Joyful fans snatch up Hawks championship gear
Patty D'Avolio Hermann didn't know for whom she was buying Blackhawks championship T-shirts Thursday, and she didn't care.
The Schaumburg resident and her 10-year-old son Jake grabbed one T-shirt in each size, color and style available at the local Dick's Sporting Goods store, irrespective of the cost, until their arms could hold no more.
That's nothing compared to the amount of money her family has spent supporting the Blackhawks over the last 51 years.
"This cost us about $250,000 to win the cup," said Hermann, whose family members believe they are the longest season ticket holders in Blackhawks history. "We go pretty much about 38 games a season (out of 44)."
Nick Bolen, Dick's Sporting Goods regional marketing manager said frenzied fans started rummaging through Blackhawks championship gear immediately after the game ended, and again when the stores opened at 6 a.m.
"The bulk of this is the official locker room T-shirts that the players are wearing," Bolen said. "Everything Blackhawks is selling but the hot item right now is the official Stanley Cup merchandise."
Hermann said she calculated the cost from the time tickets sold for 25 cents when her late father started attending Blackhawks games, to her $125 playoff tickets.
"Playoffs alone cost us $5,400 this year," she said.
Hermann could have made several thousand dollars by selling off the family's five seats, but that was unimaginable.
"The Hawks have been a part of our life," she said. "Since we were born, that's what we did. It was just our sacred place to go as a family."
Hermann said her father saw the Blackhawks' last Stanley Cup title in 1961, and Wednesday night her 72-year-old mother ran down the street in her nightgown after the Hawks beat the Flyers, ending the 49-year drought.
The 18 Dick's stores in the Chicago area couldn't keep up with the demand for Blackhawks caps.
Get reprints of our cover Posters, shirts, cups more Gail Muszynski of Arlington Heights raided both her hometown Dick's store and the one in Schaumburg in search of them."I have another bag in the car," she said standing at the Schaumburg store checkout counter buying several T-shirts and other gear for her family. "What they wanted was the hat, but hats were flying off the table.""It has been a lifetime dream to see them win," said Michael Lambert, of Elgin as he bought some Blackhawks gear at a tent at McLean and Big Timber in Elgin. Lambert, who had a bet with some friends in Philadelphia - Lou Malnati's pizza vs. Philly cheesesteaks - bought a car cling, some pennants, a black T-shirt, a white T-shirt, a shot glass, key chains, and some decals.Sandi Vennetti of Orland Park was shopping at the Lombard Dick's Sporting Goods store Thursday, picking up 20 T-shirts for family and friends."We've been Blackhawks fans forever," she said. "We had about 70 people at our house last night to celebrate."Glenn Agrest of Vernon Hills was savoring the moment Thursday morning at the Sports Authority in Vernon Hills, picking through the championship gear for sale."I've been a season-ticket holder for 30 years," Agrest said. "I've been to all the playoff home games. I wouldn't have missed this for the world."Stephanie Morley of Elk Grove Village, an employee of Wirtz Beverage Group that owns the Blackhawks, wheeled a shopping cart loaded with 95 T-shirts, car flags, hats, and pennants for an entire division of the company."We have our big company meeting tomorrow so I'm getting T-shirts so we can support them (the Blackhawks) in the parade downtown and the ceremony," she said.A the ticker-tape procession and rally honoring the team will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday starting at Wacker Drive and Washington Street in Chicago. The rally is scheduled to begin about 11:30 a.m. at Wacker and Michigan.False19942000Still sporting his playoff beard, Art Barsotti, 56, of Hoffman Estates picked up a dozen Blackhawks shirts for family at Dick's Sporting Goods in Schaumburg.Bill Zars | Staff PhotographerFalse <!-- Start of Brightcove Player --><div style="display:none"></div><!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/.--><script type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object id="myExperience91061707001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="width" value="300" /><param name="height" value="254" /><param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /><param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/><param name="isVid" value="true" /><param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true" /><param name="@videoPlayer" value="91061707001" /></object><!--This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soonas the line is read by the browser. 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