Hawks give Dempster a night to remember

For a kid from Canada, things couldn't have gotten much better for Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster on Sunday night during the big Blackhawks celebration at Wrigley Field.

Not only was Dempster front and center for a team photo with the Hawks and the White Sox, he also got to hoist the Stanley Cup.

"You know what?" he said Tuesday. "I was extremely honored that they would even ask me to do that and humble that they gave it to me because I know how special of an honor that is to even touch it. I was shaking for about three innings afterwards.

"Being a little kid that grew up in Canada, that's all I ever thought about. It's pretty special. They've embraced me, and it brought the little kid out in me for sure."

The stirring pregame ceremony was followed by a classic pitching duel between the Cubs' Ted Lilly and the Sox' Gavin Floyd.

Aside from that, the rarity of the pregame festivities was that there were three Chicago sports teams on the field at one time.

"That was awesome," Dempster said. "You see three professional sports teams on the field at the same time. It was pretty special. I don't think you're ever really going to see that, especially during a season like that. It was fun.

"It was fun with all the festivities, and those guys deserved every bit of recognition they got from everybody on down, from the players to the front office.

"Teddy goes out, and he and Gavin Floyd have no-hitters in the seventh. It was a really, really fun day to be at the ballpark."