Sharp living the dream as Stanley Cup champion

In 2006, Patrick Sharp watched Eric Staal bring the Stanley Cup home to Thunder Bay. Last summer it was Jordan Staal’s turn.

Only then, after seeing hockey’s ultimate prize paraded around his home town for a second time in four summers, did it start to dawn on Sharp that he too was capable of realizing the same childhood dream shared by hockey players across Canada and around the world.

It still didn’t prepare him for when it happened, for the moment last Wednesday when teammate Patrick Kane’s harmless overtime shot slipped past Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton and gave the Chicago Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup since the Diefenbaker era, ending a 49-year drought.

“There are a million thoughts that go through your mind. First I was happy that it was finally over. For the whole playoff series, for the whole final round, we knew we were close and didn’t want to let it pass us by,” said Sharp, reached by phone Tuesday at his Chicago residence. 

“I was thankful that we could pull it off and then once you get the teammates on the ice jumping around, you think of all the hard work and what a celebration it was.”

The euphoria took the length of a Don Cherry tape-delay to erupt, until players, coaches and fans realized the puck had actually entered the Flyers net. Sharp, who was on the ice trailing the play, will remember that feeling for the rest of his life.

“I think me and Kaner were the only ones who saw it go in. I was trailing in behind him in the zone, and he let a quick hard shot go. We saw it go under the pad. I started jumping before he did. You can see my stick going up in the air. I just chased him as fast as I could.”

Sharp, an assistant captain with the Hawks, was third in line when the players started passing the trophy around for the traditional post-championship celebration, taking it from the once snake-bitten Marian Hossa’s hands.

The craziness hasn’t stopped since, he said.

“It’s been a thousand times more than I thought it would be. We had two million people at our parade, which they said was more than when Barack Obama got when he gave the presidential nomination there.

“The city has been Blackhawk crazy. Everywhere we go with the Cup in the city they’re shutting down streets and closing down restaurants. It’s been something I’ll never forget.”

Hey may not have long to celebrate, at least in Chicago. Various reports have him being dealt to Toronto or Columbus to help the Hawks ease their salary-cap burden, though Sharp is trying to avoid the rumours and focus on the here and now.  

“I don’t listen to any of that stuff,” he said, a police siren echoing in the background. “If anyone’s gonna know about it, it’s going to be my team and myself. So I’m not listening to any outside sources tell me where I’m going to be playing or where I’m going to be traded to. I know what’s going on in the inside and I’m happy with that. I’m just trying to enjoy the celebration.”

Sharp, who is getting married this summer, will be bringing the Cup home to Thunder Bay this summer, though he has no idea when that will be or exactly what he’ll do when he gets it here. 

“We don’t have the dates just yet,” he said, promising a mixture of public and private events when it does occur.

“It’ll be awesome to bring it back just like Jordan and Eric did … It’ll be a great day.”