What It Means To Me

and telling him what you want for Christmas.

Seriously though, as someone who isn’t from Chicago, it’s awesome to finally have a local team and fucking awesome people to share it with. So thanks to all of you that make watching this team so much fun. Even during March.

Im still high off that win, Im supposed to be getting championship shirts from my mom and some newspapers from a SCH member, and I cant wait, it will be like reliving it again. The only thing I am unhappy about is I wasnt there to share it with my family and all you guys

I’ll remember me and my friends, the only Blackhawks fans in Missoula, MT, walking down the main drag in Missoula screaming, “WE FUCKING DID IT” even though no one knew what we were talking about it. Priceless memory

This is probably my second or third posting, but I have been reading you guys for over a year. Thank you for posting the best Blackhawks blog around. I’m not sure where to start.

I always tell people that I grew up at Chicago Stadium. One of my first memories is from about 6 years old (I’m 44). I took the program from Sunday night’s game to 1st grade show and tell on Monday morning. My Mexican immigrant dad got hooked on the Hawks by co-workers and starting taking my mom and me to games. I never really learned how to skate, but played some floor hockey and forced street hockey upon my neighbors. I remember listening to Lloyd Petit at night and worhsipping Tony Esposito. Enough history, but you get the picture. Wednesday night was one of the happiest nights of my life. Thank you Blackhawks for fulfilling one of my dreams (I’m a Cubs fan, so you can guess what my other dream is-yeah, fat chance!). I yelled, I screamed and I cried. We spilled out of the bar for an impromptu block party. My parents aren’t around anymore, but I know my mom is looking down with a smile (she was always partial to Pat Stapleton-“what a handsome boy” she would say). I never went away, so this is particularly sweet. To all the new fans, welcome, and you are spoiled, so let’s do this again next year. YEAH!!!

Had Thursday and Friday off, but I work in the foster care system which means that your off days quickly become emergency days. Thankfully, I was able to work it so that I was able to make it to the parade and then quickly go pickup a teenage client of mine who had a really rough two weeks. This is a raised on the streets kid. She said something along the lines of “I like how meaningful this is to you, its pretty cool”. I then thought to myself, here I am feeling crappy that I didn’t get to stay up and party tonight, at least I am able to be able to watch almost every game this year in a comfortable home. We are all so very lucky here.

Thanks so much for your hard work with this site boys. I’ve really enjoyed this year and everyone here has helped make it extra special. I know I don’t post much during the games (I get all nervous and superstitious when they play), but its great to have a place to be able to talk about the team in between games.

Anyways sorry to get all sappy…. kinda off topic but close to a year ago I put down 20 in vegas on the Hawks. I’m winning about 240. Not bad.

Beautiful thoughts, Sam. I am 43 and a lifelong Hawks fan who still lives in the area. I watched this team win the Cup with my parents, who are not hockey fans at all, really. I’ve thought about that a lot since. I have plenty of friends who are Hawks fan and of course, there are the guys who sit around me every night in section 302 of the UC. I kinda missed them at first, but I think in the end I will be thrilled I watched with my mother and father. Family memories mean the most and this was an incredible day for me. I will never forget that day and the four after that. Just unbelievable. The more unbelievable was I went to all three Cubs/Sox games and got to relive the whole thing again, only in the electric environment that was the North Side. I also happened to run into many of my Blackhawk brethren I was missing on the night of the clincher. Amazing how it works that way. All of this was so special. I think the memory of the Wrigley night was almost better than the rest of it. I thought the ceremony was fabulous, culminating in Cubs/Sox/Hawks and the Cup all on the pitcher’s mound for a huge photo op. I don’t think something like that will ever happen again in sports. Wow, what a moment. Thanks for this site guys, and all that you do for the Hawks here. It definitely makes it more enjoyable.

Again it was a great pleasure to meet you all on Friday at Bottom Lounge. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and on I will never forget for the rest of my life. I’m 22, not married, no kids and this is BY FAR the greatest moment of my life. I had never been able to realize a championship in my “short” lifetime. Obviously the Bulls were great but I did not get to truly enjoy it because when they won the last title I was only 10 years old. Over the years the Cubs got close and failed. The Bears got close and failed. The Tampa Bay Rays (long story) got close and failed. I thought maybe my teams would never live up my promise but going into this season I thought I would get that chance again and this time IT HAPPEN. My dream was realized and getting to experience with my buddies and all my best friends in Wrigleyville/at the Parade was truly incredible. As well as the commentary here on SCH. Frankly that is the best part because you all are HARDCORE fans. You eat, sleep, live this team and this sport. You are like me. No longer am I a weirdo, too obsessed, etc. I am normal with you all. It has been a privilege and whatever happens I will never forget it. I have and will continue to relive it by watching games, highlights, Youtube, etc. One more thing, should we have a monthly meetup in the summer? To recollect, chill and have a damn good time!

2010 STANLEY CUP CHAMPS BITCH!

- Michael (DRose#1)

I can relate to your comment about the barflies who saw the cup. My son sent me a cellphone photo he took of Kaner hoisting the cup in a bar. The green-eyed monster in me says that’s not fair, but if he now has a lifelong passion for the Blackhawks, it’s all good.

I too got hooked on the Blackhawks early on, way back in 1970 when I was a wee lad of 5. I had just started skating, and the old man took me to a Sunday Night game at the stadium. I was sick with an earache, sore throat, felt like crap. We sat in the upper balcony. I was scared shitless and in awe at the same time. I didn’t feel so bad after the game. I was hooked.
I didn’t get the whole “losing the Stanley Cup” downer in ‘71, but I do remember crying in ’73 when they lost (again!) to Montreal. As I got older I got more into the Hawks until around ’86 when I spent more time in bars chasing girls and boozing than I did anything else. I came back around in ’89 cuz some kid named Roenick was actually creating a buzz. Yep, came back just in time to get hooked again only to get bummed again in ’92. This time I stuck around.
We watched Van Hellemond miss the call the whole fucking building and TV audience saw. We watched Cheli skate 180 feet to stand up for a rookie and get his ass kicked by Pronger. We watched the stars get traded or leave because they dared asked for market value. We watched a Hawks team with no heart not protect their goalie. We suffered through Tony Salmaleinin, Pavel Vorobiev, The Mike Smith Blackovs, The ABC Line, the over the hill but inexplicably overpaid vets like Doug Gilmour and Wendell Clark (but Pully wouldn’t pay Roenick…?), the ever-changing head coaches (Alpo Suhonen? really?)…
We as fans stuck with the team because we knew it just had to get better at some point, that we would be rewarded for our patience and loyalty one day.
I bet this post is going to be filled with many long, sappy comments like this, and I’m gonna read every last one of them, because as Blackhawks fans we all share that same feeling. Fuck the posers and the trixies, this team belongs to US! We can finally say this phrase in our lifetimes and actually mean it – The Chicago Blackhawks, Stanley Cup Champions. Hot damn!

The moment I saw the bench clear, followed by hugs and back slaps with everyone (stranger and not) around me, and then five days of shit-faced grinning. This was special. Those fuzzy memories from the early 1990s (when I first discovered hockey) through to the first game I attended after WWW died, too, all seem like a cohesive whole now. And there’s that shit-faced grin again.

I wrote and erased a long story but I’ll just say once again, this victory has been made all the more sweet through sharing the highs and the lows with all of my SCH friends.

I’m sure we’re all taking a moment to relive our fandom. Even those who haven’t been fans for very long I’m sure are taking the time to remember that first game they watched, perhaps their first game in person, favorite players etc.

We’ll always have this. Even in the future when the goalie gets pulled after letting in 3, during a 4 game losing streak or losing yet another game in the damn shootout, we can all take a moment, close our eyes and remember 6/9/10. It makes all of the great memories we all have of the team and each other a little sweeter and the bad memories a little less painful.

Ok, sap off.

Triple Gold Club Member
MVP of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
Conn Smythe winner of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals

and now…

NHL 11 Cover Boy

I only post here once in awhile, but read every day and before every game I have to pick up a Committed Indian before I walk in the door….my gf eventually got up the nerve to ask what kind of business I was doing with shady lookin’ guys outside of the UC…..;)

The past week has been one of the best of my life….unfortunately I had to miss the parade, but between sharing that moment on Wednesday night when 38 years of waiting ended and seeing the cup at Wrigley last night…well it’s been a moment that at times I thought would never come and made all the trials I’ve endured since I painted my street hockey goalie mask to look just like Bannerman’s back in the day, worth it.

The only thing that has been chafing me isexactly what you addressed in the last paragraph. My girlfriend has shown me numerous pics of several of her coworkers who are all newly minted Blackhawk fans, hugging the cup and mugging for the camera in places I’d never set foot in. I felt cheated and wronged. I’ve paid my dues, that should be me, not those asshats who couldn’t have named a Blackhawk back in January if there had been a gun to their head!!!

…but thank you for saying what you did and helping me to realize I ain’t the only one feeling like that…..and you’re right, we have something they could never have. I guarantee that on Wednesday none of them we’re hugging their girlfriend as hard as they could, tears in their eyes thinking of their grandfather who summugled cans of Schlitz into the Stadium because “Dammit, I’m not spending $.50 for a beer!”….and a dad who tells him stories of Maggie’s first game…and wishing that they both could be there. They haven’t felt the silent pride of loyalty rewarded…..and rewarded richly. We have something they can never purchase……and no amount of Kaner lap dances can help.

….so thanks, for talking me down…I really needed it.

I’m watching JAY FUCKING LENO right now for my daily HAWKS WON THE GOD DAMN CUP fix.

I need help.

on Leno.

I was watching the goal again last night when my wife came in and said, “Why are you watching that again?” I said, “Because it never gets old.” And I had trouble saying it because I was choking up again. Heck, I even brought the Hawks winning the Cup into my preaching yesterday. (And a lady in church gave me a Kane T-shirt because she knew I was such a big Hawks fan. And remember, I live in central Wisconsin where the only sports are Packers football and high school basketball.)

Reading this post by Sam is getting me all misty again.

I’m the short guy in the Mikita sweater – my handle is pronounced ‘Chucky ar law’ if that helps place me. Good to meet the triumverate and gmh after the parade. I’ve run into Sam in the smoking area a few times and always make a point to wave the self-printed Indian I get via email and bring along.
Much like Tazer, I’m a 42 year old that’s been waiting for this moment since before my first live game – the regular season finale to the 1988-1989 season. I had seats in the first balcony at the back. The hawks came back to beat Toronto and make the playoffs and then went on a run to the conference finals. I had been following the team for a couple years, but that first live game made me a die hard for life.
I was lucky enough to spend the clinching game with many of our mates from 326. We are all part of the oft-mentioned 3500 season ticket holders, and had long suffered together game in and out. (On the plus side, when you yelled at a player from the 300 level, it was common to see them look up to see who just called them an asshole (or worse)).
Anyhow, sharing this moment with them was a very special thing, and there were more than a few tears and hugs all around. The parade and the Bottom Lounge after just confirmed what a special group of people Hawks fans are, and brought home just how much this moment in time meant to us individually and collectively.

Thanks again to the SCH braintrust and all the members here for making this special time even more meaningful to me.

PS – Sam, tell Gallagher he can have his free reciprocal copy of the CI commemorative issue when the blues win something.

FUCK when does hockey start again, I cant even watch baseball, seriously, who wants to watch the damn indians

I’m sure it took a lot to make it through the lean years. Unfortunately, those years coincided with my move out to Colorado. I’m glad to see they redeemed themselves for those awful times. I may have to the NHL ticket or whatever the equivalent is next season. Great post!

and i’m too lazy to go and check if it was, but I posted a fanshot with a History will be made/What if? video featuring Douche Mcguire that’s tremendously tremendous.

Watch Pierre Mcguire’s History will be made video here

for the diehards that have paid their dues in tears and faith in the Indian.

My brother, Mom and I listend to Lloyd Petit on the radio and watched all the road games on TV, we knew every player on every team. When I found out that Mikita hailed from my Dad’s home country, I took a special liking to him as a fellow Czech. I remember the 1969-70 playoffs when the Hawks swept Detroit, and each game was won 4-2. I remember Tony O’s rookie season and all the freaking SO’s. I remember the following year feeling that the Hawks were going all the way, and the tears my brother and I cried listening to game 7. We could taste that Cup! We were winning with 20 minutes to play. WTF happened???

I remember when Orval Tessier came and took us to the brink, and then the bottom fell out. And then it was Keenan’s turn to get us to the brink. And then, 1992 and the heartbreak after taking a late lead in game 1 and watching the Pens carry the Cup on Chicago Stadium ice.

I moved to AZ in 2000 so I was detached from the lean years of the 2000’s, watching them fall to one of the worst sports teams in the world. Not to speak ill of the dead, but I had a wry smile when I heard that Dollar Bill had died. When Rocky put the Hawks home games on TV and welcomed Tony, Bobby and the rest back into the family before his Dad’s corpse cooled, I knew they were on to something.

Did I expect winning the Cup so quickly? No, but this team jelled so quickly and took the rest of the NHL by storm. Sure, I was disappointed when the Scum booted us in the WCF last year, but I said to myself that this could be a blessing in disguise, to show them what it takes to hoist the prize.

If they don’t win it again next season, that’s ok, I simply would like them to be as successful as the Scum and win it every few years or so while they have the nucleus they have now and the or-gan-eye-zay-shun that has created this culture of success.

After Kaner’s winning goal last week, I called my brother who still lives in Chicago and we shared the hoisting and the passing of the cup together, both of us crying tears of joy this time, shouting out the names of the players that got it next, all the way from Toews to Scotty B. We looked to the sky and told Mom, they did it, Mom, they finally did it! Nothing will ever feel like this unless the Cubs can get their shit together one of these centuries and pull together as the Hawks have.

Like a lot of people on here, I was brought up a Hawks fan. I went to my first game when I was almost 7 (vs. Scum in Feb or March of 67) and have been addicted ever since.

They broke my heart in ‘71 and to this day I still here the sound of my brother hitting our radio. When the Hawks made it back to the finals in ’73, I didn’t get as excited. I guess the failure in ’71 prepped me for the disappointment.

The balance of the 70s and into the beginning of the 80s weren’t so kind to the Hawks and then along came Savard and company. They never made it to the finals (Thanks Edmonton) but I still think this was some of the best hockey I’ve ever seen was played.

Along came the 90s and they were back on top again. When they made the Finals in ’92, it was great, the last team I wanted to face where the Penguins mostly because of Lemiuex and Jagr.

Eventually that team was dismantled and along came what my brother and I referred to as the Dark Age. This continued up until Dollar Bill’s death in 2007. I remember talking on the phone to my brother after Rocky took control and all of the changes that were to be made. Home games on TV and some great draft choices. The Hawks were back.

Throughout all the good and bad, my brother and I never once thought of bailing on the Hawks. Unfortunately, my brother passed away in 2008 and didn’t get to see this craziness. I know he would have loved it and it would have been great to share it with him. I watched Game 6 with his two sons along with my son and some other family members. As silly as it may sound, being surrounded by them almost made it feel like he was there.

And well done to all of you at SCH. It continues to be a pleasure and a riot to read this blog. As far as what it means to me, longtime hawk fan, Dad shared season tickets in the second balcony of the old barn back in the 60’s, I was able to get to a bunch of games then, and when I didn’t go, would huddle around the radio and hear Lloyd and Lou call the game and wait for my Dad to bring home a program, lots of heartbreak over the years but finally pure unadultrated joy. We are # 1!

Here’s to another for next year!

Those club hoppin tramps and dickhead frat dudes that will get to touch the cup don’t have the memories or understand what it means to have the cup. I remember every practice on the ice, every time messing around in the street, doing the countdown, or putting yourself in OT of game 7 and scoring the game winner and celebrating in front of your non existent crowd that an outsider would see you and say, “what’s wrong with that kid?”

 I made sure to be at home with my little guy for game 6. He’s 6 and been playing since he was 3 and these are his first Blackhawks memories, spoiled brat! The years of pain have all been washed down with this win. But, I sure would give anything to touch the cup. Blackhawks are 2010 Stanley Cup Champions! God that doesn’t get old.

Safe to say that even if we didn’t get the opportunity to share the moment with other rabid Hawks fans, sharing it with everyone here made it very special for me. The cameraderie that we all have as one big Blackhawk community beats any Cup visit to a Trixie bar.

I wish that we all could have been at the Bottom Lounge to experience this together, but thanks to Sam, McClure, Killion, and everyone else here, I feel very grateful that I am part of this community…wait, I meant family (don’t know how to do crossouts on here).

Congrats everyone.

From listening to home games on my parents’ old stereo in my basement, emulating my hero Denis Savard as I shot a plastic puck into a net…to watching my first Hawks game in person and watching Rick Vaive score a hatty from the press box at the Stadium with my Dad (who was covering them for the Trib at the time) which ended up a Hawks victory, 7-5 over the Pens, Feb. 28th, 1988, I’ll never forget it…to staying up late at night with my walkman radio and headphones in bed, listening to games and Foley calling out names like Roenick, Chelios, Larmer, and Belfour (and the exchange Foley & Tallon shared, represented in my signature)…to watching the team sink into darkness from my $8 seat (college ID discount) in the 300 level with 9,000 others at the UC…to watching the emergence of Kaner, Toews, Keith, and Seabrook, and the team rise from the grave…to…last Wednesday night…and the men of a team I’ve followed for as long as I can remember, skate around with the Stanley Cup.

My lone regret, I wasn’t in Chicago when they won, and haven’t lived there since ‘05. But I called my Dad that night (as I live in Madison, WI now) as they skated around with the Cup, and all we talked about were memories like this (getting a little choked up while talking about them too) and sprinkled in we repeated to each other; "They’re Stanley Cup champs! I can’t believe it!" I didn’t get to go crazy in my hometown of Chicago with other diehards like yourselves, but it was still pretty cool to share it with my Dad, even if it was over the phone.

Side bar: If anyone has any idea of when each player will have the Cup…please share! My chance to “celebrate” with it, so-to-speak, as many all over Chicago did late last week, will be when Burish brings it to Madison. I’ve already told my wife, “Hey, I didn’t get my crazy celebration in Chicago, so I’m dropping whatever it is I’m doing as soon as I get wind of where Burish is in Madison with the Cup.” She just chuckled at me, but obliged.

I had erased Karl Dykhuis from my mind.

A+++, Sam. This just won’t get old.

And where were they from?

for introducing me to this wonderful sport, and for getting me hooked on the Blackhawks. I wish you were here to celebrate with me. You’ve now missed our Sox and the beloved Hawks, but somehow I know you’re smiling and happy.

Kane clubbing

Sam also gets a mention in the article for this write up

Just wondering if the Hawks will release a DVD with Games on them from the playoffs. I really hope they have a box set with whole games from the reg season and playoffs. And not just some one disc voiceover highlight package. that would suck.

Greatness.

I have so much envy … lucky bastards.

who thinks it’s strange that so many people are bothered that “bandwagon” fans (read: the type of people who go to clubs, regardless of how much they care about the Blackhawks) got time with the Cup?