PART FORTY-FOUR: THE STANLEY CUP FINAL
I couldn’t wait to tell anyone about the Boston trip for game six - I was so excited. Naturally, I contacted everyone that night when I got home. I told Tess, who freaked out in excitement. I called my parents, who were both happy that I invited them to go. I Skyped with Brian, who shouted at me through the webcam - in a good way, of course. I even told my hockey girls. They were sad that Tess and I wouldn’t be able to make it to another away game watch party, but they were pumped for us at the same time. All in all, everyone was positive.
Tess and I almost jumped out of our skin waiting to go to Boston. Time passed so slowly, but a couple days later, we were able to get excited.
Tess, Brian, my parents and I had decided to travel with the team, so we had to leave for Boston on the morning of game six. It was so strange to be traveling with the team, but I loved it. I wasn’t sitting with the players, but it was nice to know that Patrick was nearby. And besides, my group and I got to sit with Dylan and his parents plus Zack and Andy. Apparently Dylan was an only child, which I never knew.
Obviously we had some free time when we got to Boston. We got settled in our hotel, and I was pleased to find out that my room was on the same floor as Patrick’s. After we put our stuff down and got comfortable, we decided to hang out in the city for a while until we had to go to the game.
My parents, Tess and I ended up shopping in the city. We all bought a few things, but not too much. We didn’t want to have to bring a ton of extra things home. I did manage to grab a Boston t-shirt though. Not a Bruins shirt or anything, just a souvenir type of thing. Tess got a matching one in a different color.
After a few hours, we all got changed into our hockey gear: me in my Kane jersey, Tess in her Toews jersey, Brian in his Sharp jersey, my dad in his Keith jersey, and my mom in her Hjalmarsson jersey. My mom never necessarily wanted a jersey. I remembered going to the Blackhawks store together as a family and she had just picked out a shirt with the Indianhead on the front. My dad told her that wasn’t good enough and he made her pick a player that she liked. She decided she was a Hjalmarsson fan so my dad bought her his jersey. She pretended to be unenthused since she wasn’t supposed to like hockey that much, but I could tell she liked it when she wore it.
Once we were ready we headed over to the TD Garden early, so I was able to tell Patrick good luck. In fact, my whole family was able to go in the locker room to say hello to the team. My dad was really excited about it, although he would have rather been in the Hawks locker room at the UC. He was able to meet the team, though, and that was really all he could ask for.
“Do you think you guys are going to win it all tonight?” I asked Patrick once my family and Tess had spread out to talk to players.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I sure hope so, though,” he said.
“Alright, fair enough. How about the game winning goal, though? Who’s going to get it?”
“It probably won’t be me this time,” he laughed. I knew he was probably right, but I secretly hoped he wasn’t.
After a few minutes, we had to leave the locker room, so I wished Patrick good luck and kissed him before I headed out.
“Do you maybe want to stop sucking face with your boyfriend so he can play in an hour?” Brian nagged me, with a smirk on his face.
“We were not sucking face and besides, I’m twenty-two years old. I’m pretty sure we COULD suck face if we really wanted to,” I told him.
“Nothing makes it more obvious that you two are brother and sister than your bickering,” Tess mumbled.
An hour later, the place was completely filled with people. There were tons of Bruins fans, obviously, but it was amazing how many Hawks fans showed up. We found some Chicago fans to sit by, including Patrick’s family. I was surprised to see them already, even though it was a given that they’d be there.
After the puck drop, things got loud. It was crazy. All of us fans were so excited and pumped up for the game. It was such an important one that every little thing that happened was extra interesting to us all. I had never been more alert during a game.
The first period wasn’t that great for us Hawks fans. By the end of it, the Bruins were up 1-0, but that didn’t really mean much. We still had at least forty minutes of hockey left, so I wasn’t too worried.
The second period was better. Johnny Toews got a goal and tied the score up. Tess screeched way louder than normal at his goal, and I couldn’t help but give her a funny look.
“What? This could be the last game of the season. It’s time to get rowdy!” she said. I just laughed. She was right. We needed to have the time of our lives that night, even if we did end up losing. We were given an amazing opportunity that we couldn’t waste. We made sure to take a million pictures, celebrate louder than usual when anything positive happened, and we represented our team well.
Twelve minutes into the third period and everyone was getting anxious. It was still 1-1 and we were all dying for someone to score, just to shake things up. Someone did score eleven seconds later, but it wasn’t a Blackhawk, unfortunately. Luckily, there was still some time left. Not a whole lot, but enough for us to change the score.
There were less than five minutes left when I started to feel let down. We were running out of time, and we hadn’t even tied the score yet. I had this sinking feeling in my stomach that told me it would go to game seven and we might not win the cup this time. I tried to stay as optimistic as possible, though, despite the fact that everyone in Blackhawks gear was getting impatient and worried.
Once it was eighteen minutes and forty-four seconds into the third period, Bickell gave everyone sporting black and red hope. He had tied the game. There wasn’t much time left, but we could at least take the game to overtime. Now the Hawks had adrenaline and optimism. They had a chance. But seventeen seconds after Bickell’s goal, Dave Bolland scored too. There were only fifty-nine seconds left in the game. Sure, anything could happen in that amount of time, but it was us Hawks who had just scored twice in less than twenty seconds. We had higher spirits. Could we possibly be about to win the cup again?
We all cheered and hollered and stood up to watch the last few seconds of the game. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. The horn sounded. The score was 3-2 Blackhawks. It was all over, and we had just won the Stanley Cup for the second time in four years.
I had never jumped so high out of my seat. I had never worn a bigger smile. I had never high-fived my family and friends so enthusiastically. Tess and I did our Chelsea Dagger dance that we made up, even though the song wasn’t playing. It was playing in our heads, and there were some fans who were singing it. That was good enough for us.
I watched as Corey Crawford threw off his gloves and helmet and tossed his stick aside. Every member of the Hawks did the same as they rushed to him and tackled him. They celebrated for a good couple minutes, and then I watched as the teams shook each others hands. I watched Tyler Seguin congratulate Patrick with sportsmanship, even though he just faced one of the worst losses in his career. I felt bad for him, but my happiness for Patrick was much stronger when I saw the million watt smile on his face that hadn’t left since Bolland scored. His grin was replicated on my face as the Stanley Cup was brought out and Jonathan Toews got to lift it first. He had his time with it and handed it off. Each player got to hoist it, one by one.
“Let’s go Lena, Tess,” Mr. Kane suddenly told us. I had completely forgotten the Kanes were even there.
“Where are we going?” I wondered.
“Down on the ice. I’d say you two are close enough to the team to be able to see them,” he explained. I flashed an obnoxious smile at my parents and Brian before I walked with the Kane family.
When we got to the ice, it was crazy. I distinctively heard Andrew Shaw yell, ”Yeah, f**cking rights, boys!” once he got the cup. I couldn’t hold in my laughter. Then the Conn Smythe trophy winner was announced, and it was Patrick Kane. To be honest, I really thought he deserved it. Maybe I was biased, but oh well. So be it.
After everyone had hoisted the Cup, family members, friends, and girlfriends filtered out onto the ice to congratulate the new champions. Tess and I wore huge smiles as we realized that this year, we were part of that group that got to get out on the ice after the win. Quite honestly, once my shoes hit ice, I didn’t pay attention to anyone except for Patrick. I let his parents and sisters hug him and congratulate him first. It killed me to wait, but I wanted to be polite. After a group hug with his sisters was over, he looked at me.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” he wondered. I speed walked up to him and jumped into his arms.
“Congratulations,” I told him. Our lips collided and it was the most perfect moment I could possibly ask for. I was so happy for him. I felt lucky to be there.
Everyone stayed on the ice for what seemed like forever, so I went around congratulating each and every player individually. I lingered with Corey Crawford, because Patrick had said that he had deserved the Conn Smythe. As happy as I was that Pat won it, Crow definitely deserved some kind of honor. He was spectacular. Hell, everyone on the team was. They were extremely talented. I was honestly so proud to be able to say that I had worked with such an amazing organization.
“So guess who’s no longer a single lady?” Tess suddenly said as she appeared at my side.
“Are you serious?!” I asked.
“Yeah! Jonathan said that technically the season was over, but he didn’t want to wait for any dates to make things official. He asked if I was into Stanley Cup Champions and I told him yes so he asked if I would mind calling him my boyfriend from now on,” Tess explained. She was talking so fast that I was amazed I could understand her, but I made her words out okay. I pulled her into a huge hug and congratulated her. It was about time they got together!
The guys headed into the locker room after that and they celebrated in there before they got cleaned up so they could head back to Chicago to celebrate even more. My group and I as well as Dylan and his group would be getting on that plane to go back to Chicago, so we headed back to our hotel and grabbed our already packed bags. This plane ride would be a hell of a lot more entertaining than the one there had been.
Hey guys! So, I was re-watching the last few minutes of Game 6 as I wrote this and let me tell you, it feels so good to see the win again! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoyed it :)