Blackhawks Raise the Stanley Cup
Craig Custance - SportingNews.com
Jun 11, 2010
PHILADELPHIA -- Jonathan Toews was facing the Blackhawks fans who had moved to the front rows of Wachovia Center to be part of the celebration that followed Chicago's 4-3 overtime win that clinched the Stanley Cup. He was smiling, laughing. He was pointing, posing for pictures. The serious 22-year-old Blackhawks captain was letting loose.
Teammate Adam Burish watched the scene for a moment, loving every minute of it.
"This is awesome," he said, watching his captain celebrate. "I can't wait to get him in the locker room and pour beer down his throat. Loosen him up."
One person who doesn't need loosening up is Patrick Kane. Surrounded by his friends and cousins from Buffalo, they hugged and yelled and cracked jokes.
One of them said celebrating a Stanley Cup was way better than winning the Gus Macker, an outdoor basketball tournament that must have been an accomplishment from their past.
"It's pretty crazy," Kane said. "It's fun to be a part of right now."
Somewhere else on the ice, Duncan Keith stopped to do another interview. One of the countless that come immediately after you raise the Cup. It was a local television reporter, and he asked Duncan to show the viewers at home all the teeth he lost during Chicago's playoff run.
He smiled his biggest smile yet, revealing nothing but gums. The mix of his overgrown beard and missing teeth was more vagabond than Stanley Cup champion.
But he didn't care. If losing every one of the teeth he lost when a puck smashed him in the face in the Western Conference finals was the price to pay for this moment, it was a deal he'd do again. And again
"It was worth it," Keith said without hesitation.
Toews. Kane. Keith. The trio that signed contract extensions on the same December day. The trio that led Chicago to a Stanley Cup faster than any could have dreamed possible when the journey started.
"You can't ask for something like this," Toews said. "You just work hard, you try to get better and better every day. We're so blessed to be part of a great organization like the Blackhawks and an awesome city."
Stanley Cups are won as a team. It's Dustin Byfuglien scoring unlikely game-winners. It's Kris Versteeg, Dave Bolland and Andrew Ladd forming a dominant checking line and frustrating the heck out of the Sedin twins and Joe Thornton.
It's a goalie from Finland shaking off the moments he'd like back and making the saves when his team needed him most, like when Antti Niemi stole a goal from Jeff Carter late in Game 6
It's Marian Hossa showing an endless reserve of resolve, overcoming every bad bounce and coming back out and playing the same way.
But the young core of Toews, Kane and Keith were the constant. Kane scored the Stanley Cup-clincher. Keith logged more than 30 minutes in the win and had a big hand in the huge struggles of Carter and Mike Richards.
And Toews? All he did was win the Conn Smythe.
They led and the others followed.
"Everything has revolved around teamwork and everybody coming together," Versteeg said. "This is what happens."
This story appears in June 10's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only digital sports daily, sign up today.
Staff writer Craig Custance covers the NHL for Sporting News. E-mail him at ccustance@sportingnews.com.
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