker by every block.

Judging by the hundreds of hard hats in the gallery, construction screeched to halt. Chicago’s finest, the police, the backbone of this city, made it happen while nobody else appeared to be working. Desks emptied in office buildings, pictures were snapped from behind sealed windows, and when final crowd estimates are in, do pets count?

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