Hawks' return to Philly sure to be special
Blackhawks fans won't ever forget where they were on June 9, 2010, when Patrick Kane slipped the puck through Flyers goalie Michael Leighton in overtime of Game 6 to end the Stanley Cup drought.
“It was one of the best days in our lives for a lot of us,” Kane said.
The Hawks are returning to Philadelphia for the first time since that memorable moment to play the Flyers on Thursday night.
It's called the Wells Fargo Center now, but it's the same building where the Hawks made franchise history, the same end of the ice where NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman placed the Stanley Cup in captain Jonathan Toews' hands, the same dressing room where they partied until the wee hours of the morning.
All those memories are certain to come flooding back for those Hawks who experienced what happened on that rainy spring night in South Philly.
“Great moment. What a moment. What a cigar,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It certainly was a thrill. Highlight of my career.
“I think everybody who was there will recapture the feeling. I think everybody that will be there from that time will probably say that was the highlight of their lives and careers.”
Toews is looking forward to walking back into what was the Wachovia Center when the Hawks won it and remembering what he felt the night he became a Stanley Cup champion.
“I can imagine just being in the hotel, being at the rink will bring back some pretty cool memories, so I'm excited for that,” Toews said. “I'm sure being back in that locker room, we'll have some old stories we can tell.
“I'm sure the new guys, the guys that weren't there, I'm sure they're sick of hearing all that stuff, but they'll just have a couple more days of it, I guess.”
Toews admitted it wasn't too long ago that he downloaded Games 5 and 6 of the Finals on itunes and watched them on one of the Hawks' charter flights.
“A bunch of guys huddled around the seat to watch it on the plane and even watching those last two games you know the outcome ultimately, but it still makes you nervous to watch a little bit,” Toews said.
“A lot of those cool feelings kind of come rushing back, everything from the celebration on the ice and everything in the locker room, too.”
Even though it hasn't even been two years since the Hawks won their championship, only eight players who had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup remain from that team.
Bryan Bickell and Corey Crawford were on hand for that playoff run but don't have their names on the Cup.
Eleven players from that team are on other NHL clubs now, including John Madden, who just signed with Florida on Wednesday. Cristobal Huet and Jordan Hendry are playing in Switzerland, Brent Sopel in Siberia. Nick Boynton is presently out of hockey.
“Of course, there is significance going back,” Kane said. “You're going to remember that locker room, remember that city and the rink where it all went down.
“It was awesome to be part of a team like that and maybe something that can shape up again this year with the team we have.”
tsassone@dailyherald.com