Stanley Cup Making Stops Around Chicago After Hawks' Victory
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With the Blackhawks fresh off Monday night's clinching victory in Game 6 against the Lightning, the Stanley Cup's first stop Tuesday was lunch downtown.
WBBM's Nancy Harty reports fans stood three deep outside 437 North Rush to get a glimpse and a picture of the Stanley Cup through restaurant's windows.
Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz says he didn't follow the Cup to a Near West Side club in the early hours of Tuesday but wasn't surprised it ended up there.
"I would have put 100-1 it would not have gone anywhere else," Wirtz said. "I knew it wasn't going to the Field Museum."
Team president and CEO John McDonough says winning the Cup for the third time in six seasons was a relief.
"These players took this to another gear during the postseason," McDonough said. "It's two distinct seasons. They just shifted into another gear. We knew they had it but we played four really good teams."
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While heaping praise on the players and coach Joel Quenneville, McDonough doesn't embrace using the term "dynasty." He says that's a word others will use, but not the organization.
Later in the day the Stanley Cup made its way to Patrick Sharp's home in Lakeview.
The cup made its way to Wrigley Field before the Cubs-Indians game for a celebratory lap around the field.
Gene and Dan Anderson are Blackhawks fans on a trip retracing family routes from California.
"It couldn't get any better," said. "This is really a dream come true."
Nuts were taking a back seat to anything Hawk.
"Blackhawks fans are just like Cubs fans… they are very loyal so they buy," said vendor Larry Stevens.
The Cubs president Theo Epstein was taking note of the Hawks' success.
"It's great for us to see it, observe hopefully try to match their accomplishments over the next decade," Epstein said. "That kind of thing can be contagious and it raises the bar and that's a good thing."
The Stanley Cup then made its way to Sluggers near Wrigley Field.
Phil Pritchard is the keeper of the cup and curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He says fans are allowed to touch it - some don't out of superstition - but they shouldn't pick it up.
Pritchard and his colleagues wear white gloves when they carry it and he says if you lift the cup, your name better be on it.
