Bolts 'crushed' after Blackhawks clinch Stanley Cup

On one side, it was pure joy. On the other, utter heartbreak.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, who truly believed his team had what it took to beat the Blackhawks and win the Stanley Cup, said he never thought he'd be the coach doing the losing interview.

But that's exactly what was happening as the Blackhawks celebrated their title in front of 22,424 overjoyed fans at the United Center.

"A couple things come to my mind," Cooper said. "First of all, we've got a group of young men in there, but they're kids at heart, and they're crushed. It was really hard to look at them and see how crushed they truly are."

Cooper couldn't believe the way his team's high-powered offense was shut down in the Final. The Lightning managed just 2 goals in the series' last 12 periods.

"The pucks just didn't go in for us," he said. "It was a tough time for us to go cold, have the well go dry, especially since we carried this on the whole year."

Drought broken:

When Patrick Kane one-timed a shot that found the back of the net in the third period of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday, it broke a six-game goal-scoring drought and took a big monkey off the superstar's back.

"It felt so good and I knew I had to step up," Kane said. "So many guys on our team had already done that during the series so I knew I had to do something. It was great to come in and produce."

Kane also registered an assist on Duncan Keith's goal. He finished with a team-high 23 points in the postseason, scoring 11 goals and dishing out 12 assists.

Where's the puck?

When Patrick Kane gave the Hawks their first championship in 49 years by scoring the game-winning goal in Game 6 against Philadelphia in 2010, it was current teammate Kimmo Timonen who he got past before unleashing the shot.

Fans watching on TV never saw the puck go in - and neither did Timonen.

"It might be still back of the net," said a laughing Timonen before the Hawks claimed the Stanley Cup at the United Center on Monday. "Nobody see it. Did it go in? I didn't even know it went in (hearty laugh)."

As for Kane, he can't believe that was already five years ago.

"There's been a lot of moments that have happened in hockey since then, but it still feels like yesterday,"

Kane said. "Time has just flown by."

More Timonen:

Kimmo Timonen, who might want to take up stand-up comedy after his hockey career ends either today or Wednesday, said his wife was at the United Center for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. Two days ago Timonen said she wasn't watching the games on TV.

So she watched in the stands, obviously?

"She might take those blindfolds off," he said before the game.

The 40-year-old Timonen was then asked how he views his role on the bench during the game.

"I just want to make sure the water bottles are full of water," Timonen said.

Tip-ins:

The Hawks finished 9-2 in the postseason at the United Center. Their only losses came to the Ducks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals and to the Lightning in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. … Since 2009, the Hawks are 16-4 in the playoffs when they can eliminate an opponent. … Since 2012, the Hawks are 19-4 in Games 5-7.

He said it:

"Not too many guys get to play their last game hoisting the Cup. Very happy for him."

- Joel Quenneville on Kimmo Timonen

He said it II:

"It's gratifying in so many ways, both personally and professionally. We've had to fight through some things, but it's been worth every second of it. To see these guys matures into young adults, into grown men … most of our guys when I started here were single. Now there's babies all over the place."

- Blackhawks President and CEO John McDonough