One big win for Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz

When Rocky Wirtz hoisted the Stanley Cup over his head Wednesday night, it wasn't just to respect and emulate the NHL's time-honored custom.

He wanted to position it as close to his late father, grandfather and uncle as this life allows.

"Really, in my humble opinion, what I'm doing is I dedicate that Stanley Cup, when I raised it, to those three gentlemen," Wirtz said, "because they worked their (butts) off for so long to achieve it."

For 47 consecutive NHL seasons, the Stanley Cup wound up in the clutches of executives other than Bill, Arthur and Michael Wirtz.

But with a string of successful business moves to match the team's improving talent level - everything from hiring John McDonough as president to endorsing Joel Quenneville's promotion to head coach early in the 2008-09 season - William Rockwell Wirtz moved to the pinnacle of his sport less than three years after becoming the franchise's chairman of the board.

"I didn't know if we could bring it back," Wirtz said. "We knew that we had to go out and be aggressive: To start relationships with our fans, with the former players, with the media and our corporate sponsors.

"We didn't have, quite frankly, the right relationship with any of those people. So the idea was, you put an olive branch out and they all showed up. I'm so proud of the fans."

Like millions of people around the world, Wirtz learned his team's new place in professional hockey while watching Game 6's overtime on TV.

"I couldn't believe it," Wirtz said. "I couldn't see it because I was watching NBC on the monitor. And then I saw it go in and I realized we had won.

"It was like the weight of the world was off my shoulders."

During the course of the Hawks' hourlong celebration on the Wachovia Center ice, Wirtz hugged and smiled and chatted all the way through.

He stopped only for another minute with the Cup as he carried it over to the glass to share it with hundreds of Hawks fans standing behind the team benches.

There was a bit of symbolism to that maneuver, too. Wirtz doesn't want to bring the fans just one Cup.

"There's no reason why we can't make this a premier franchise for all of sports," he said. "There's a long way to go. We're starting to be there. We've got one of the youngest front-office staffs at 31 (years of age).

"We're looking to be a premier franchise. And you can't do that by sitting back and not working."