2 Hawks prefer Packers over Bears
When it comes to Bears-Packers, there's division inside the Blackhawks' dressing room.
Wisconsin natives Jack Skille and Jake Dowell have made it clear — loud and clear, in Skille's case — they will be pulling for the Packers on Sunday when the longtime NFL rivals meet at Soldier Field for a spot in the Super Bowl.
“I know the politically correct thing to say is ‘go Bears', but I'm a cheese head at heart: Go Packers, for sure,” said Skille, who was born in Madison. “I might roll in here with a cheese head; we'll see what happens. I'm going to see if one of my relatives can send one down.
“I know those two teams are good teams, but I just hope my boy Aaron Rodgers will take care of business, and Clay Matthews on the defense.”
Dowell, who hails from Eau Claire, said he would be looking in his closet for some green and gold clothes to wear this week.
“It could prove not to be very smart to wear that around town, but I have to be excited about the Packers and represent them a little bit,” Dowell said. “I'll probably get booed Sunday (when the Hawks play the Flyers before the Bears game). It's a tough crowd.”
Hawks defenseman John Scott calls himself a Buffalo Bills fan but got thrown into the middle of the Bears-Packers talk when Jonathan Toews outed him as another Packers supporter.
“Why do you think I'm going for the Packers?” Scott asked reporters, who informed him Toews said so. “No, I am going for the Packers. They've got a better team. I would love to see the Bears win, but I'm just a realist and I just think there's no way the Packers can lose.
“I'm a Bills fan, so let's get that out there. It's going to be a real good game, but I just think the Packers will win.”
Toews, Patrick Kane and coach Joel Quenneville are with the Bears all the way.
“I love football,” Quenneville said. “Let's go Bears.”
Toews would like to see the city rewarded with another championship and react the way it did in June when the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.
“I think you realize how crazy this town actually gets when there's a sports team in the running for a championship like that,” Toews said. “You obviously wish those guys the best. It would be pretty awesome to see another sports team do what we did last year and keep this city alive like it was last spring.”
With the Hawks playing the Flyers Sunday at 11:30 a.m., Kane is hoping to get over to Soldier Field to catch most of the Bears and Packers.
“The city seems to be pretty pumped up, especially with us going through it last year,” Kane said. “Maybe Sunday after our game I can get over there to watch it. That would be pretty cool to see.
“I made the mistake at the beginning of this year at the Monday night football game when Green Bay was playing in Chicago and I brought Skille,” Kane said. “He likes to get a little loud in the crowd and he drew a lot of attention to us, so if I do get tickets he won't be a guy I'm bringing.”