Congratulations to the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions, The Chicago Blackhawks
WASHINGTON"Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) congratulated the Chicago Blackhawks on their 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Championship.
Mister Speaker, after 23 NHL Playoff games, 10 overtimes and 54 goals, the Chicago Blackhawks have won their second Stanley Cup in the last four years.
Congratulations to greatest team in hockey on being the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions!
The impressive regular season began with a record-breaking streak of 24 straight games with a point earned and it ended with a Presidents' Trophy for the most points in the regular season. This success set the stage for an outstanding playoff run, a promise of things to come.
The Hawks made good on that promise this week in one of the most incredible and improbable Stanley Cup Final games in NHL history. Having already tamed the Minnesota Wild, taken down our arch rival the Detroit Red Wings and dethroned the Los Angeles Kings, the Blackhawks grinded through the Finals to one of the craziest and most exciting Stanley Cup wins ever witnessed.
To say this championship winning game was a nail biter would be an understatement. The Blackhawks came from behind twice to overcome an amazing effort by the Boston Bruins, scoring two goals just 17 seconds apart in the final minute and half of the game. Unbelievable goals scored by Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland ensured their names will be inscribed forever in the Blackhawks history books, as well as on Lord Stanley's Cup.
With outstanding efforts by Captain Jonathan Toews; Conn Smythe winner, Buffalo native, Patrick Kane; the best defenseman in hockey Duncan Keith; and of course the best goalie in the playoffs Corey Crawford, the entire team made good on a promise that this Original Six team is a true legend to be reckoned with.
As I have mentioned before, hockey never left Chicago, but Rocky Wirtz has brought it back. The owner of the Blackhawks, has once again made our city proud. The entire organization, classiest in sports, the model in hockey, led by John McDonough, Jay Blunk, Stan Bowman, and Coach Joel Quenneville, have enshrined Chicago as a hockey town for the twenty-first century.
But the Blackhawks don't just unify our city, they also are committed to serving the community and making it better.
Their Streethawks program has worked to promote fitness and leadership skills to local youth through street hockey initiatives and community skating facilities. Through the NHL's Hockey is for Everyone program, I've had the pleasure of working with the Hawks to expand hockey access to at-risk and LGBT youth. Because no matter what your background, every child should have the opportunity to play the greatest sport in the world.
The Blackhawks have also been strong supporters of America's veterans and wounded warriors. Just this year I joined the Hawks and the USA Warriors veterans team for an outdoor hockey game at Soldier Field. The Hawks gave these vets, most of whom are Purple Heart recipients, a once-in-a-lifetime experience they will never forget.
And I suppose that is what the Hawks do best: provide their fans, fans in Chicago and around the world, memories they will never forget. I look forward to the new memories yet to be made during future Stanley Cup victories. Games with Blackhawks players who are just kids right now with the memory of the shots heard around the hockey world ringing through their heads.
Mister Speaker, hockey is a special sport that brings people together, improves our communities and, most importantly, makes people dream the impossible and do the improbable. The entire world saw that this week thanks to the 2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.
Thank you Mr. Speaker, GO HAWKS and I yield back.
And as always, my kind of town, Chicago is.
