Let it sink in for a few more moments: They blew all the other kids away, and now they’ve got Lord Stanley’s Cup to prove it. This organization has finally emerged from its forty-nine years in the desert. Remember these names as they become etched into history:
Jonathan Toews, O captain, our captain.
Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook, who saw this thing through all the way.
Brian Campbell, Brent Sopel, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Nick Boynton, and Jordan Hendry.
Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, John Madden, Dave Bolland, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien, Troy Brouwer, Ben Eager, Tomas Kopecky, Adam Burish, Colin Fraser, and Brian Bickell.
Antti Niemi, the first Finnish goalie to win the Stanley Cup, and Cristobal Huet.
Joel Quenneville, John Torchetti, Mike Haviland, and the rest of the coaching staff. Mike Gapski, Troy Parchment, and all the trainers who made sure this team was ready to compete.
John McDonough, Scotty and Stan Bowman, Dale Tallon, Marc Bergevin, and all of the scouts scattered across two continents who made this day — who made the mere possibility of this day — happen.
And last but not least, W. Rockwell Wirtz.
The recap (as if this game could be summed up with words, as if this feeling could be accurately described), will be along once the alcoholics recover from their well-deserved night of merrymaking. In the meantime, let’s have it: your reactions, choice quotes from the media, visual tributes, expletive-laden exaltations, and poetic incantations.