Blackhawks' Kane brings Stanley Cup home

A year ago Patrick Kane was facing a fall from grace after an incident with a cabdriver in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.

Thursday morning, however, the 21-year-old Blackhawks star returned as a Stanley Cup champion and headed for a much bigger fall - Niagara Falls.

Standing on the American side with his family and friends, Kane hoisted the Stanley Cup on the Cave of the Winds' Hurricane Deck, which was appropriately renamed HurriKane Deck for the day.

"Awesome" was the word Kane used over and over to reporters covering the event.

"It was a huge rush," Kane told the Associated Press. "Winning the Stanley Cup, there's a lot of perks that come with it. This is a huge one."

New York State Parks officials had a "big picker" at hand in case the wind tossed the Cup over the rail, but it wasn't needed as Kane kept his grip.

Kane was awarded a key to the city by the mayor of Niagara before leaving on his limo tour, which included a stop at the pediatric wing of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where he was greeted by hundreds of people.

A few blocks away, but still on the Roswell campus, Kane visited ironworkers erecting a new building. One of Kane's former youth coaches is an ironworker who painted Kane's name on one of the beams in tribute.

The only snafu reported on the day was when Kane was asked to carry the Cup to the top of a firetruck ladder. The ladder, however, got stuck about three stories up with Kane at the top and it took about 20 minutes to get motor working and get the player and the Cup back to ground safely.

Kane was scheduled to end the day by taking the Cup to a local roller rink and later to a private party.

According to a report a buffettworld.com, the Hawks winger and the Cup are returning to Chicago on Saturday and Kane is planning to take the Cup to the Jimmy Buffett concert on Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.