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Young legends take city by storm

They are the new kings of the city, some of them legends in the making.

And Jonathan Toews is only 22 years old.

Patrick Kane is 21.

Heck, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brent Seabrook, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Duncan Keith, Antti Niemi and Patrick Sharp are 28 or younger.

"It's a bunch of young guys that has some experience, but for being a lot of top-notch players, they get along so well," Hawks senior advisor Scotty Bowman said. "That's a great tribute to the players themselves."

Despite some salary cap issues that lie ahead for general manager Stan Bowman, the Stanley Cup the Hawks won Wednesday night in Philadelphia might be the first of several.

"We don't want to think about that right now, how this team might change," Toews said. "Who knows what's going to happen?"

Toews is right. Those concerns can wait a few weeks because it's party time in Chicago to celebrate the Hawks' first Stanley Cup in 49 years.

The players partied until Thursday morning with Toews at Harry Caray's restaurant in Rosemont before lugging the Stanley Cup around Chicago for fans to see and enjoy.

"We're going to show the Cup off to our fans here," Toews said. "This is really going to sink in as we come back here and show it to our fans."

The Cup will be with Toews again today at the downtown parade honoring the team that kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Wacker Drive and Washington in the Loop heading east to Michigan Avenue. A rally at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive is expected to start at 11:30 a.m., and Chicago officials are expecting 350,000 to attend.

Kane's overtime goal in Game 6 at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday set the celebrating in motion and capped a storybook season that began last October in Finland and ended on a rainy night in South Philly with hockey's Holy Grail.

"Everything we've been through, it's been obviously an unbelievable year," Kane said. "It's been fun to be part of it, just unbelievable."

How fitting it was that Kane scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal after the way his season began. Kane's arrest last August in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., for an altercation with a taxi driver cast him and the organization in a negative light.

"I think sometimes you go through those kinds of things as a young kid," Kane said. "You can really learn from them and try to better yourself as a person and as an athlete. It's just really unbelievable to see how things can go from so bad to so good."

Probably the most unlikely hero to emerge along the way for the Hawks was Niemi, the 26-year-old Finn, who only five years ago was driving a Zamboni back home and not considered a top NHL prospect.

When the season began in October, the Hawks had to choose between Niemi and Corey Crawford to be Cristobal Huet's backup. Who could have predicted then that Niemi would lead the Hawks to a place Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour never did.

"When we saw him a year ago at training camp he looked good," Scotty Bowman said. "Then he went to the minors and it takes a bit for a European goalie. It's a different game."

Niemi bent but never broke on the way to winning 16 playoffs games while losing only six.

"He's the real deal," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "He played so many big games for us."

That alone is reason enough for Chicago to celebrate.

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<h1>More Coverage</h1>

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<h2>Stories</h2>

<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=387247"><b>ROZNER:</b> The real hero of Stanley Cup saga <span class="date"> [6/11/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387178"><b>IMREM:</b> Blackhawks celebrate rare bond with fans<span class="date"> [6/10/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387248">Stanley Cup makes special stop in the suburbs<span class="date"> [6/11/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387123">Joyful fans snatch up Hawks championship gear <span class="date"> [6/10/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387109">350,000 expected for Hawks' party, parade <span class="date"> [6/10/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387188">Gone with the win: Hawks' victory erases chance at $45,000 profit <span class="date"> [6/10/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387081">Hawks-Flyers deliver best Cup TV rating in 36 years <span class="date"> [6/10/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=387031">Blackhawks bring Stanley Cup home to Chicago <span class="date"> [6/10/10]</span></a></li>

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