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“But out of my personal favorites that the band [does], it’s probably not in the top five.”

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 06.28.2013

682683 Chicago Blackhawks

Here come the Hawks: Parade starts at United Center, Grant Park rally kicks off at 11 a.m.

Staff

To celebrate their second Stanley Cup championship in four seasons, the Chicago Blackhawks will start their victory parade about 10:30 a.m. from the United Center in double-decker buses and end up in Grant Park.

The official parade route will begin at Des Plaines and Washington streets and continue east to Wabash Avenue. From there, the team will head east to Michigan Avenue, travel north to Randolph Street, east along Randolph and then south on Columbus Drive. Blackhawks fans are encouraged to follow them along this route.

Revelers can enter Grant Park at Jackson and Michigan or Congress and Michigan for the 11 a.m. victory rally at Hutchinson Field at the south end of Grant Park.

Fans also can line the parade route that continues south along Columbus Drive, between Monroe and Balbo streets.

All east/west streets between Roosevelt and Randolph from Michigan Avenue to Lake Shore Drive will be closed for the celebration, beginning at 12 a.m. Friday. Those street closings include Balbo Avenue, Jackson Street and Monroe Street, but Congress will remain open.

The closings will affect 30 bus routes run by the Chicago Transit Authority. A full list is available at www.transitchicago.com. CTA officials said there will be more frequent rail service and longer trains.

Metra is offering a $5 one-day pass good for unlimited rides Friday. The pass can be purchased from a Metra ticket agent.

Because of the crowds expected for Friday’s event, the CTA and Metra will not allow bicycles on board trains.

Alcohol will not be allowed on Metra trains, and there will be zero tolerance for drinking alcohol on the public way during the Blackhawks celebration.

City officials said coolers will not be allowed at the rally, but closed water bottles will be. Water fountains also will be on site at the Hutchinson Field, and water will be available from vendors. Backpacks and large bags will be searched.

The weather forecast calls for sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 70s in the morning and a chance of rain and thunderstorms after 3 p.m.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 06.28.2013

682684 Chicago Blackhawks

With all key players in the fold, Blackhawks have potential for dynasty

BY RICK MORRISSEY. June 27, 2013 10:15PM

As far as I could tell, it wasn’t a media gathering for the Blackhawks so much as it was two hours of detox.

Some of the players hadn’t stopped chugging from the Stanley Cup since Dave Bolland’s game-winner on . . . what day was that again? I’m not sure these guys could tell you.

“The last few days have been almost more tiring than playing in the playoffs,’’ said Conn Smythe Trophy winner Patrick Kane, who appeared on the “Late Show With David Letterman’’ on Wednesday.

To the victors go a lack of sleep. Kane wasn’t the only one who seemed very, very tired Thursday morning.

“Do I look like it?’’ captain Jonathan Toews said.

He looked like he had been subjected to 48 straight hours of interrogation and the same question over and over again: “You want a glass with that bottle?’’

I asked Toews about the YouTube video of someone who looked very much like him crowd-surfing on the hands of well-wishers at a local drinking establishment Tuesday.

“That wasn’t me,’’ he said with a smile. “No comment.’’

That’s how it was Thursday for the happy, bleary-eyed Hawks, one day before Friday’s downtown victory parade and rally. That will be the party to end all parties, until the next party to end all parties for the franchise. If you think I’m getting ahead of things here, you might want to consider the team’s two Cups in the last four seasons, as well as the fact that almost all of the key players will be back for 2013-14 and beyond.

A hockey player would never say what the Heat’s LeBron James said about his goal for league titles — “not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven” — but there’s no reason for the Hawks to be shy. This could be a dynasty in the making. Yes, bad things can happen. Injuries can happen. Weird puck bounces can happen.

But with Toews, Kane, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa, Corey Crawford, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and lots of other talented players on the roster, it’s permissible to think, “not three, not four . . .’’

“I don’t see why we can’t do it,’’ Kane said. “We had a great year this year, from the winning streak to winning the Presidents’ Trophy to the way we played in the playoffs.’’

It’s good to be the Hawks. Coach Joel Quenneville was on the hot seat before the season, having failed to get his team out of the first round of the playoffs the previous two seasons. Now he’s going to get a contract extension. Now there’s radio chatter about a possible spot for him in the Hall of Fame.

“There’s no one else I’d rather have coaching this group than Joel,’’ general manager Stan Bowman said.

It’s good to be Bolland, whose Cup-clinching goal is captured on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.

It’s good to be Bryan Bickell, who will get a huge pay raise, from the Hawks or another team.

It’s good to be Andrew Shaw, who was sporting stitches on his cheek and at the corner of his eye. They went very nicely with his black eye, all courtesy of the puck that hit him in the first period Monday night. That beaten-up, stitched-up face has become the symbol of this team.

“It looks pretty cool,’’ he said.

His teammates agree.

“They said, ‘That’s the face of a champion,’ ’’ said Shaw, who also played the Stanley Cup Final with a broken rib.

Yes, it’s good to be the Hawks, who are still having trouble understanding how they scored two goals 17 seconds apart at the end of Game 6.

“We watched it on the plane’’ home from Boston, Quenneville said. “It was such an amazing two minutes what just happened. It was like, wow.’’

Wow, indeed.

If any of these guys have had to buy a drink in Chicago since Monday night’s victory, it’s a bigger wow. They’re the toast of the town. They’re also toast, having gone almost nonstop since knocking off the Bruins. Shaw said he finally went to sleep at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Now the parade and rally await. The Hawks did this in 2010, when an estimated 2 million people lined downtown streets to catch a glimpse of the team riding past on double-decker buses. No rest for the weary. Again.

“I think it’s going to be crazier than the last one,’’ Bolland said. “I’ve got to make sure I’m sober for it.’’

Good luck with that.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 06.28.2013

682685 Chicago Blackhawks

One more title and Hawks can be called a dynasty

By Tim Sassone

What defines a dynasty in hockey? Two Stanley Cups in four years is a good place to start.

The Blackhawks are allowed to talk dynasty after claiming their second championship in four years on Monday.

Hawks winger Patrick Sharp admitted that was a topic for discussion on the plane ride home from Boston.

"It's kind of crazy," Sharp said. "We grew up watching teams like the New Jersey Devils, who always seemed to be in the finals, the Colorado Avalanche, Detroit; now you can say the Hawks have won twice, too."

Sharp is part of a special core of players who have played key roles in both Stanley Cup wins along with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Dave Bolland.

One more Cup and the Hawks can be talked about in the same breath as the New York Islanders of the 1980s, who won four Cups in a row, and the Edmonton Oilers of the mid-1980s, who won four times in five years.

Detroit has won four Stanley Cups, New Jersey three and Colorado two.

"The fact you get the chance to win one championship like this once in your career, I think there's always that feeling that you can somehow do it again," Toews said. "There's something special about the core group that we have, the guys that have been here ever since I've been a Blackhawk. There's something about that group where all they want to do is win.

"You look at Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook, the Duncan Keiths — those guys could be out there getting all the personal achievements or notoriety in the world, but they're doing what it takes for our team to win every single year."

There was talk of a dynasty the last time the Hawks won in 2010, but that team was quickly ripped apart because of salary cap issues. There are no such problems this time, or at least they're not as serious.

"Looking back at 2010 it was kind of like we had to win it that year because the next year everyone was going to be gone, 10 or 11 guys," Kane said. "You look at this year there shouldn't be too many changes.

"I said this after the game the other night, I think the core is special here. They did a great job of keeping it together. Stan (Bowman) has put a very good hockey team together and I don't see why we can't do it (again). Hopefully we can win a few more because you've got something special here and I think everyone wants to stick around and be part of it."

Toews remembers 2010 as a team that didn't know how good it was.

"That team in 2010 seemed to not realize how special we were and how special it is to go win a Cup the way we did," Toews said "We were 16-6 or something (in the postseason) and never seemed to have any real adversity except first series against Nashville. We were naïve in that way. We didn't know what we were accomplishing. We did it without thinking.

"The core guys definitely understand now how tough it is to get back and give yourself a chance to win a Cup. This group from Day One understood that."

Toews said there is a better appreciation for what it takes to win now.

"When you go all the way to the top of the mountain, you have that feeling that there's no reason you can't do it again," Toews said. "To get that far and to win a Cup, you have to have that faith that you have that ability. It's a whole other thing to realize that goal and to win. It gives you a whole new level of confidence to find ways to do it again.

"If we find ourselves in a tough spot in a playoff series next year, that experience will come in handy, no matter what."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville says history will decide how this Hawks team is judged among the all-time greats.

"Who knows when you come up with those type of discussions with the team and where it's at," Quenneville said. "Look at the young players here, (they) have some pretty impressive resumes at a young age. They want to win. That's a good thing."

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 06.28.2013

682686 Chicago Blackhawks

Hossa’s aching back may require surgery

By Tim Sassone

Marian Hossa might need back surgery for the injury he suffered in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"I may need surgery or another shot," Hossa said Thursday. "I'll talk to Dr. (Michael) Terry and try to make the best decision. It's one of those two options."

Hossa called it a disk problem that made his right foot numb when he skated.

"I don't know if I was too effective, just limping on the ice," Hossa said. "I didn't have as much confidence because everyone was much faster. I wasn't confident in doing the things I usually do. But the coaches told me to play my game defensively, so I just tried to stick with it."

Hossa said winning the Stanley Cup made it all worth it.

"I know the health is so important," he said. "Even when you retire you want to live a healthy life, but in these four years we have two Cups, which is amazing."

Hossa was hardly the only Hawk to play hurt. Bryan Bickell had a sprained right knee and Andrew Shaw a broken rib, while Michal Handzus had so many injuries he didn't want to talk about any of them.

"Handzus played every game taking care of how many different ways to get him out there — one, two or three issues," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "It was special knowing he was still playing great. It didn't change how he played.

"Everybody was banged up at a different level."

Compliance buyouts:

Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said he decided to use both of his compliance buyouts this summer — on defenseman Steve Montador and forward Rostislav Olesz.

Both players must clear waivers before they are bought out.

While the players will get what they are owed, this will save the Hawks $5.85 million against the salary cap. Montador had two years left on his contract that was worth $2.75 million a season, while Olesz had one year left at $3.1 million.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it," Bowman said regarding the flexibility the buyouts give him. "Certainly both players that we're going to be buying out, we've had young players emerge over the last couple years, which is a good thing when you look at where we were a couple years ago, when we brought Montador and Olesz in. We didn't even have (Brandon) Saad or (Andrew) Shaw. We didn't have (Adam) Clendening. I wish them well. They're going to have a chance now to move on to continue their careers somewhere else."

Bowman said there was no consideration given to buying out Marian Hossa, who still has eight years left on the 12-year, $63.3 million contact he signed in 2009.

The Hawks would face stiff penalties if Hossa were to retire early.

"No, that doesn't concern me at all," Bowman said. "He's the kind of guy that I have a lot of confidence and faith in and he's looking to play hockey. He's not looking to retire, so that's not something that's a concern to us at all."

Bickell update:

Unrestricted free agent Bryan Bickell sounded more confident than ever that he would be staying in Chicago.

Bickell said he loves playing here and would consider a hometown discount to stay.

"We're going to do whatever it takes to keep me here," Bickell said. "I enjoy the city and feel it's a second home to me. I know there have been talks between my agent and Stan (Bowman) and it's out of my hands now.

"You've got to do what makes you happy. I know there are a lot of good teams around this league and a lot of teams where you won't have as much fun as you would here. This is a great city, I enjoy it here and I got drafted here. This is a great team. We've won two Cups here and we're going to win many more."

Restricted free-agent defenseman Nick Leddy said he also wants to stay.

"This city is unbelievable and the fan base is incredible," Leddy said. "I'd like to stay."

Bowman isn't concerned that there's a team out which might give Leddy an offer sheet.

"That is not controlled by us," Bowman said. "We can guess at it. I know that we want to bring Nick back. I've talked to his agent. He wants to stay here and I expect to get a contract done with him. So, we're not letting Nick go. We're going to keep him here and I'm not concerned about offer-sheets."

Trade rumor:

There was an ESPN.com report Thursday that claimed the Hawks were shopping center Dave Bolland before Sunday's draft.

"I'd love to be back here next year, but whatever happen happens," Bolland said. "It's the NHL, and trades happen, but I'd love to be back here. I love Chicago. Things like this go around the league, that's the game, that's what happens."

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 06.28.2013

682687 Chicago Blackhawks

Hawks veterans awed by Toews’ leadership

By Tim Sassone

Jamal Mayers has played with many great leaders in his long NHL career, but he believes not one of them surpasses Jonathan Toews.

Mayers was still on cloud nine Thursday, three days after Toews made sure the veteran was one of the first Blackhawks to get the Stanley Cup.

"Actually, Johnny gave me the heads-up that morning if we won that would be the case," Mayers said "I got pretty choked up just thinking about it and had to skate away.

"The fact I didn't play any games in the playoffs, he still felt it was important to do that. That's just a testament to the type of leader he is and person to have the foresight to have that perspective. He's turned into an unbelievable leader."

Mayers even compared Toews to Mark Messier, who has the NHL leadership trophy named after him.

"Everyone knows what he does on the ice, but his conscience and ability to see all pieces of the pie are what separate him at such a young age," Mayers said of Toews. "He reminds me of what people used to say about Messier. He parallels a lot of those qualities you hear about Mark."

Toews first gave the Cup to Michal Handzus, then Mayers and then Michal Rozsival.

"There's something you learn every game, every year as a captain that you learn how the team works, and especially when you have veterans like Mayers around and Handzus and guys like that," Toews said. "As I've gone along as a captain you understand more of what your job is. It all matters, it all adds up. You definitely learn a lot from being around guys like that."

Handzus had a similar conversation with Toews at the Monday morning skate in Boston. So did Marian Hossa in 2010, the morning of Game 6 in Philadelphia, when Toews told him he would be getting the Cup first if the Hawks won.

"Johnny came to me in the morning skate and told me that if we win he'll hand it to me first," Handzus said. "I got nervous right away and thought, 'That would be awesome, let's win right now.'

"That shows the leadership of the guys, the core. They've been here, won it in 2010. They felt it wasn't about them — it was about the guys who never won it before. That shows why we won it. The guys didn't care about themselves. They cared about other guys. The whole team cared about each other, and that's how you get through the tough moments in the playoffs."

Mayers sounded like a guy ready to give some serious consideration to retirement at age 38.

"I realize where I'm at in my career and have reached the ultimate," Mayers said. "Climbing the mountain and seeing over the top may have changed things a little bit for me, but that will play itself out in the next couple of weeks.

"If I do walk away, I can do that as a champion. Not many can say that."

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 06.28.2013

682688 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks notes: Mayers, Leddy, Stalberg updates

June 27, 2013, 6:45 pm

Staff

Joel Quenneville hoisted his third Stanley Cup on Monday night, his second as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. His moves from game to game, or in some cases shift to shift, are a big reason why the Blackhawks found the success they did this season. And the organization is going to make sure they keep their coach for a while longer.

“He’s done a tremendous job leading the team and there’s no one else I’d rather have coaching this group,” Bowman said on Thursday. “He’s demonstrated a great ability to understand what it takes to win. He’s got a proven track record and players respond to him. We’re excited about that, and hope to continue it.”

That’s fine with Quenneville, who loves living in the Chicago area – even if fans toilet paper his yard to celebrate a Cup.

“We love it here,” he said. “This is a special place to be from all perspectives. Being in this environment, coaching the players we have, I was fortunate to walk into the door five years ago with a team that was sitting on, ‘Go.’ I’ve had a lot of fun over those five years. There aren’t too many opportunities to work with a group like this. It’s very special, and I’m very fortunate to be here.”

MAYERS’ MOMENT

Jamal Mayers was overcome when captain Jonathan Toews told him at Game 6’s morning skate that, if the Blackhawks won, he’d be one of the first to hoist the Cup.

“I got pretty choked up just thinking about it; I had to skate away,” said Mayers, who will be contemplating his hockey future this offseason. And now that he’s lifted that Cup, Mayers is wondering if he still has some hockey left in him.

Mayers didn’t get much playing time this season and got none in the postseason. But he said he’s uncertain if he’s done or not.

“I feel like I can still skate, and in today’s game you have to be able to skate to keep up with those young kids,” the 38-year-old Mayers said. “I feel like I can still skate, can still play. But there’s a lot of consideration with family and it’s not just about me. We’ll have to make that decision in the net little while.”

If this is it, though, Mayers will have options. He’s a well-spoken player who was a big part of the new collective bargaining agreement talks during the lockout. He’s thought a career in the media. Mayers says he still has something left in the tank. If he does walk away, however, that Cup lift will make it an easier decision.

“I realize where I’m at in my career and I reached the ultimate: climbing the mountain and seeing over the top,” he said. “That’ll play itself out in the next couple of weeks. But if I do walk away, I can do it as a champion.”

LEDDY DEAL COMING?

The Blackhawks have an offseason signing or two they’ll try to make, and one is defenseman Nick Leddy. The 21-year-old had a strong regular season but struggled in the playoffs. But Bowman is looking at the whole body of work, and wants to get a contract ironed out with the defenseman.

He’s also not worried about an offer sheet, something that the San Jose Sharks offered to Niklas Hjalmarsson following the 2010 Cup run.

“We want to bring Nick back,” Bowman said. “I’ve talked to his agent (Neil Sheehy) and I expect to get a contract done with him. That’s one of the things on the list we have to get accomplished here. We’re not letting Nick go. We’re going to keep him here. I’m not concerned about offer sheets.”

Leddy is a restricted free agent; his current deal, which just finished, was for three years with a cap hit of just over $1.1 per season. Leddy’s hopeful of a deal to keep him here.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “The city’s unbelievable, the fan base is, bar none, the best. Hopefully I’ll stay here. I’m just going to see what happens.”

STALBERG’S STATUS

Viktor Stalberg went through his ups and downs this postseason with the Blackhawks, the downs being the four playoff games (two against Detroit, two against Boston) he was benched. Stalberg’s situation with the Blackhawks looks pretty clear: it seems unlikely they re-sign him. But whatever his course may be, Stalberg’s not sweating it.

“It’s part of the business. But it’s one of those things that I’m in the driver’s seat,” said Stalberg, who is a restricted free agent. “I have options; I can pick and choose where I want to go. If they want to keep me, they want to keep me. I’m not saying I want to stay; I haven’t made that decision. We’ll figure out in the next day or two what their plans are and what mine are and go from there.”

Stalberg played fewer minutes through a lot of postseason games, and he said he struggled to find his game in that lesser time on ice. Whatever the future holds, he’s hoping he can get back to playing his game, and playing more minutes.

“It happened for whatever reason; things took a little turn there. That’s how it goes sometimes,” he said. “at the end of the day, we won and I’m happy with how I contributed with the minutes I played. It’s not easy doing that and I’m not looking to keep playing a role like that. That’s what it is, and we’ll see what happens.”