PARTY IN THE STREETS
They Shoot, They Score! Blackhawks Bag The Stanley Cup
SO WHAT IF THE CHICAGO CUBBIES CAN’T BAG THE WORLD SERIES — the city’s Blackhawks delivered the party to Wrigley Field Monday night when the team snatched victory from the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup.
With only 76 seconds left in the game, and losing by two to one, Bryan Bickell tied up the game, while David Bolland scored the winning goal followed 17 seconds later.
Exuberant fans poured onto the city’s streets, with thousands gathering outside the ballpark on Addison for an impromptu celebration of the dramatic win in the series’ sixth game. Above is a photo of the deliriously happy crowd from by Chuck “Diesal” Seaton who got in the thick of things. Check out the rest of his photos at his Flickr feed.
The raucous celebration lasted into the early morning. The city brought in cops on horseback for crowd control. NBC reports that 23 people were arrested during the street bash.
“I still can’t believe that finish. Oh my God, we never quit,” Corey Crawford told reporters. “I never lost confidence. No one in our room ever did.”
“It feels like the last 58 seconds were an eternity, Chicago forward Patrick Kane told reporters later.
Arriving back in Chicago shortly after 4am, the team was greeted with a water cannon salute and flashing lights from about a dozen fire trucks and even more police cars, according to ESPN. Then the players took a victory tour to several bars, stopping off first at Harry Caray’s in Rosemont.
A victory parade is in the works for Friday morning, the second one for the team in four years. (Bosses: Expect a lot of people calling in sick.) Mayor Emanuel released a statement thanking the team for “once again bringing the Stanley Cup back to their sweet home Chicago.”
Above, Wrigley Field sign delivers congratulations to Blackhawks. Below, Chicago police on horseback keep an eye on fans celebrating outside Wrigley Field late Monday night. Photo credit goes to J. Byrnes of Fourth Is King.
