Pictures from the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup Parade

As promised I have some goodies for you! I was not at the Blackhawks parade, but I do have a friend in Chicago that was. Of course I can look at pics on line all day of the parade, but there is something different about seeing pictures that someone you know took. So thank you to Janet, Getting Pucks Deep's reporter on the scene!

The lion at the Art Institute has his spot for the parade!



The city estimates that 2 million people turned out for the parade, space was at a premium. These guys had an inventive idea.



Best way to start a parade, a dog!



Not the trophy people are waiting on, but an impressive one indeed, the Campbell Cup.



Joel Quenvelle doing his impersonation of Hulk Hogan. Also on this bus, possible future coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, John Torchetti.



Super hottie pie Blackhawks announcer and former Blackhawk Eddy O!



Blackhawks legends Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito.



Brent Sopel and family.



Niemi ,Bickell and Ladd.



Oh yeah baby! Dustin Byfuglien!



Adam Burish.



Marian Hossa and Dr. Teeth a/k/a Duncan Keith.



Looks like Brent is looking for his wallet.



Tomas Kopecky making sure everyone knows his team.



And the parade super star, Lord Stanley's cup!



Good to see that Kane has moved to champagne and left the Bud Light at home.


Thanks once again to guest reporter Janet for snapping these awesome photos and making us feel like we were there.

Chicago Black Hawks are the Stanley Cup Champions!

In six games the Blackhawks managed to defeat the team that just refused to go away, The Philadelphia Flyers. Game 6 was an awesome game, very exciting and entertaining. The Flyers were down 2 to 3 late in the third period and they were shining the Cup, chilling champagne and getting the championship hats ready. Philly once again refused to go quietly into that good night. With a little less than 4 minutes left, Scotty Hartnell put it in the net past Niemi.
(photo ripped off from the Chicago Tribune)

The Hawks went on to win it OT thanks to this sneaky little bastard, Patrick Kane.


4:06 into OT he snapped this little beauty past Leighton, of course for a while he was the only one that knew it.


Jonathan Toews was named the MVP of the Tournament and awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.



Marian Hossa FINALLY gets his cup. Three times IS a charm.



Something I am very excited about...Antti Niemi, former Lahti Pelican, becomes the first Finnish goaltender to win the Stanley Cup. A Pelican made good! Why do I care about the Pelicans? Because they are co-owned by my all time favorite player, former Thrasher goalie, Pasi Nurminen. Five years ago he was a part time goalie driving the zamboni and working part time as the rink janitor to make ends meet, now he will be rocking a cup ring!



I can't post about the Hawks without a picture of Buff.



I'm happy for Mad Dog, too. I love him because he was a Devil


So congratulations to the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a long time coming and you totally deserve it.

Now on to some pictures that I stole off of NHL.com. I didn't take them and they are not mine.

Bud Light? Really in the cup? I'd hoped for more from you, Buff.



Speaking of Buff, my favorite Hawk. This wasn't from the final game, but I loved it so much I had to have it.



Buff hoisting the cup.



Buff and the Hawks flag...it's up side down.



That had to feel good. Good for you, Hossa!



I'm not sure anyone deserves the cup more than Duncan Keith a/k/a Duncan Teeth. He'll spend some time in the dentist's chair this summer after sacrificing some chicklets for the cup.



I like Versteeg because he's not afraid to be a dork and sing "Glamorous Life" by Fergie.



I didn't think they'd ever give Niemi the damn cup! I'm laying on the couch yelling "GIVE IT TO NIEMI!"



Though the Hawks won the cup on enemy ice, they had a group of fans there. How cool would it be to be a part of this??



Being part of 20,000 screaming Hawks fans would be awesome, but wow it would be cool to be in with about 30 fans getting champagne and attention from the team.



Toews and his Conn Smythe



Keith and Kane celebrating.



Buff is one layer of clothing away from being perfect!



This is about the only ice time Huet saw during this cup run.



Toews and Kane hoisting the cup.



Buff passed off the flag to Kane...still upside down.



I love how Kane was the only one celebrating. Look at Niemi, he's still working!



I looked everywhere for this picture. I love how Kane jumped into Niemi's arms. Niemi is still working...eyes on the puck!


Today was the parade and I have a friend who was there so hopefully I will be able to provide some pictures!

Who are you pulling for in the Stanley Cup?

Neither of these teams are favorites of mine. I don't particularly hate either one of them. On any given game, I might pick Chicago, but this isn't just any given game! This is the Stanley Cup Finals! I'm torn, I'm not sure who I'm going to pull for. It might be a game time decision!


I'll go through the reasons I like both teams.


The Philadelphia Flyers - From a shootout win to the Stanley Cup Finals
Of course being a goalie girl, I love a good goalie story. Philly has one! Starting goal tender for the season, Ray Emery has been a non-factor for months. Dan Boucher stepped up and played balls-out for the team.



Boucher went down with an injury and the future was looking dim. The Flyers picked up Michael Leighton on waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes. Leighton turned out to be GOLD for the Flyers. The Flyers weren't getting much healthy goalie luck this season. In mid March, Leighton went down with a high ankle sprain, fortunately Boucher was ready to step back in.


Brian Boucher is a true journeyman who has played for at least 10 different teams in his career. He started his NHL career with Philly 10 years ago. He hasn't been a starting goalie in the NHL since. The most games he's played in a season for an NHL team was in the 2002-03 season when he played 45 games for the Phoenix Coyotes. He hasn't sniffed an NHL playoff game since the 2001-02 season and he has helped his team go all the way. Boucher was ready to repeat his deep play off run with Philly when in Game 5 of the series against Boston he suffered an injury. Leighton stepped in making his first playoff appearance ever. Leighton has proven he is up to the task. He has played in 7 games and only had 1 loss, and oh yeah, three of those wins were SHUT OUTS! Can he keep it up? We shall see.


Another reason for me to pull for Philly? They have Jared Ross, the NHL's first player to be born and trained in my home state of Alabama. And, if you are wondering, yes he has played in the playoffs, three games to be exact. He has had only a few minutes, but he's been there.



I wouldn't mind Pronger lifting the cup again.



There is an ex-Thrasher factor as well. They have former Thrasher Braydon Coburn, probably most famous for the infamous Zhitnik trade.



One of the most important factors for me, Ian Laperriere. No one deserves to hoist a cup more than this man. This picture was taken the night after he took a puck to the face and lost like 8 teeth and had over a hundred stitches. He was clocked in the head with a puck during the playoffs and thought he lost his vision. This man is a warrior and warriors deserve to win!





The Chicago Blackhawks - Youth Gone Wild

The Blackhawks are a young team and a lot of fun to watch. They are the favored by most to win the Cup. With such talent, it's not hard to see why.


Captain Jonathon Toews has an amazing 26 points in the playoffs so far with 7 goals and 19 assists.



Patrick Kane doesn't have Toews numbers, nor his beard growing ability, but the mullet wearing wonder does have 20 points with 7 goals and 13 assists.



And of course there is my favorite, Dustin "Big Buff" Byfuglien. What's not to love? He's hot. He camps out in front of net making life miserable for my goalies (something I usually hate depending on the team). When he scores, he celebrates BIG! And speaking of scoring, he might only have 10 points with 8 goals and 2 assists, but FOUR of those goals were game winners!



Of course there is the Hossa factor. Lots of fans hate Marian Hossa. Pens fans hate him, Wings fans hate him and a lot of Thrashers fans hate him. As a Thrashers fan, I don't hate him. I usually wish most of my ex-Thrashers well. Plus, there is something just sad about a guy going to the finals 3 times and coming away with nothing. Maybe this third time is a charm and the Hossa curse will be broken.



And of course behind every story for me is a goalie! The season started with all eyes on Hawks goalie, Christobal Huet. Huet struggled and Antti Niemi battled for the job. Niemi ended the season with a respectable .912 SV% and a 2.25 GAA, but has really stepped up his game in the playoffs. Niemi has a .921 SV% and a 2.31 GAA in the playoffs with 2 shut outs. Questions about how well Niemi can play when he sees a ton of shots? I mean prior to the playoffs, his career high for saves in a single game was 35. No problem! In Game 1 of the Western Finals against San Jose, Niemi faced 45 shots and in Game 3, faced 46.



Did I mention Buff?


So I'm torn. I guess I'll have to wait and see who I get more upset about when they score. Who are you pulling for?