Live Updates: Chicago Celebrates Blackhawks' Championship
(CBS/AP) The city is celebrating the Blackhawks' third Stanley Cup in six seasons on Thursday with a parade downtown and a rally at Soldier Field. Check below for updates.
"People were amazing," Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa said of the turnout of tens of thousands along the parade route.
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12:44 p.m.
Captain Jonathan Toews expressed his gratitude for all in the organization and city.
"We know we're a part of the best organization in sports in the entire world," Toews said. "And we play for the best fans in the world.
"Maybe the only way it gets better is if we win four."
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12:36 p.m. CDT
Patrick Kane will be partying hard all week long.
"I know they said I've been growing up, but watch out for me in the next week," Kane said.
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12:32 p.m. CDT
If you had Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford as the first player to utter a profanity, collect your winnings.
"****ing right Chicago!" Crawford screamed after being introduced.
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12:26 p.m. CDT
In a touching moment, Blackhawks winger Kris Versteeg gave the team's Game 6 belt to C.J., the young son of the late Clint Reif, the team's assistant equipment manager who passed away in December.
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12:20 p.m. CDT
Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith, the Conn Smythe winner as postseason MVP, already has his thoughts on next season.
"Let's do it again, eh?" Keith said. "Four sounds better than three."
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12:15 p.m. CDT
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville spoke, reflecting on the three Stanley Cups he's won in Chicago. His lasting 2010 memory will always be that of Patrick Kane burying the game-winner in overtime of Game 6. His lasting 2013 will be that of "17 seconds" -- the span it took Chicago late in Game 6 at Boston to steal the clinching win with two goals.
As for 2015?
"What made this Cup the best memory is all about team," Quenneville said.
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12:07 p.m. CDT
After a video montage counted down all the Blackhawks' postseason wins and best moments, owner Rocky Wirtz took to the microphone. He came with a zinger in reference to beating Tampa Bay in Game 6 on Monday night.
"Did anyone notice we had rain a little rain on Monday night?" Wirtz said. "I didn't see any Lightning."
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11:46 a.m. CDT
Star winger Patrick Kane was the first Blackhawk to take to the podium, introducing captain Jonathan Toews, who walked out with the Stanley Cup as cannons went off in the background. There was also a flyover.
Blackhawks broadcaster Pat Foley then took over for the introduction, calling the team's third titles in the past years "spectacular" and the "best of them all."
"What made it the best was they did it on a sheet of ice just down the way from here," Foley said, referencing clinching on home ice on Monday night.
The players took the stage after team mainstay Jim Cornelison sang the national anthem.
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11:31 a.m. CDT
Blackhawks rookie backup goalie Scott Darling -- who was instrumental in the first-round series win against the Predators -- took a moment to reflect. He's a Lemont native who worked his way up through the minor league hockey scene to break out this season, and he was thrilled to be a part of a championship celebration for the first time.
"My family was in the streets last time (at 2013 parade), and they were on the bus this time," Darling marveled.
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11:23 a.m. CDT
Dozens of fans were overcome by the heat and humidity and had to be treated by medical personnel during and after the parade.
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11:24 a.m. CDT
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is in the house.
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11:16 a.m. CDT
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11:09 a.m. CDT
There's a Patrick Kane look-alike in the crowd.
10:55 a.m. CDT
Chicago Blackhawks players are waving to cheering fans as their double-decker red buses travel along a crowd-lined downtown parade route to a Stanley Cup championship rally.
Defenseman Brent Seabrook leaned against the back rail atop of one of the buses as he hoisted the Stanley Cup Thursday morning. Left wing Patrick Sharp and Blackhawks owner and chairman Rocky Wirtz were nearby.
Fans wearing Blackhawks jerseys took cellphone pictures of the parade along the crowded streets. Trolleys and buses in the parade had "One Goal" written on the side along with pictures of the Stanley Cup.
Next stop? Soldier Field, where thousands of fans await.
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10:48 a.m. CDT
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10:15 a.m. CDT
Where's the Stanley Cup?
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Patrick Sharp has it.
Sharp carried the Stanley Cup out of the United Center on Thursday morning and toward two rows of double-decker buses in the stadium parking lot. Players climbed onto the buses for a parade leading to a championship rally at Soldier Field.
Sharp was wearing his jersey and backward cap as fans chanted "Lift the Cup! Lift the Cup!"
Chicagoans have become obsessed with the whereabouts of the Stanley Cup since the Blackhawks won it for the third time in six years on Monday night. Fans are tracking it via Twitter posts and photographing it as players take it to restaurants and bars in an effort to get in on the championship fun.
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10:05 a.m. CDT
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is at the United Center wearing a Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews (tayvz) black replica jersey.
Rauner told reporters it's a "great day for the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois." The governor said Thursday that the parade and rally at Soldier Field are "fantastic (ways) to celebrate one of the greatest franchises in all of sports."
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel also plans on participating in the festivities.
When the Blackhawks won their third Stanley Cup in six years on Monday night he promised the city would host a celebration worthy of a dynasty.
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10:00 a.m. CDT
Chants of "We want the Cup! We want the Cup!" rang out from fans outside the United Center as Chicago Blackhawks players prepared to board red double-decker buses for their Stanley Cup championship parade.
Two rows of buses are in the stadium's south parking lot awaiting Blackhawks players, coaches and staff. Nearby, fans waited behind metal fences by the statue of another athlete who brought a championship dynasty to Chicago: Michael Jordan.
The Blackhawks will ride atop the buses on a parade route through downtown Chicago to a rally planned at Soldier Field, where more fans are waiting.
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9:15 a.m. CDT
Downtown Chicago is filled with soggy Blackhawks fans after a thunderstorm moved over the area just hours before the team's Stanley Cup championship festivities were scheduled to start.
Organizers at Soldier Field, where the team's rally will take place Thursday, asked attendees to take shelter under covered areas of the stadium until the storm passed. When the rain stopped, thousands of fans ran out from the concourse to grab the closest spots to the stage.
Meanwhile, fans lined up along the parade route wore ponchos and used umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain.
