Hawks fan: 'This is bigger than the Bears of '85'

How huge is it that the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup?

Keith Rowan, a fan who grew up in Naperville and now lives in St. Charles, used the ultimate measuring stick.

"This is bigger than the Bears of '85," Rowan said. "I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime."

Rowan was one of thousands of fans headed to the team's parade and rally downtown via Metra train Friday morning.

An accident in Glen Ellyn delayed the train, which was filled to standing room only with fans clad in red and black, for about 40 minutes.

But that was a minor hiccup for die-hard fans who had waited 49 years for glory and new fans discovering the magic of the sport.

"I had hope this would be the year," said Eric Louide, a Northern Illinois University student from Gurnee. "I had a lot of confidence they could do it. It's about time."

Phones rang with "Chelsea Dagger" ringtones and fans chanted, "Let's go, Hawks!"

Passengers were certainly filled with energy and anticipation to experience something great - yet foreign.

Geneva residents Mark Altmayer and his son Ethan, 13, were clad in White Sox championship gear as they headed to the parade and then the first game of the Crosstown baseball series against the Chicago Cubs.

The elder Altmayer was on a business trip in 2005 and missed the White Sox World Series parade.

"It'd be nice to have a dynasty in Chicago," he said. "That's what we need."

C.J. Mariner, also of St. Charles, said he lost faith in the Blackhawks in the 1990s when former owner Bill Wirtz let stars like Chris Chelios and Jeremy Roenick leave.

With the Hawks ending the NHL's longest Cup drought, Mariner was hopeful another Chicago team could build a winner.

"It gives me a little more hope," he said. "If the Blackhawks can kick their drought, maybe the Cubs can. That's why we're going today. This could be once in a lifetime."