A Stanley Cup triumph, a celebration of family

Stanley Cup champions. Words not heard for nearly 50 years in Chicago. Savor it, Blackhawks fans.

Enjoy the ticker-tape parade today, cheering on your hockey heroes while mentally wiping away the disappointment of seasons past when the organization was called the worst in the NHL and of some earlier heartbreaking Cup failures.

If true Hawks fans weren't teary-eyed watching Patrick Kane celebrate his OT game winner over the Philadelphia Flyers or mature-beyond-his-years Jonathan Toews, the playoffs MVP, let out a whoop after getting the honor of hoisting the Stanley Cup first, then they had to be when Jeremy Roenick, the former Blackhawk and now an analyst for NBC, tried to explain to non-Chicagoans on national TV what the moment meant.

"It's the Chicago Blackhawks, man," Roenick said, fighting back the tears. "I didn't get to do that. It's pretty unbelievable.

"For the kid that was there in 1992 who was crying when I came off the ice after we lost Game 4 (against Pittsburgh in a sweep in the finals) in Chicago Stadium, you waited 18 years. I hope you have a big smile on your face."

Yes, it means that much to a former star player who was proud to wear the famed sweater with the Indian head logo. And it is sweet redemption for longtime fans who can now put to bed the nightmare of 1971, when the great squad led by Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito and Stan Mikita fell short in Game 7 at home against the Montreal Canadiens.

Those three are now ambassadors for the team, bringing generations of Hawks fans together.

Jeremy Holleb of Highland Park watched the Game 6 clincher at crowded Harry Caray's at Navy Pier, where Hull watched as well.

"Reason I'm here is because of my dad," said Holleb, quoted in an Associated Press story. "He's been dreaming for a while to see the cup come back. And what really got to me is the fact that he sent a picture of himself on the couch with a brick from the old stadium and a signed stick from Bobby Hull from the 1961 Stanley Cup Finals."

Another fan from Kankakee was thinking of his brother, a longtime fan, who recently died, buried in a Blackhawks sweater.

Or the Naperville man, watching the game with his children, thinking of his father, long ago passed, who took him as a youngster in the late '60s and early '70s to games at the old barn on Madison or listened together as Lloyd Pettit called the home games on their living room radio.

Indeed, the theme of family runs deep among fans, players and the Hawks organization. Witness the team, celebrating with parents, brothers, friends, wives on the Wachovia Center ice. Or the touching story of Troy Brouwer and his dad, Don, who had to stay in a Canadian hospital as he recovers from brain surgery.

And witness Rocky Wirtz, the owner who pulled it all together after his father died and turned the team over to a new generation. Rocky knew what to do to win in the 21st century, but he still took time to remember his father, grandfather and uncle who ran the team before him.

"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."

But where the older Wirtz generation neglected the fans for so many years, Rocky Wirtz continues to keep them in the forefront, just like family, even as the team enjoys its success.

"The idea was, you put an olive branch out and they all showed up. I'm so proud of the fans."

And we're proud of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.