49 Years in the Making

Well I have to say Congrats to the Chiacago Blackhawks. Tonight they won the Stanley Cup with a 4-3 win in overtime agains the Philidelphia Flyers.

It was a great game, and although I am bias, I really do think that Chicago deserved to win. They dominated at home, and were the first team to win on the road. A huge advantage in this series.

Before this series started I predicted that Chicago would win in 6 games, and looks like I was right.

Now people may say that I am a band wagon jumper, however, I have been a Chicago fan since grade 1. My parents were managing McDougall Cattle Station at the time. It was an Angus and Simmental operation.

One day we got a phone call from a guy that was interested in buying some Red Angus cows. Neither mom or dad were home, so I answered the phone, took a message and told the man that my parents would call him back.

Later that night, I told my parents the message and my dad asked me if I knew who the man was that called. I said that his name was Brent Sutter and he said that be lived in Illinois. My dad informed me that Brent Sutter was a hockey player in the NHL and played for the Chicago Blackhawks!

From that moment on Brent became one of my favorite players. Because he played for the Hawks, they naturally became my favorite team, next to the Edmonton Oilers...

Then again last year I had a run in with some Chicago Blackhawks. I was in Calgary at the Westin Hotel on a tour for work. I was looking at the hotel to potentially hold a conference there. While we were walking through the hotel I seen several men who looked familar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I asked the hotel rep if they got many sports teams staying at the hotel, and she replyed with a "Yes, we actually have one in house right now!". I then knew that it was in fact the Hawks that I was recognizing!

Later that night as I we meeting the hotel rep for drinks, a few of the players were in the lounge as well. We got talking with them and had a really fun night having a few drinks and laughs. They found out that I was staying at the hotel alone, and invited me to have breakfast with them before they left for their morning skate the next day.

Because of Ladd, Kane, Toewes and Byfuglien, my love of the team became even stronger. They have been an easy team to cheer for in the playoffs. Especially since Edmonton has not made it the last couple of years!

So Congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks on another sucessful year. It has been 49 years since you last one the Stanley Cup, so enjoy it!