Still Sinking In

Two days ago was one, if not the greatest night of sports in my life. For the first time as a fan, I was able to celebrate one of my favorite teams winning a championship. Growing up a Lions, Tigers, and Blackhawks fan, I was not the subject of alot of winning as a kid. Yeah, the Pistons won a title a few years ago, and while that was cool, I’m not a big NBA fan, so I didn’t really get too excited for that.

The whole thing is still sinking in, but damn it feels good to be a winner.

I became a Blackhawks fan as a little kid because my parents would send me to bed early for school and that, but I would never sleep. Instead I would search AM radio for different sporting events to listen to. And growing up in Michigan you would think I would be able to find Red Wings games on the radio. But the town I lived in had no affiliate for them. For whatever reason, the town I lived in was able to pick up AM670 out of Chicago, which coincidently carried the Blackhawks games. So listening to Pat Foley growing up made me a Blackhawks fan.

And boy were those teams bad. From the time I started listening until recently, there was one playoff appearance, where they were quickly ousted in the first round. They boasted some legendary players in Pavel Vorobiev, Tyler Arnason, Mark Bell, and Tuomo Ruutu just to name a few.

After the lockout, fortunes started changing, with great draft picks in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. But the biggest factor to their turn around may have been with the death of longtime owner “Dollar” Bill Wirtz. Notoriously cheap, he allowed many great players, including Jeremy Roenick, to leave because of his refusal to pay their salary demands.

The two seasons previous to this were a great build-up, and you could see something special was on the way for the Blackhawks.

And now to top it off, they are Stanley Cup Champions.

The biggest moment of these playoffs for them was not the Cup clinching goal scored by Patrick Kane in game 6, but going way back to the first round in their opening series against Nashville. With the series tied at 2 games each, the Blackhawks found themselves a goal down, and shorthanded on home ice in game 5, heading into the game’s last minute. That’s when Patrick Kane scored to force overtime. And shortly after the Nashville Power Play expired, Marian Hossa pounded home a goal at the side of the net to give the Hawks an improbable win. From there they never looked back.

They once again rid themselves and the NHL of the Canucks in Round 2, tormenting and peppering famed Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo, much like had the previous year. But more importantly perhaps in that round, the Detroit Red Wings, who I thought posed the biggest threat to the Blackhawks and their playoff run, were ousted by the San Jose Sharks.

The Hawks crushed San Jose, sweeping them out of the playoffs and on to the golf course, with Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews leading the way. During the series, Toews would set a franchise record with at least one point in 13 straight playoff games. From there it seemed like the only thing that could stop the Blackhawks and their quest for ending a 49 year Stanley Cup drought was themselves.

When the Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period of game 6 on Wednesday night, I’m not sure if I have ever been more nervous for a sporting event in my life. And then when the puck deflected off Marian Hossa into the back of the net to tie the game at 3-3 late in the 3rd, you couldn’t help but wonder if the hockey Gods had it in for Marian Hossa, and if that was the goal that would tip the scales in the Flyers favor.

And with the early chances that the Flyers had right out of the gate in OT, you had the feeling that the extra session wouldn’t last long, and that it would be the Flyers who would get the goal, and send it back to Chicago.

And then it happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdVn42-vOt8

Much like the announcers in that video, and everyone on the ice. I froze. I didn’t see the puck go in, had no idea if it was under Flyer goalie Michael Leighton, or what. Then once I saw Patrick Kane round the corner, and start jumping, I did the same. Screaming “IT’S IN! IT’S IN!” Leaving me in absolute shock and awe. I had no words to describe what had just happened, or how happy I was at that exact moment.

I literally started dancing in my basement to the Blackhawks goal song, “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratelli’s. Posting videos to facebook, and twitter commemorating, and celebrating the moment.

I had never been so excited in my life, and after I came down from my euphoria, I remember to order the Championship T-shirt and Hat. And even though I ordered both within 10 minutes of the game winning goal from Kane, both items were still backordered. But hey, it took 49 years for the Blackhawks to win a Stanley Cup, so I think I can wait a little bit longer to get my stuff.

It’s a moment, and a season I will never forget. For as bad as those previous Blackhawks teams were when I was growing up, for the franchise to turn things around so quickly, and culminate it with a Stanley Cup Championship is just surreal.

I woke up the next morning still not believing what I had seen the night before. It really didn’t sink in until I saw the replay of Jonathan Toews being handed the Stanley Cup.

Much like they tell the players, you never know when you might get this chance again, or if you’ll get this chance again. The same can be said for the fans of teams that win a championship. Enjoy it, soak it all in, and remember it forever. You may have waiting your whole life for that one title, but you might not ever get the chance to see another one.

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