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Spellman: Mom enjoying Darling's incredible journey

To paraphrase the Grateful Dead, what an absolutely long, strange trip it's been for Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling.

From being a sixth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2007 to playing in the lowest of low levels of professional hockey, including stints with teams such as the Capitol District Selects and the Louisiana IceGators.

And, along the way, admittedly letting his love for beer weigh on him - literally and figuratively.

But back in the summer of 2011, Darling rededicated himself to the game and subsequently began an ascent that last year saw him starring for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League, then signing with the Hawks over the summer.

And now the hometown boy (Lemont) is making quite a case to remain with the hometown team he grew up cheering.

The 6-foot-5 Darling has certainly caught the eye of Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. In his brief time with the big club, the big guy has a 5-2 record and has started the last five games since being recalled from Rockford when Corey Crawford went down with an injury.

And with him every step of the journey has been his mom, Cindy Darling. The Bloomingdale resident, along with her daughters Lauren and Sarah, is soaking up the moment - and rightly so.

Recently, Cindy took the time to talk about their journey and her son's winding road - all those long drives, all those early mornings, all the frustration, all the elation - that has led to a stop in Chicago.

Here is their story, in mom's words:

Making it this far:

It didn't come easy for him. He's got a God-given talent and his dad and I saw that as a kid.

I think because of what he went through, he cherishes it more now. He could've just skated through and been a great goalie, but he had his bumps along the road.

I think he appreciates it more now and is more focused and knows what it takes.

Start in hockey:

His dad was in the military, so we moved to Lemont when he was in second grade. He went through most of his schooling there.

His dad signed him up for a Seven Bridges hockey program. Dayn Belfour was in his class, and Scott's favorite goalie at the time was Ed Belfour. I'm not sure he believed that Dayn's dad was really Ed Belfour.

But, sure enough, one day Ed Belfour shows up at camp and Scott couldn't believe it.

Always a goalie:

He tried playing forward for a while, but he didn't want that. He wanted to be the guy "with the pillows on." So we figured out he wanted to be the goalie.

Now remember he was only 4 when he said that!

Oh, those trips to Rockford:

I'm glad the construction is done on 90. I'll drive my parents and my sister. I'll drive my dad's car and he's like, "Thank God you're driving, Cindy, I couldn't do this."

Last year he was in Milwaukee and that's like the closest he'd been in years. Needless to say, my car knew how to get up there whether it was raining or snowing.

And beyond:

I look at all the vehicles we've had with my daughters skating and him skating.

We've gone from conversion vans that have made it to Canada more times than I can count to Suburbans … we've always had big vehicles, not only for our kids, but if any other kid needed a ride to Canada and their parents couldn't go, we'd give them a ride.

First game as a Blackhawk:

We had almost 30 people at that game. We all had our Darling shirts that I had made that I didn't tell Scott I had made.

I said to him, "Hey, someone has to represent you," and he was like, "It's fine, mom," just laughing at me. But I think he was thrilled.

United Center:

Going to these Hawks games are exciting. His sisters are enjoying it.

My oldest daughter (Lauren) is quiet. She watches and doesn't say too much. The middle one (Sarah), you'll know she's there rooting him on. I kind of relax and watch the game.

Hitting home:

I get more emotional when people interview him and he says certain things - I don't know if that's strange or not.

The other night they did an interview and one of my girlfriends said, "You're crying" and I'm like, "Yeah, I am."

Like when he said that (goaltender coach) Jimmy Waite makes practice fun, makes hockey fun, and that's what it's supposed to be, and then Brent Seabrook walked by and said, "Yeah, it is!"

Growing up, Scott always had people saying do this, do that. Before he'd go on the ice, though, if I could catch him, I'd say, "Just go have fun."

So when he said that in that interview, that's when I lost it.

Full circle:

The talent was never the question, it was more his life issues. I say it's the kid that I always knew was in there.

But it was kind of hard for him with all the moving around with hockey. He was mature enough to move away from home, but not to be responsible.

Proud mom:

He's a great person - even if I wasn't his mom I'd say that.

If he's in a room full of people, he'll always gravitate to the less fortunate people in the room … he does things you wouldn't think a guy who is 25 would do.

For example:

There was a mom years ago whose son was skating before a game, and her 5-year-old was standing there talking to Scott.

The mom later wrote me a letter about how Scott talked to her son and made his day. So, someone we don't even know wrote us a letter and said how Scott impacted her son's life. Those are take-aways.

Now that he's getting more famous, I believe he's going to keep doing that - making small differences in people's lives.

The final word:

Being Scott's mom has been a blessing. It's been an adventure at times, a struggle at times, but always a blessing.

mspellman@dailyherald.com

Scott Darling's mom, Cindy, has made a point to support her son every step of the way in his bid to make it to the NHL. Courtesy of THE Chicago Blackhawks
As a young athlete, Scott Darling played on the same hockey team with Ed Belfour's son. Now Scott's minding the nets for the Blackhawks. Courtesy of Cindy Darling
He wasn't 6-foot-5 back then, but Scott Darling of Lemont tried to play big when he was handling the net for his youth hockey team. Courtesy of Cindy Darling
At a very young age, Scott Darling knew he wanted to play hockey and he wanted to play between the pipes. Courtesy of Cindy Darling
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