[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10409]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, after 23 NHL Playoff games, 10 overtimes, 
and 64 goals, the Chicago Blackhawks have won their second Stanley Cup 
in the last 4 years. Congratulations to the 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 a 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 archrival, 
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 a half of the game. Unbelievable goals 
scored by Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland ensured their names will be 
inscribed forever in Blackhawk 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 brought it back. The owner of the Blackhawks has once again made 
our city proud.
  The entire organization is the classiest in sports, the model in 
hockey. Led by John McDonough, Jay Blunk, Stan Bowman, and Coach Joel 
Quenneville, they have enshrined Chicago as a hockey town for the 21st 
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 this is what the Hawks do best, provide their fans--
fans in Chicago and around the world--with memories they will never 
forget. I look forward to the new memories yet to be made during future 
Stanley Cup victories, games with Blackhawk players who are just kids 
right now with the memory of shots heard around the hockey world 
ringing through their heads.
  Mr. 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.
  Go Hawks. And as always, my kind of town, Chicago is.

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